A/N: Go ahead, breath a sigh of relief. Chapter sixteen has finally arrived. I'm so sorry that this chapter took so very long. I had real life stuff and writers block among other problems. I hope you all like it. There's a little bit more Maggie in this chapter than there has been in the last couple and there's some good ol' fashion fluff stuck onto the end. This chapter is very necessary, though not very exciting really.

Also, just to catch you all up with what's going on:

Ron and Hermione are in the past, they're separated from Harry and Ginny and they think they've found the descendants of Dumbledore. Just skim over the last chapter again if you really don't remember what's going on. Happy reading!

Dedicated to every old soul I've ever met.

Chapter 16

Hermione

Isaac Dumbledore was a fourteen year old version of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore with duller eyes and a shorter face. When I saw him for the first time, I thought I might possibly be imagining things. He spoke with that same slow drawl. He walked with that same grace and assuredness. It made me wonder if all Dumbledores were born with an old soul. I wouldn't doubt it.

Albus, Ron, and I had called on the Dumbledores in the late afternoon and were asked in by Marian. She was a stout woman with lots of attitude and a very short attention span.

She beared a striking resemblance to Mrs. Weasley.

"Albus, what is it?" she asked.

He put his hand on my shoulder and looked at her, "This is Hermione and this," he pointed to Ron, "is Ron. They want to help find Bea."

Isaac stirred and looked up at Albus, "Why?"

"Because we have no where else to go and..."Ron glanced at him and grinned, "this is kind of what we do."

"They speak strangely Albus. I know you. Why do you trust them?" Daniel asked.

The two men stared at each other, seeming to speak without words.

"I have no other hope Daniel. They ARE different and that is why I trust them."

Isaac stood and crossed toward Ron. He looked to be about fourteen and he fell just short of Ron's nose. He regarded Ron closely and then his eyes softened, "She is my best friend. You know about that, do you not? I want her back. You understand what I mean."

I saw something change in Ron's eyes. Acceptance? No. Realization? Maybe. Understanding? Yes.

"Yeah, mate, I understand," Ron's hand came up and covered his heart, he smiled, "I know all about that."

Isaac turned to me and nodded, "Albus is right, I trust them too."

Marian huffed, "Let us be practical about this. She has been gone for days and no one has heard even a whisper of her whereabouts. Are we going to endanger our lives, give ourselves to Charmenmere, when we are not even know if she is still alive?"

Ron cleared his throat, "Um...I don't know how much it means to you all, but I've had to make this type of decision before and it was worth the effort. I hate spiders. When I was twelve, a close friend of mine was hurt and the only way I could help her was to go up against a giant acromantula. I didn't even know if it would work, but there was hope. I wanted her back so badly and she was so important to me, that there was no question in my mind about what I would do. All I had was hope, but that was enough for me. The idea that I would see her smile and hear her voice again...that was enough. Ask your son if that's enough."

As the words left his lips I felt a vice clamp around my heart and squeeze so hard that it hurt. A surge of...something flooded through me as I replayed his sentences back through my head. I had loved this man since...forever, and maybe it was possible that he loved me back for just as long. A wave of contentment washed over my entire body and warmed me from the tips of my fingers to my core.

Marian turned to Isaac and furrowed her brow.

He looked up, seemingly, straight through her eyes to see somewhere deeper inside her, "It's enough. I'm not even hoping for a smile, I'm just hoping for a breath, a sound...anything. If none of you wish to go, then I will go alone. You know I will. You know I've been planning it. You know it's true."

Marian looked stricken with realization. She reached out to Isaac and touched his face. She was looking for....truth. Isaac stood, stock-still, almost challenging her gaze.

She nodded, "Then we go."

Night fell and Ron had been very quiet since his speech earlier that day. He alternated between helping Albus and Daniel prepare for our rescue mission and sitting with me, going over the survival spell book I'd packed. When in doubt..study, that was my policy.

