Just as Ron finished his breakfast the waitress, who he assumed might be the owner or the wife of the owner, came over to check on him. He paid for his meal and got up to leave.
"Are you leavin' town?" she asked. "We still have rooms if you're of the mind to stay on here a while."
Ron had been wondering as he ate what he should do and where he would go. There were so many places he would like to go but could not justify for safety sake. He had not really come up with a good alternative to staying here for the time being. He felt fairly confident that he would not see any snatcher here in the near future. Staying might be a good idea.
"I—I—uh—I might stay here for a few more days. Let me have one of your rooms."
"Follow me," she said with a smile. "The rooms are upstairs."
She showed him a room. It was neat and clean, but anything other than fancy. It only had a bed, chair, dresser, and a window looking out over the street. The bathroom facilities were located a couple of doors further down the hallway.
"The price of the room includes breakfast and dinner," noted the woman.
"That is an excellent deal," replied Ron, now seeing the problem of eating made much easier.
He agreed to the room and paid for four nights. When asked about luggage he said he had been robbed while at his previous place. A thief had cleaned out his backpack taking most of his belongings while he was napping in a park. He was glad they had not picked his pockets, as well. It just meant he was finishing his adventure a little lighter than anticipated.
The woman took the money and slipped it into a pocket on her well-worn apron as she turned to leave. "Enjoy yer stay," she said in a happy voice. "I hope you find Crickhowell to yer likin'."
"Thank you," replied Ron as he moved to sit down in his chair.
A short while later he got up and left the room. He had decided to look around the village. The fresh air and scenery would probably do him some good. It might jog his mind. It could help find some new ideas. He needed a plan for the future.
Once again Hermione dominated his thoughts. He missed her more than anything. Even though he kept trying to come up with ideas for rejoining the hunt for the horcruxes, he found himself more concerned with finding his way back to her. He wondered if she missed him, or if she was glad he was gone. He wanted her. Why had he not found a way to let her know how he felt. Was she really showing favoritism for Harry over him, or was it just his and the horcrux's imagination?
Crickhowell turned out to be a very common muggle village. It had a pharmacy selling muggle cures for illnesses and ailments, a bookstore that would surely fascinate Hermione, a hardware, a store catering to the needs of automobiles, a clothing store, church, bank, grocery and several other shops serving various other needs and functions. He visited the clothing store and emerged with a warm coat, gloves and hat for the colder weather he might encounter.
In the grocery, he bought a loaf of bread, a bottle of milk, and some local cheese and sausage. This provided him with a hearty lunch and he continued his tour. By the time he reached to open country at the edge of the village, he had spent the whole afternoon. As the sun started to set he headed back to his room. While darkness might conceal him, it might also hide those he would prefer not to meet.
The rest of the day passed and Ron found himself wondering what Hermione would be doing if she was stuck in a mess like this as he closed his eyes. The notion that Hermione was too smart to put herself in a situation like this tormented him. Even though the bed in his room was far superior to his bunk in the tent, the ability to transition into a night of rest was hard to make.
Hermione lay down on her cot. Tears quietly trickled down her cheeks as she worried about Ron. She knew he was clever, but was he going to be able to go it alone? He was used to having the support of his family to fall back on. None of that was available in this world. Her mind was too anxious for her to find the peace of sleep.
Harry, mad as he still was at Ron, was also concerned about him. His best friend was out there in an unfriendly world and he was claiming a great deal of the responsibility for it. He had a Hufflepuff's worth of family protectiveness for his friends. He wanted to save all of the 'treasures' during the second Triwizard Tournament challenge. He had given up the prophecy for his friends. He had taken on the teaching role in Dumbledore's Army after having been treated as a pariah by much of the school including members of his own house for most of the previous year. This did not make it easy for him to go to sleep.
However, sleep eventually came to all of them. In the morning Harry and Hermione took a walk around their enclave before packing up for their daily move. The sedentary life was not to their liking. It felt good to stretch their legs.
"I wish we could come up with a plan," said Harry.
"I know. I keep reading and thinking but nothing is coming to me. It's frustrating."
"I wonder how he's is doing?" asked Harry, the veil of loathing he had been carrying starting to wane even though he was still not willing to say Ron's name.
This caused Hermione to stop. It took a few seconds for her to manage to say, "I ho—uh think he's okay. He is pretty good under pressure. You remember how he saved Tonks when we got you from the Dursley's to The Burrow."
"Yes, sometimes we don't give him enough credit. I imagine his story will have to be better than ours if he ever returns."
That remark deeply cut Hermione. Quietly, Her achy heart was still at odds with the angry at him for leaving side of her brain. She wondered how she would react when he finally reappeared.
Ron headed down to enjoy a filling breakfast. If nothing else, they ate well in Crickhowell. Only two things were consuming his conscious mind. He kept asking himself how he could find his way back to Harry and Hermione? At the same time, his mind was also on high alert along with his eyes and ears searching for possible snatchers.
