Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter universe, characters or otherwise.

Author Note: Okay, I'm very very sorry about the ridicously long wait. Its due to a number of things. One, I recently had important exams that I had to concentrate on, two, I've had incredibly horrible writers block ... its still here but I'm trying my best to shift it, and thirdly I had a number of situations going on offline in my personal life that made updating kind of a non-issue.

I'm really sorry it took so long and that this chapter is very short and rather uneventful, it's a bit of a filler to be honest!

I'm going on holiday for a month or so, and won't be back till September- ish so sadly it'll be another long wait for the next chapter but this is letting you know in advance!

Huge thankyou to Rikki, my new beta, she is A M A Z I N G! And I'm sure I'll be learning a lot from her. :D Also thanks to FushiaNicole for a little advice on a couple of bits in this chapter. To all of FawkesAshes for everything, and to for a couple of the one-liners used in this chapter.

I hope you all have a great summer, see you when I return! -Orchid

Chapter 8 Hermione woke the next morning and felt a contented warm flutter in her stomach in the split second before the previous day's events came rushing back to her. Deciding instantly that mulling in bed would not be in any way a good start to the day, she swung her legs out of bed and padded into the front room. The sofa was empty, a neat pile of bedding balanced on the arm. The floor was clear too, a similar pile of sheets the only evidence that Bill had slept there last night. Frowning slightly, she tiptoed over to the guest room and peered through the slightly ajar door. Zahra was still there, a lump beneath the covers, her short blonde hair sprouting a little above the duvet. Hermione heard a door click and spun around. Bill had appeared from the shower. His hair was wet and hanging into his eyes, and he was naked bar a white towel slung low on his hips.

"Morning," she stammered, feeling a mixture of emotions zoom through her, but not missing the twinge of attraction under the heavy worry.

"I thought you'd still be sleeping," Bill said, taking a step towards her, a slight crease between his eyebrows expressing his concern. Hermione shrugged and took a hedging step to the side towards the kitchen.

"Where's Ron?"

"Gone to check on Isis," Bill said, hitching up the towel with one hand and pushing the damp tendrils of hair out of his eyes with the other. "Then he and Remus are going to check out that alley."

"Oh," Hermione said tonelessly. She watched as Bill stooped to scoop up the pile of bedding, then collected the second pile and followed him silently into the bedroom with it. He opened the wardrobe and stacked his sheets on a top shelf, and then Hermione passed him Ron's pile.

"Hungry?" Bill asked, shutting the wardrobe doors and turning to face her. Hermione shook her head.

"Not really," she replied quietly, as her stomach grumbled contradictorily. Bill quirked an eyebrow at her, but she didn't smile and instead sat down suddenly on the edge of his bed. He moved over and dropped down in front of her.

"Hermione, have a shower. Get dressed. I'll make you breakfast. Ron will back soon. We'll know where to start – what to do. Just..." he paused, and squeezed lightly on her hands, which he'd captured in his. "Just... don't give up."

Hermione frowned. "I wouldn't give up on Harry," she snapped angrily, trying to tug her hands free, but Bill hung on. Reluctantly she met his eyes and instantly felt remorseful. "Sorry."

"Don't be," he said, leaning up and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I can't imagine how hard this is for you. But... I want you to know... I'm here for you, Hermione," he said solemnly. "And not just me, Remus is here too. And Ron." She felt a shiver of guilt. She had been so absorbed in her own misery and fear for Harry she had barely spared a thought for what Ron, her other best friend--Harry's other best friend--was going through.

"You're not alone," Bill spoke up again, staring into her eyes. "You'll never be alone."

Freshly showered and dressed, Hermione entered Bill's kitchen to the smell of frying breakfast. She slid into a seat at the table and watched as he flipped bacon and whisked scrambled egg. Her mood couldn't help but lift at the sight of him cooking in what looked like a rather expert way. She felt a small smile as she remembered his modest valuation of his cooking skills, lasagne and toast seemed to be an understatement.

"What do you fancy?" he asked her over his shoulder. "Fried? Cereal? Fruit?"

Hermione plucked a grapefruit out of the fruit bowl, sliced it in half, sprinkled it with brown sugar, and began tucking in. Bill set a cup of coffee down beside her, and joined the table with a bacon buttie.

"Thanks," Hermione said, taking a sip of the strong coffee and meeting his eyes.

"No problem, breakfast comes complimentary when you stay at mine," Bill joked. She smiled.

"And for before – you know..."

Bill nodded and let his hand rest briefly on hers, before adding copious amounts of ketchup to his sandwich. There was a sound from the lounge, and seconds later Remus and Ron strode into the kitchen.

"Morning," Ron said, giving Hermione's shoulder a light squeeze. Remus smiled at her, pulled up a chair and poured a cup of strong black coffee.

"Did you find anything?" Hermione blurted before she could stop herself. A tired look flashed across both of their faces.

"Not much," Ron replied, slumping into his chair and rubbing at his temples. "We went back to the alley. The symbols were there. Untouched."

"That's good! They –"Hermione began quickly, but Remus cut her off.

"They aren't going to be easy to decipher. They definitely aren't typical hieroglyphics," he said.

"It's a start," she retorted.

Remus nodded, taking a long gulp of coffee. "Well, we got a copy..." he said, tapping his pocket.