Daniel and Isaac each moved slowly, packing a muggle weapon in each of our ruck sacks. I found it odd that they used them, but decided not to ask too many questions. Marian packed dry foods and different healing potions into her sack and mine ("both, in case we're separated").

"How are you?" I asked Ron who was sitting to my right.

"I think I've been involved with one Dark Lord too many." he said.

"You and I both, Ron."

"I don't understand how we got here. I can't make sense of how we found the right person in a random village who lead us to the descendants of Dumbledore. Hell, I don't even know why we offered to help with this suicide mission. Hermione, what if we don't live through this? What if we've left Harry and Ginny to Voldemort?"

"Ron..." I couldn't think of a thing to say to him.

"What if....if this is where it ends?"

He bowed his head.

"My grandmother became very old before I could retain any memories of her younger self. She always told me to live as if I was at the very beginning of something brilliant. She reasoned that the beginning is the very best of everything. It's the place where anything is possible, yet something has started," he looked at me and an emotion tugged at the edge of his mouth, "does that help, at all?"

"You know , Hermione, I am constantly amazed by the sheer capacity of your memory." he let a slight grin grace his wide mouth.

"Oh, it's nothing I do on purpose." I said.

There was silence between us. Ron looked as if thoughts were running in circles behind his eyes. I wanted to know them...to see what he was thinking. He wanted to say something.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me."

He looked down at his hands and spoke softly, "I'm more afraid now than I've ever been. Ever."

Not knowing what to do, I reached over and clasped his hand. He tightened his fingers around mine.

"Ron, Hermione, full darkness is only a few minutes away. We need to start moving before it's too late. We will not want to be caught in the bright morning light."

Six of us, packed the remaining supplies and headed off toward the edge of the town and into the dense forest as night fell over us and shrouded us. We traveled toward Beatrice and whoever was guarding her.

Ron

"We need to stop, the sun will be up soon and Charmenmere's ranks will be up full force during the day." Daniel said, as we walked toward the clearing.

"This place seems space enough for the night." Albus said, taking his sack off.

He took out a small bundle and set it on the ground. He stepped away, pointed his wand, and said, "Finite Incantatum."

The small clump grew larger and yielded a few long sticks, a few short sticks, and a large, tan blanket.

"Totalus Assemble." he whispered, and the pieces began to move and create a crude shelter.

"Amazing," Hermione said.

Albus bowed his head for a moment in appreciation, "Thank you."

Isaac stood to the side, staring at the small hut, a look of disbelief on his face.

"There is not enough room in that for all of us," he said.

Albus laughed, a full chuckled that soothed me into relaxation.

"Not without an engorgement charm, Isaac," he said, turning toward it and crawling in.

"Is he like this all the time?" I asked.

Daniel turned to me and raised an eyebrow, "Like?"

"Brilliant," I said, shrugging.

Marian made a small noise.

"Always," she said.

A feeling of familiarity came to dwell within me then. That was so like Albus Dumbledore. He was amazing, he was mysterious, he was....brilliant in every sense of the word.

"You can all come inside, now," Albus said, his body still inside the small contraption.

Daniel cleared his throat, looking as though he was trying not to laugh.

"Are you positive, Albus?" Hermione asked him.

He smiled with a twinkle in his eyes and said, "Yes, I assure you that everything is just fine."

"Alright then." I said, crouching down and crawling into the little shelter. When I got my body through the hole I looked around and gasped, standing up. Albus had done several charms to magically enlarge the small shelter. There was a little entry room, big enough for all of us to stand in. On either side there was a curtain drawn that showed two smaller rooms, both housed a small double bed and a cot. There were no windows in the whole establishment, and no entrances aside from the one behind us.

"This is masterful Albus, true brilliance, I commend you," Daniel said, nodding his head.

"It's just magical space and some transfiguration. Really, Daniel, it is nothing much," Albus said distractedly.