Ron spent much of the morning in the bookstore. Even though he was never much of a reader outside of schoolwork, he felt a strange sense of peace and happiness surrounded by the books as he randomly looked through several of them.
Harry was back in the tent puttering around. He practiced a few spells and washed and dried his clothes the way Hermione had taught him. Hermione was outside reading by the tree and enjoying her little fire.
He had kept thinking about how they could proceed, but could not come up with any clues as to the location of the next horcrux. After a while, he laid down on his cot and floated off toward sleep. He kept seeing images of Ginny and wishing he could be holding her. He wondered if she worried about him or was mad they had left her behind.
Hermione eventually came back into the tent to warm up and have some lunch. Once she finished she walked over to Ron's space and started picking up and rearranging the belongings he had left behind during his hasty departure. Ron, not the neatest of people, would probably be appalled at her actions.
"This stuff should all be organized in case we need to leave," she said, trying to justify her actions to Harry and probably herself. Her space was already neat and proper.
"You're right," said Harry as he got up and headed to the tent opening. "I'll be outside, now. Be sure to get some rest, as well."
"I will," she replied as he exited.
Instead of taking a seat against a tree, Harry decided to take a chance and to wander about outside the safety of their concealments and protective shield. He really had not taken time to appreciate their surroundings. It was a beautiful little woodland with hills, trees, a stream and a fair amount of wildlife ranging from several varieties of birds, to some hares, a squirrel, a pair of deer, and a none to friendly weasel that did not seem to welcome him interrupting it stalking of one of the hares he had seen earlier.
This was probably quite a pleasant place in the summer. It was nice, now, just a tad bit too cold. He had a vision of himself walking with Ginny and taking time for some snogging and cuddling near the stream.
Finally making it back to the camp, Harry headed to the tent for a bit of warming up. It was close to time for him to switch with Hermione. He hoped she had not ventured out during his absence and became concerned with his whereabouts. When he stepped inside he got a bit of a surprise.
Hermione was curled up in a fetal position on Ron's bed. Her expression was the most tranquil, contented look he had seen on her face in a long time. He also noted what seemed to be tear stains on her cheeks. With great care, he poured himself a cup of tea and sat down on his bed. It would be rude to disturb her and rob her of a second of the sleep she was enjoying.
On occasion, he considered trying to start a romance between himself and her. They had been stuck alone together for weeks with no end in sight. However, it would never work. He was scared making a move might hurt their friendship. She was too good of a friend…almost to the point of him considering her his sister. Besides, he knew how she felt about Ron under the mask of anger at him she still had not fully taken off.
He also knew how he felt about Ginny. It often tied his stomach in knots. He wondered how she was getting along. He wondered if she was safe. He wondered if she was thinking or worrying about him. Part of him wished she was here. Her presence would greatly ease the Hell in which he was stuck.
Hermione was making happy sounding noises that caused Harry to have to suppress a few chuckles as she slept. He sensed that the smell of Ron on the bedding was affecting her unconscious mind and letting her enjoy it in a way she normally would suppress. After about an hour she finally stirred and appeared to be coming back to life. As she sat up and shook away the sleep she noticed Harry was also in the tent.
"Oh. You're back," she said, still sounding a bit groggy as she wiped her eyes. "I must have dozed off."
"Yes. You looked really peaceful there like you were having happy dreams. I didn't want to bother you."
"Actually I was," she said, then paused as an embarrassed, sheepish expression started to creep across her face as she realized where she had been sleeping. "I must have—uh—been sleepier than I realized."
Harry smiled at her as she got up and moved to her own space without making eye contact. "Don't worry. I won't tell on you," he said with a rare in recent times grin.
Time passed. Days turned into weeks. Progress was essentially non-existent. Their only comfort came from the portrait. Despite his dislike for being blindfolded, Phineas could not help but show up and talk to them on occasion. They got tidbits of news from him. He confirmed the facts about Ginny, Neville and Luna getting in trouble over the sword in Snape's office. They, like Snape, had no way of knowing it was a fake and it now resided deep in the vaults at Gringott's. The news that Ginny was okay helped Harry's spirits. Of course, it did little to alleviate the pain of being separated from her.
The lack of the mentioning of Ron by Phineas left Hermione feeling good in that he must still be safely eluding capture. Phineas would have surely tormented them with the details of his capture or death, if such were to have occurred. Her heart won out over her brain's anger at him leaving. She wanted to know where he was hiding. He was certainly not at home. That would be way too dangerous. Number 12 Grimmauld had been compromised. He could not go back to Hogwarts, as desirable as good food and a soft bed might sound. And it was doubtful he knew how to find Charlie in Romania. That seemed to leave Ron little more than a life of hiding on the run, not unlike theirs.