AN: Here I am, yet again! As it turns out, not as many people were as mad at me last chapter as I thought they were going to be! Thanks to my reviewers: SmrtDancrGrl, Lancetree80, mysteriouscharm, GinnyGin, Shatteredangel2006, skyfire2459, Alantie Mistaniu, and Shadowed Rains. A few of you were wondering if everyone in the castle is dead or not, did certain people survive, yada yada yada… as for that, I'm not going to give you an answer, because that would be pointless. I'd either crush your hopes or spoil the plot. So I'll just let you think about it real hard until a time comes in the story when your questions can be answered. And, to Shadowed Rains: I've been using the titles of songs for my story titles lately, and yes, I used Linkin Park's "Easier To Run" for this story. (I've also used "Me and Emily" and "Never Say Goodbye.") Okay, I'm talking too much…

xXx-

Chapter 5: Truce

Harry and Hermione sat there in stunned silence for a full quarter of an hour. There wasn't a sound anywhere. There was no wind rustling the trees, no bowtruckles scampering around the tree branches, even Hermione's sobs had subsided. The two students didn't even seem to be breathing. They were mere statues, frozen in time. Finally, Harry spoke.

"We can't just sit here forever," he said.

Hermione nodded in agreement. There was a small pause.

"We really should go somewhere for help," Harry spoke.

Hermione nodded again.

But neither of them made a move to go anywhere. They simply sat there for another few minutes, staring out at the ruined remains of their beloved school, willing it to build itself and the lives it took with it back together again. But they both knew it was impossible. Eventually Hermione spoke.

"We should go to Hogsmeade. They were bound to hear the explosion."

This time, Harry nodded. They sat for another few seconds before Hermione got to her feet. Harry mechanically did the same. They walked out of the forest and in the direction of Hogsmeade, which was around the front of the castle remains. Neither said anything, but they seemed to have reached an unspoken truce. Harry voiced it.

"We should really try to forget what happened earlier with us..." he said quietly.

"Right," agreed Hermione. She stopped walking and so did Harry. "Truce?" she said, holding out her hand. Harry was silent for a slight moment before taking her hand.

"Truce," he agreed, and they walked on. Hermione paused next to the lake and looked into its reflective surface. She saw, for the first time since she had come outside, how terrible she looked. Her eyes were red, her cheeks tearstained, her hair had bits of stone in it, and she had patches of dried mud all over her face. She knelt next to the bank, and Harry had walked a few more steps before he realized she had stopped. He sat next to her. He had started to ask why she had stopped when she silently dipped her cupped hands into the water and splashed water on her face, cleaning it the best she could. Of course, she could have easily done this with magic, but she felt that the water was able to bring her back to reality.

"You're a mess, too, I'd advise doing the same," she said to Harry, without looking up from the glistening lake. She heard his hands splash into the water, and a few moments later he spoke.

"We sat down and now we might not get up again."

"We'd better get moving then," said Hermione, standing up before she lost the will to do so. Harry followed, and they again began walking toward Hogsmeade. Neither said anything until they were very near coming within sight of the village.

"Do you think anyone there knows what caused it?" asked Hermione. Harry didn't need to ask what she meant.

"I dunno. There are probably some people in the village that took muggle studies," said Harry.

"You're right, I--" but Hermione broke off and gasped. Her hand flew up to her mouth. Harry, who had been looking at her, waiting for her answer, looked ahead of them, and he gasped, too.

Ahead lay what used to be the quaint village of Hogsmeade. Now all that was left was charred remains.

Hermione's hand was still over her mouth, and she was breathing very heavily. Harry himself felt like he had just run a thousand miles, not walked a half-mile. Hermione broke down and sank to her knees as fresh tears ran down her face. Harry knelt next to her and awkwardly put his arm around her shoulders. He himself felt silent tears running down his cheeks. This was just too much. Hogwarts's demise was bad enough, but Hogsmeade, too?

Harry and Hermione sat there for a while, neither knew how long, but Harry eventually felt Hermione's breathing slow, and realized she had fallen asleep. He laid her down on the grass, and found he was rather drowsy himself. He decided to just rest his eyes a while, lay down on the grass next to Hermione, and then after he had a bit more energy, he'd wake her up...

xXx-

Harry opened his eyes three hours later to find his stomach rumbling with hunger. He looked at his watch and saw that it was 2:30 in the afternoon. He sat bolt upright and looked round at Hermione, who was still sleeping. She was on her back, her head turned to her left, in the direction of Harry. Her left arm was on her stomach and her right lay on the ground beside her. She looked so peaceful that Harry didn't want to wake her up, but then his mind caught up with his senses and he tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

"Hermione...Hermione, wake up..."

She didn't move, so Harry shook her slightly.

"Hermione..."

She stirred.

"Harry..." she mumbled, "You aren't allowed in the girls' dorms..." Harry's heart gave a twang as he thought about the now nonexistent dormitories, and his emotions threatened to overtake him once more.

