AN- Thanks for all the great reviews! I'll try a longer chapter this time and even if I don't manage the story will be updated frequently this week, as I'm on holiday.

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Disclaimer- Harry Potter etc belongs to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers.

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Chapter 9-

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The day of the journey dawned clear and sunny, although still not hot it was early and weather wizards were predicting a very hot and humid day.

Ron had a disturbed nights sleep, his dreams riddled with nightmares of Voldemort. Not being able to anticipate any more sleep he had crawled out of bed at five o'clock and now sat on the small balcony that came out of his bedroom.

The house was quiet except for the solid snoring of Sirius who had spent the night on the chaise in Ron's room. Ron sighed as he wondered just how dangerous the mission would be.

Sure Sirius expected it to be no more challenging than the customary mission but Ron wasn't so sure. It had been at least two years since he'd been involved in a mission with Voldemort's name connected to it, at least two years since the last attempt of the Deatheaters to follow in their former masters footsteps. Wasn't a bit odd that suddenly they were resurfacing?

Voldemort. Ron thought of that name with both intense hatred and phenomenal fear. Shuddering he remembered with a vivid picture the events of Harry's death.

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FLASHBACK

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Ron and Hermione had vowed to stay by their best friend no matter what. Now it seemed they were fulfilling that vow.

They were all wand less, their most vital possessions in the hands of the smirking Deatheater- Draco Malfoy.

Over a hundred Deatheaters, each with their wands poised to kill at any given moment, surrounded them. Torrential rain lashed down hard on the windswept hill and an incensed bellow of thunder filled their ears. For the three valiant heroes death seemed consequently close.

As if to mock and heighten the hopelessness of the situation the leader, the one who was most feared, the one who cheated death walked up to the boy who lived and ruffled his jet black hair with a bony, rotted hand and met Harry's bright green eyes with his own eyes malignant, devoid of feelings except that loathing and thirst for power that had driven him to kill so many people. Voldemort.

Harry stared right back. His scar burning and his emotions running out of control, pure anger and abhorrence of the repulsive monster in front of him spurred him on. Surprising even himself Harry leapt forward and grabbed Voldemort's wand. Hardly stopping to think he snapped it in half.

A flash of blinding blue light stopped his best friends from seeing what happened. The light eventually receded, and the Deatheaters fled. Ron and Hermione however remained frozen.

There in front of them lay two motionless bodies: one of their worst enemy, the other of their best friend.

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END FLASHBACK

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As Ron withdrew from this painful memory he realised that the snoring had stopped and looked up startled to find Sirius standing beside him.

"Hermione's job is about as dangerous as ours anyway you know." He said softly.

"Huh?"

"She's a field researcher. Runes are usually found hidden underground in secret chambers. There are booby traps, monsters and curses guarding them. So you see you don't just need an academic to do that sort of work you need someone who is quick minded, good with a wand and athletic, someone with high endurance levels, someone like Hermione."

"Yeah, but how often dark wizards?" Ron countered.

"You'd be surprised," Sirius said dryly, "And besides, she was once one of the best aurors."

"I suppose, it just doesn't seem right. Without….."

Suddenly Sirius understood, although a big part of Ron's attitude towards Hermione helping them was a fierce protectiveness for someone Ron so obviously loved but another equally large part was Ron badly missing Harry and wishing he were still part of his adventures and of every day life. Having Hermione along would only highlight that things could never be the same.

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Two hours later they apparated just outside a remote muggle village fifteen miles from Barcelona.

"Here we are," Sirius said.

Ron took a sideways glance at Hermione. Like the two men she was dressed in muggle attire, beige shorts and a brownish coloured t-shirt with hiking sandals. Her long brown curls had hung in a braid down her back, her cheeks had natural ruby tint to them and her brown eyes shone. She was excited, tense and on edge.

Unaware of his scrutiny Hermione looked up at the cliff face they were in front of.

"Up there?" Sirius asked, uncertain.

"Yep." She said, "The entrance to the bunker is at the top, I worked it out from the map you gave me."

"It'll be a great view once we've apparated up there." Ron said.

"Once we've climbed," Hermione, stated, "There is an anti-magic force field around the entrance. Our wands are useless until we get inside."

And so they began their assent, moving slowly but surely. Hermione it seemed didn't struggle at all, she seemed used to it and while her companions were out of breath as they reached the top, she recovered quickly and began scanning the area for the entrance.

"Ah-hah!" She exclaimed several minutes later, "Here it is!"

Ron and Sirius joined her. The 'entrance' was just a part of the cliff wall.

"You must be mistaken Hermione, this is just a bit of cliff." Ron said shaking his head.

"I think you'll find she's right," Sirius chuckled as Hermione bent down and twisted a seemingly ordinary rock. A crack appeared in the cliff and kept on gowning till it revealed a dark flight of stairs going downwards.

"How?" Ron asked stunned.

"It's all on the map, Sirius said another agent got it of a Deatheater." She said.

But they had a long way to go, and Ron suspected that their descent in that dark, murky passageway would not be pleasant. Looking into the impenetrable gloom, he felt a strange wave of fear pass over him. What would happen down there?

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AN- Sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger but I will update very, very soon. Please review,