"How shall we split?" Marian asked, moving into the right-most room.

"You, Daniel, and I to one side, Isaac, Ron, and Hermione to the other," Albus said.

"No, Daniel and I are strong wand hands, we should be split up," Marian insisted.

Isaac shook his head, "This one," he pointed at Hermione, "she is the strongest wand handler among us and you are the other. You're women, your emotion rules your magic. It matters more to you whether you hit your mark. That makes you more accurate."

Marian looked taken aback by his observation. She looked almost angry or, maybe...she looked scared.

"He is correct, Marian,"Albus said, "Dawn light is breaking fast, get settled, it will be a very short day and we must move with the night. I will wake you at dusk. Sleep well."

With that, he followed Marian and Daniel into one room and shut the curtain. I looked at Hermione and she nodded, turning around and walking swiftly into the other room, followed closely by Isaac, leaving Maggie and I in the center room. Maggie had been very quiet throughout the entire journey, sleeping most of the night and waking only when we stopped for water. She had been awake for the last hour or so, but kept silent. Finally alone with me, she spoke.

"Ron," she whispered, "you need to sleep. I'll watch out for you."

I smiled and took a deep breath.

"Maggie, you don't have to watch out for me."

"Not just you. Hermin-ie too and that boy," she said, lifting off my shoulder and hovering before my face.

"Why Isaac, I mean, the boy?"

She scrunched her little nose up until it nearly disappeared into her face and she lifted her tiny hand to her chest.

"He hurts, in here," she said.

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure he does. I'm tired Maggie."

"I know," she said, settling back on my shoulder as I swept the curtain beside and walked into the room.

Hermione was standing with her back to me, her dress folded neatly on her sack and she wore only the innermost gown that covered her arms to the wrists and fell to the floor around her. She reached behind her and untied the plait in her hair, shaking it out so it was full and unrestrained. Isaac had already laid down on the cot and was fading fast, Maggie hovering over him.

"You can have the bed," I said, taking one of the pillows off the bed and readying myself for a night on the floor.

I lay there for a moment until a shadow fell over my face and Hermione filled my vision, "You can have it too."

"What?" I asked.

She smiled, "the bed, silly, you can sleep there too, I don't mind."

"Are you joking? My mum would kill me if she knew. I think it's better with this arrangement," I nodded my head, reassuring myself more than I was her.

"What, are you going to try something? Huh, Weasley? Can't I trust you with my innocence?" she grinned teasingly.

I smiled, "that, is a loaded question and you know it."

She shrugged, "maybe, but I still want to know. I mean, I have to be sure. I'm not a scarlet woman after all."

"Yes," I said.

"Yes, I am? Well, maybe I revoke my invitation then," she said, beginning to stand up. I grabbed her arm.

"No, you aren't. I meant yes, you can trust me not to TRY anything," I said.

She leaned closer, almost touching my nose with hers as if studying my real intentions. Then she let this other emotion into her eyes...and it was intense.

"You are honorable. Pity," she whispered, quickly standing up and stepping over me to climb into the covers.

My eyebrows shot up and it only took me a few seconds to settle in beside her. We lay there, both facing the wall, for a few minutes until she spoke softly into the darkness.

"Ron?"

"Yes?"

"What...what if you were right?" she asked.

"About...?" I furrowed my brow.

"About this...being...the end. What if you were right?"

"Then this is the end, I suppose. But, we still have tomorrow at least," I reasoned.

"If this is it...are you...satisfied with it?" she asked.

"I don't know. Are you?"

She rolled over, facing me and furrowed her brow. Then, she lifted my arm and slid over closer to me, turning back to the wall and snuggling her back into my chest, pulling my arm around her and lacing her fingers through mine.

"Now I am," she said.

I couldn't believe that this wonderful girl wanted nothing more or less than to sleep, resting against me, holding my hand. That was my last real thought as exhaustion forced me into an easy sleep.

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