"You aren't in the girls' dorms, Hermione," said Harry quietly. Hermione's eyes flew open, and she saw Harry's knees next to her. She turned her head upwards and saw sky. A horrible reality sank into her chest.

"You - you mean it wasn't a dream?" she said pitifully.

"I wish I could say it was," said Harry in a shaking voice, removing his hand from Hermione's shoulder now that she was awake. They didn't say anything for a moment.

"I suppose we'd better try and get to Dufftown, then..." said Hermione.

"Dufftown?" said Harry in disbelief. "But, Hermione, that's at least fifteen miles from here!"

"I know, but it's the closest town there is, and we have to get to civilization," said Hermione wearily. "We might be able to make it in five or six hours if we walk steadily."

"Which direction is it?" asked Harry, looking around.

"It's west...straight ahead..." said Hermione, pointing a shaking hand towards the remains of Hogsmeade. Harry gulped.

"We're going to have to walk through that?" he asked weakly.

"I'm afraid so," said Hermione quietly, her head moving up and down slightly. She slowly got to her feet. Harry sat on the ground for a few more seconds, wishing he could just die right there, before he did the same. They started walking, and Harry felt Hermione's hand slip into his and squeeze tightly. He knew she was scared, just like him.

They stepped onto the cobblestone road now covered in ash and remains directly in front of the first shop, and Harry kept his eyes deliberately facing straight ahead. This only worked for a few minutes, however.

"That was the Three Broomsticks..." said Hermione, stopping and looking to her right. Harry looked around to his left.

"That was Dervish and Bangs," he said. They started walking again and they both pointed out the remnants of their favorite shops.

"Look, there's Honeydukes..."

"Zonko's was there..."

"That was the post office..."

"Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop," said Harry, stopping in front of it. "I hate to say it, but I'm not sorry to see that it's gone." Hermione gave a small smile, which vanished quickly.

"Come on, we'll never get there if we keep stopping," she said, and started walking again, pulling Harry along with her. His hand was still gripped tightly in hers.

xXx-

It seemed to take an eternity to get out of the village, but they did it after about an hour. Once they were faced with the open fields in front of them, the sadness of the castle and the village seemed to leave them somewhat. They walked for two more hours and their hunger intensified. Hermione was looking especially pale.

"Harry, if I don't get something to eat soon, I'll faint..." she said, clutching her stomach.

"I know how you feel, but we still have, what, ten miles to go?" he guessed.

"I'd say so...and I'm so tired...my legs hurt terribly...can't we just stay here for a while and take another nap?" she suggested.

"No," said Harry firmly. "If we delay anymore, when you wake up you'll feel worse. We can stop for a few minutes, though," he said.

"I suppose you're right," she said, and she sank down to her knees and then lay on her back. "The grass is just so comfortable..."

"Hermione, don't go to sleep," said Harry harshly. She didn't reply, but sat up.

"Harry, what are we going to do when we get there?" she asked curiously.

"I don't know, Hermione..." he answered truthfully.

"Well, I suppose we'll need to try and get jobs or something...some way of getting money so we can have food..." she said.

"Let's just concentrate on that for now, we'll cover the rest of anything we'll need when we get to it, all right?"

"Right," agreed Hermione. They were silent for a few more minutes as they both sat there and relaxed. Finally, Harry spoke.

"We should probably keep going."

"Oh, do we have to? My legs still hurt terribly..." said Hermione, massaging her calves.

"Well, you'll just have to--" suddenly, Harry cut himself off. "Wait a minute, Hermione."

"What?"

"Surely you must know an...energy spell or...something," said Harry. Hermione clapped her hand to her forehead.

"Of course! In all of the...well...you know..." she trailed off, but then spoke again. "I guess I forgot I could use magic," she finished sheepishly.

"Well, do you know a spell that could help?" asked Harry.

"Yes, it's called an immunity spell. It'll make any part of us immune to pain for a certain amount of time," said Hermione, taking out her wand. "With any luck, our legs won't have the ability to feel pain for another four hours or so."

"When did you learn this?" asked Harry curiously.

"I did some background reading when we were studying Healing in Charms," she answered offhandedly. She then pointed her wand at her legs, which were stretched out in front of her. "Immilient," she said, and her robes covering her legs glowed faintly white for a second. She then reached out and pinched through her robes.

"Well?" asked Harry.

"I didn't feel it at all," said Hermione with satisfaction. "Okay, your turn," she said, turning to Harry. She pointed her wand at Harry's legs this time and said, "Immilient," and Harry felt the pain leave his legs as they glowed for a moment.

"That is one handy spell," said Harry. "I'll have to remember that."

"Well, I'd say we could continue on. We have several more hours of walking to do," said Hermione. They got up once more and headed out towards the direction of Dufftown.

xXx-

AN: Okay, and that's the end of chapter five. Please, people, there are over 400 hits for this story…. I know there are silent readers out there… so please, those of you that aren't reviewing: START REVIEWING! And, to those of you that have reviewed: KEEP reviewing! It only takes a minute! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease, for the sake of all that is good (I know I've said that before) REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!

xXx SpicySugar xXx-