Chapter 11- Day 4D

A/N Yes, this is the first day that has been split into 4 parts. Sorry it took a while, but just for the record, I had fun! And I was hit with an idea…too bad it's for the sequel. LOL! Anyways, I just realized, 11 chapters, wow. I am going to dedicate the 14th chapter to…the 45th reviewer. So…. Here goes. The long awaited chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer How many times must I say I am not JK Rowling? I think that we all know by now. It's not like anyone is going to confuse me with her but…

"Yeah?" he asked, looking at her, his hand still gripping protectively onto hers.

"Can… can we go to the Burrow?" asked Hermione in a quiet voice, as if afraid someone was eavesdropping.

"Sure." Came the reply, as he steered her into a shop. "Just let me get Gin."

Hermione simply nodded and scanned the store for her friend. Luckily, Ginny has the Weasley red hair so she wasn't difficult to spot.

Ginny's eyes went wide with disbelief as she saw Ron clutching Hermione's hand. Hermione happened to see this but she made no effort as to remove her hand from its current location.

Ron dragged her along as he whispered something to his sister. Ginny simply nodded and followed them out of the store.

Hermione's thoughts were reeling from the conversation that had occurred just mere minutes ago.

"They tortured him. He is not dead. They wanted to know the whereabouts…"

"The whereabouts of who?" asked Hermione, becoming nervous…

"The whereabouts of you, Miss Granger." Said Dumbledore sadly…

"I do not think it matters but as you know, you're family has ancient magical protection. Miss Granger does not have that."…

"Mr. Weasley, I agree with you. Which is why I'm giving you the opportunity to do it. I won't be able to. I'm going to be dealing with the Minister."…

'Anything for 'Mione.'

Hermione was pulled out of her thoughts as she found herself in the Burrow. She was a bit shocked that she hadn't realized how she had gotten there, but she quickly recovered. She sighed as she saw Ron was still squeezing the life out of her poor hand. Still, she didn't attempt to relocate it.

She looked around the empty room. It seemed like no one was home. She let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Ron ushered her up the stairs to his room. Hermione found herself withdrawing her hand as she saw the giant stack of books on Ron's desk.

"Oh, my. RON!" She yelled, wildly gesturing to the desk.

Ron simply nodded with a smile plastered on his face.

Hermione was bordering on hysteria since she was now very excited.

"Yeah, when you were looking for Gin, I ordered them and had them delivered here."

"OH, RON!" She yelled, bringing him into a tight embrace.

Ron hugged her back but she quickly withdrew.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Ron. I was just so excited that… well…" Hermione stuttered out an explanation all while staring at the bright orange walls.

Ron simply nodded. He might have been in Gryffindor while he was a Hogwarts but he had no courage to tell her what he wanted to say.

Hermione dove into the stack of books immediately. Ron conjured up a chair and pulled it next to her. But not close enough for her to suspect anything.

Hermione pulled out 1001 Spells for Helping the Tortured.

"You're not going to read ALL of them are you? I mean…"

"Yes, Ronald! The life of our friend is at stake and all you can say is…"

"Well, 'Mione, I meant you take 501 and I take 500."

Hermione looked at him and then burst out laughing. "How about Ginny take 1?"

As if she had been listening in, Ginny burst into the room in tears.

"Oh, Gin! What's wrong?" Hermione asked as she got up and tried to console her red-head friend.

"NO! Harry…I told Harry that I didn't love him and then… he left… and now… I might never get the chance to…" Ginny tried to fit in as much words as possible between sobs.

Hermione simply nodded and gave Ron a pleading look. Ron walked over and wrapped his arms around his sister, giving some relief to Hermione who's shirt was almost soaking wet in tears.

"Ron, I think you should leave." Said Hermione gesturing towards the door. Ron felt hurt but took this as a prime opportunity to use the Extendable Ears.

"Now, Gin, what's wrong?"

"I told you!" snapped Ginny whose face was now flushed from crying. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I didn't mean to be so mean to you. I'm just afraid I'm never going to see Harry again." The words that had just escaped her lips caused Ginny to begin sobbing again. Hermione patiently waited until she was ready to talk.

"Ginny? What did you want to say to Harry?" asked Hermione, slowly considering each word as she said it.

Ginny seemed to ponder this question for a moment. "I'm just afraid something's happened to him."

"So are we." Hermione then quoted word-for-word the conversation that had taken place in The Three Broomsticks.

Ginny simply sat in silence, as pale as you can get without being dead. This thought scared Hermione.

"It's just not fair. You should be enjoying your first summer out of Hogwarts and I should be enjoying my last year. I never imagined being friends with Harry would be so hard." Ginny instantly regretted the words she had let escape her lips.

"Do you regret it? Being friends with Harry I mean." Asked Hermione gently. She was determined to get an answer out of the youngest Weasley.

"No. It's probably one of the best things that has happened to me, with Malfoy always being so mean. Do you regret it?"

"No. Not in the slightest." Answered Hermione with a big of a smile one could muster under such circumstances.

Hermione felt it unnecessary to probe Ginny about what she wanted to say to Harry. Instead she just let it slip until Ginny was ready to talk.

"Hermione, thanks for listening."

"Any time, Gin."

Ginny got up and opened the door. She cast one last glance at Hermione.

Hermione was taken aback at what she saw there. It was grief, anger, regret, and fear. However, she chose to ignore it for the time being and let her friend slip out the door.

Hermione found herself slipping out of the same door just a few minutes later. She was surprised when she ran into Ron in the hall.

"Sorry." She said, blushing for some inexplicable reason. Hoping to hide her now red face, she turned her attention to the wall.

"Sorry." Muttered Ron in reply, oblivious to the tint on Hermione's face.

"We should really start to work." Said Hermione, voice full of determination. She turned and marched back into the room with Ron almost running to keep up with her.

Ron looked at Hermione, reading the first of her 501 assigned spells.

"About… Gin." He began, unsure of whether this was a safe subject.

Apparently, it wasn't.

"Ronald Weasley! I think you should leave your poor sister alone and begin working!" she began to yell. Luckily, she was much better at controlling her temper than Ron was.

She quickly returned back to reading her first spell. It was completely useless.

"Ron, this spell is on how to create sweaters for cats." Said Hermione, hardly able to restrain the laughter threatening to burst out.

"Yes, I do believe Harry will be needing that one. Maybe Crookshanks."

This caused the two to burst out laughing. A few seconds later they were finally able to control their fit of laughter.

"Ron, where is everybody?" said Hermione. It had suddenly dawned on her the entire Weasley house was eerily quiet.

"School supply shopping for Gin and at work." Came the simple reply.

"Well, why is Ginny not with them? We just came back from there."

Ron gave her a you-know-why glance. Hermione nodded and returned to work. She only had a few hours of this blissful silence before the entire Weasley family would arrive and she needed to make the most of it.

Gr… I have the worst thing imaginable. Two words: Writer's Block. I re-wrote this chapter so many times and am still not entirely pleased with the way it turned out. Please RRR, Read (all done with that one), Review (See that little button? Click it!) and recommend (pretty please)

Tabytha