Hermione turned to Ron, who looked pale and withdrawn. "What do you want to eat?" she asked him. "I'll get it."

He shrugged listlessly and she felt a dip of alarm in her stomach. Ron was really worried; only emotions in the extreme affected his appetite. She finished her grapefruit half, pushed back her chair, headed to the hob and began to fry bacon and sausages. Minutes later she placed a plateful of food in front of Ron.

"Thanks," he said, smiling a little, and began tucking in half-heartedly. After a few mouthfuls he began shovelling his forkfuls in the disgusting manner she was used to. Remus set down his mug and looked across the table at Hermione and Bill.

"All we can do for now is research; look into ancient Egyptian magic as much as possible. Books are all we've got for now, but we might stumble across something..."

Hermione held in a sigh and nodded her head silently. Bill got up and began clearing away the breakfast things. As he tipped plates into the sink, Archimedes slunk into the room and curled around his legs mewing loudly.

"Hungry?" Bill murmured, opening a cupboard to his left and taking down a tin of sardines. Hermione watched blankly, her spoon stirring patterns in her cold milky coffee, until she started.

"Ron!"

"Eh?" he grunted, looking up from his plate.

"Isis. She said her parents were interested in ancestry and ancient Egypt and stuff. She can help us research. She's local – she – "

"I can go and find her," Ron said, pushing his chair away from the table and glancing at Remus for confirmation. Remus shrugged.

"Can't hurt to have another person helping, can it?" he asked. "And as Hermione pointed out, she does have local knowledge."

Ron nodded and grabbed a piece of toast, stuffing the corner in his mouth as he left the kitchen.

Hours later, Hermione and Bill were sitting around Bill's large dining table. Piles of books surrounded them, some from Bill's shelves, some requested from the M.O.L.E., the Magical Organisational Library Exporter, a club which dispensed books on loan by magic to members all over the world. Hermione had signed up her first year at Hogwarts. The rest came specially delivered by owl from Dumbledore; he had picked a selection from the Hogwarts' Library, shrunk them with a charm and sent them over.

Hermione was bent low over a thick book, her bushy hair pulled out of her eyes and fastened at the back of her head. She was chewing on her bottom lip, her eyes zooming from left to right along the lines of tiny print. Bill watched her. She looked beautiful; every part of her was intent on what she was reading, drinking in everything and anything that might lead her to her best friend.

He was so intent on watching her that he jumped when she let out a sudden exclamation and slammed a finger down on a passage in her book.

"I never knew..." she said, staring at the page with a mingled look of awe and amazement. Her eyes flickered up to meet Bill's. "Listen," she hissed, wetting her lips and reciting; "Gods and Goddesses as we know them never truly existed in the forms we are led to believe. From which these omnipotent figures originate is the ancient time in the world where Magic folk and Muggles lived together. There were no restraints on magical power. It knew no realms, and the thirst and greed for it was devastating. Witches and Wizards consumed power like oxygen, elevating themselves above the rest, expanding their supremacy wherever they could. With no limits, magic could capture emotions, could control the weather, the seasons, could bring or banish violence, famine and poverty. The Muggles, helpless against the magical abilities, bowed down to the tyrannical and domineering wizards, branding them invincible and supreme beings to be worshipped and feared. Thus sprung Gods and Goddesses, who ruled the world, their powers ceaseless, till they were finally reined. Magic set upon itself limits and controls. It brought the gap between Muggles and Magic folk smaller, but as history shows, the gap was not breached, and eventually the two had to split ways forever, as living in harmony seemed impossible." Hermione drew a breath and stared across the table at Bill. "I never knew."

Bill shrugged. "You're Muggleborn," he pointed out, "and too young. I mean, wizards don't discuss it. It's like having a horrible shame in your history. Like, I dunno... slavery." He shrugged at the poor example. Hermione continued staring at the page, then looked back up.

"Anything on the symbols yet?" she asked, moving around the table to look over his shoulder at the books he had propped open at various pages. Next to them lay the parchment with the pencil copy of the markings in the alley that Remus had made. Bill shook his head.

"Not really; the comparisons aren't helping much. It's just like Remus said; they're far too intricate to be typical hieroglyphics..."

"They could be an ancient form."

"Yeah," Bill agreed, "but there are thousands of those, so unless we can narrow our time scale down, it's going to take forever to stumble across the right one. That is, if they even are hieroglyphics..." He rubbed at his temples and then wet his thumb, turning the page in one of the books, revealing another crammed full of minute, indecipherable symbols and keys.

Hermione impulsively leant in a little further and pressed a kiss to his cheekbone. Bill's head turned towards her as her hand came up to stroke his hair. His reached up and covered her hand, drawing her a little closer. She slid around the chair, resting against him, their foreheads together, and he stared into her eyes. They were clouded with tears. He felt a shiver somewhere at the bottom of his spine. "Hermione," he whispered, leaning in as her eyes slid shut, their lips brushing against each other's.

There was a loud bang and she jolted back from him, one hand slipping from his hair, her other fingers wiping at her eyes. Bill got up and opened his mouth to speak when another rap at the door stopped him. He strode across the room and undid the catch as Hermione slipped back into her seat.

Sorry it was rather short, hope you all enjoyed it! (