Disclaimer: In times like these I wished I owned Harry Potter…

I would really like you to read this…: Ok, so every time I tell you guys how many chapters there are left I always add one….well, now I have the final count! Cause I finally decided to be smart and do a brief outline of the chapters…..there will be a total of 32 or 33 chapters…depends on if I combine two chapters or not…we'll see….so there you have it, the almost-semi-really close-final count of the chapters! Now onward we go!

Oh! And…In my mind you can't apparate without mentally picturing where you are going, you have to actually have a picture of it in your mind…I have my reasons…now on with the story…

525,600 Minutes: In Truths That She Learned, or in Times That He Cried-
-Chapter Twenty-Nine

Ryn ran down the moving staircase that led to Dumbledore's office two steps at a time. Nothing else was on her mind except for getting to Godric's Hollow before anything happened. She was in such a trance that she didn't feel someone grab her arm to stop her from running as she came out from behind the stone gargoyle.

"Wha!"

"What's going on?"

"Oh, blimey. It's you, Malfoy."

"Obviously. Now, what's going on?"

"What are you talking about, everything's fine."

"Like I'm supposed to believe you. Granger and her two body guards have been missing since dinner and you're running around the school like a maniac. What's going on?"

"Nothing that concerns you."
"It has to do with Granger, so yes, it does." Malfoy bore his eyes into Ryn's.

"Ugh, fine!" she quickly told Malfoy what was going on. "Now, I have to go!" she made to move, but Malfoy once again stopped her.

"I'm going with you." he said.

"I beg your pardon! No, you're not!"

"Yes, I am. And there's nothing you can do to stop me." Ryn knew that tone of voice Malfoy was using, and she knew there was no arguing with him.

"Fine. But you do as exactly as I say. When we get there you stay hidden, no matter what you may see you have to stay hidden. Understand!"

Malfoy nodded.

"Good, then let's go."

Hermione gave an involuntary shiver even though it was rather warm out. The breeze that one obtained while flying so high in the sky was unbearable. She could scarcely see the blurs of houses and ant sized cars as she flew through the air, and she meant it to be that way. She would not look down, she was sure of that. Being so high up, and traveling at such speeds….she didn't even want to think about what would happen if her grip on the broom handle faltered. On cue her grip on the handle tightened.

She could see Ron to her right, one hand clinging to his broom and his right hand holding his wand. She looked over at him, and upon seeing him looking back, she gave a small smile, which he returned. Slightly to her left Hermione saw Harry, zooming straight a head, his only focus on a little spot on the Horizon.

Sighing, Hermione looked down at the hand drawn map that was clutched between her right hand and the broom handle. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Hermione opened one eye and looked down at the ground. She could see that they were beginning to travel over some park. "Make a sharp left Harry!" Hermione yelled over the gushing wind. Harry nodded and made the sharp turn, with everyone following.

Hermione could tell that Harry was upset. Why wouldn't he be? They had no idea when Voldemort was planning on doing what he was doing and for all they could no they were to late. And flying wasn't getting them there any faster. She wished, and she knew that Harry did too, that they could have apparated to Godric's Hollow, but they couldn't. They had no idea what Godric's Hollow looked like. So now they were stuck flying, with a hand written map as their only guide.

Hermione gave another sigh as the events of the seemingly endless night began to play in her mind.

Hermione quickly ran from the library. It was almost dinner time and she needed to talk to Harry and Ron in private before dinner. She ran swiftly and gracefully, to her surprise, through the hall. Skillfully avoiding running into anyone. She had almost succeeding of not running into anybody in the busy sixth floor corridor when someone bumped into her.

Hermione was rather surprised when she didn't fall to the floor from the collision, and even more shocked to find the person that ran into her on the ground. "Oh, I'm so- oh, you" she stopped her apology when she realized who it was.

"Yes, me, Granger." he said her name with hate. "Got a problem with it?'" cold voice of Malfoy said.

"Unfortunately, yes." she rolled her eyes.

"Well, don't just stand there! Help me up!"

"And why should I, Malfoy," she spat is name with has much hate as she could.

"Because it's the proper thing to do. Didn't your parents ever teach you some manners?" Malfoy sneered. He knew he had said the wrong thing by the look that spread across Hermione's face. She looked like she was going to kick him, and he prepared himself for it. Truth be told, he felt bad for saying, he felt bad for using that tone of voice towards her. Deep down, as much as he hated to admit it, and as much as he convinced himself that it wasn't true, he missed her. And he wanted her back. But if she were to act coldly towards him, he would act the same in return, and she would never know what he thought…

Hermione gave a huff of anger and willed herself not to kick him. Regaining her composure she stepped over Malfoy and pushed herself through the crowd of imbeciles that had decided to stop and watch. She knew that the rest of the school took interest in their sudden turn of relationship those weeks ago, but she didn't care. Let them get caught up in other's lives…she had her own to live.

How dare he! she fumed as she went up a flight of stairs. He mentioned her parents in such a way, absolutely insulting. And the fact that he used the topic of her parents. She couldn't believe him! She couldn't believe he would act this way towards her after what he had said. And she couldn't believe that she used to believe that he had changed!

As she continued her stomp towards the common room and image began to form in her mind, and she felt slightly guilty after seeing it. It was Malfoy's eyes. Of just moments ago. After he had made the comment about her parents she saw something surface deep in them. Something so familiar, yet something foreign, and she couldn't place what it was.

Shaking her head she pushed the thought of his eyes out of her mind. "He's still a git." she said to herself.

"Who?"

"AH! Oh, Ron! Harry! You scared me!" said Hermione, looking to see Harry and Ron standing in front of her.

"So, did you find anything?" Harry asked, lowering his voice. Hermione looked around the corridor to find it had the wrong amount of people for them to be talking about their plan in public. Thinking quickly she opened a near by empty classroom and the three friends piled into it.

"Yeah, I did. Here." she said, pulling a folded piece of parchment out of her robe pocket.

Harry took the parchment, unfolded it, and scanned it. "Hermione, not that this isn't great or unhitching, but I thought you said that you were going to get a map from our of a book?"

"I did." Hermione said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"But this map looks like you drew it…" Harry said, cautiously. Not wanting to upset Hermione.

"Mate, have you ever known Hermione to rip a page from a book, let a lone a book that belonged to the library?" Ron snickered.

Hermione glared at him. "A map's a map. IT will get us to Godric's Hollow just as good as the next one." she snapped. After calming down she continued. "Did you two get what else we needed?"
"Yeah," Harry nodded. "We got out brooms and an extra one for you. There under my invisibility cloak in our dormitory."

"It's all set for us. After dinner we can go, grab the stuff and leave." Ron added.

"Good." The three friends stood in silence, not knowing what to do next.

"Well," Harry broke the silence. "let's go down to dinner."

"The map!"

"What!"

"Would you two keep it down!"

"The Marauder's Map, Harry, Hermione. It's not in the cloak!" Ron exclaimed. The three friends were hiding in the beginning of the Forbidden Forest. Waiting for the coast to be clear so they could mount their brooms and head towards Godric's Hollow. They had been expecting to use the Marauder's Map to help them know when the cost was clear, but now, that didn't seem to be an option.

"It must of fallen out when we grabbed everything." Hermione thoughtfully said.

"Well, we can't go back for it now." said Harry, stating the obvious. The friends fell into a silence. After five minutes Harry spoke once more. "I think it's time. Ron, you ready?"

"Whenever you are, mate."

"Hermione?"

"Hey! Hermione!" Ron's voice shouted over the gushing wind.

"Wh-" Hermione shook her head. "Oh! What!" she said, coming to her senses.

"Where do we go next!" Harry yelled from her left.

Hermione looked at the map, almost dropping it in the process, and shot a look at the ground. "RIGHT THERE! That's it! That's Godric's Hollow!" She exclaimed, pointing below them. Simultaneously Hermione, Harry, and Ron dove for the ground, towards a clearing in front of Godric's Hollow. Harry and Ron made skillful landings. Hermione on the other hand, stumbled and almost fell into a bush.

After gaining her balance Hermione looked around. It looked like she was standing on the set of a horror movie. The houses were old, and it appeared that no one was living in them anymore. And hadn't been for at least sixteen years. There were pieces of old wood lying around, and debris was everywhere. The paint was falling off the houses, windows were broken, and doors were falling off their hinges. At the very end of the road, on a small hill sat a house that was in an even worse condition than the others.

"Oh, my." Hermione said.

"This is Godric's Hollow?" Ron asked, mouth hanging open.

"I guess so." Harry said, sounding disappointed.

Another silence filled the mysterious night air, all was quiet. Not even the leaves that moved from the wind dared to make a sound. All was quiet that is, until a fourth voice made itself known.

"Well, well, well. What have we got here?"

Author's Note: Sorry this wasn't longer…but well…it's all I wanted to be in the chapter!

Sorry I haven't been individually thanking everyone, I'm just updating really late, and I'm tired. So a big thank you to everyone! You guys are the best and I love getting your reviews! They really mean a whole lot!

More to come soon!

Your humble author,

The Lonely Goatherd