Chapter Twenty Two - If You Love Something Set It Free

The rest of the day had been spent swimming in the lake and talking about everything and nothing until the sun went down. It was nice to have a day like this one, Harry thought, a day where nobody he loved was hurt or scared or worried. Now that Ron had been given some respite from the negative affects of his oracle abilities they were able to prepare for the next episode with less fear for his well-being and more determination to get the job done as fast as possible.

Harry had been for a walk to give Ron and Hermione some time together before they had to put Ron to sleep for the night and had been thinking about Ginny. He had never wanted her to come along on this quest for one second but it was at times like these that he really missed her company. Times when he saw the comfort Ron and Hermione were to each other. He soon reminded himself how awful it would be to see Ginny put through even half the physical and mental pain Ron and Hermione had seen each other going through and knew that he'd made the right call in refusing her adamant declaration that she would be coming with them whether he wanted her there or not.

She had told him that Ron was her brother and Hermione was her friend and he couldn't deny her the right to come along and help them just because of his own ego. Harry had been both enraged and ashamed at this. He had quite bluntly informed her that Ron, being her brother, would never allow her to risk her life just to watch over him and Hermione, being her friend, would also explain to her the pointlessness of her leaving school and her only hope of a normal life just so she didn't feel left out. That had been Harry's winning card in the end, he had accused Ginny of wanting to come for her own ego more than for anyone else's benefit, and she had been furious with him and stormed off. That was how they had left it between the two of them.

They hadn't even said goodbye to each other after Bill and Fleur's wedding at the Burrow. She had bid Hermione and Ron a tearful farewell and had said, very loudly, within Harry's earshot that if anything happened to her brother while he was off 'playing the hero with Potter' she would give him a real scar to worry about.

Harry smiled to himself sadly. He wondered if Ginny had any idea how much Ron had suffered already. Had the twins mentioned anything to her? Had she guessed something was wrong? Harry wondered if he should suggest sending an owl to Ginny in front of Ron to see if he thought it was a good idea. Of course they wouldn't be able to put any real information in the letter but she must be worrying about them, about Ron and Hermione anyway, and he didn't want her to think he'd made them choose him over her. For all her teasing and frustration with her closest brother Harry never could forget how scared she had been when he had been poisoned the year before. It was one thing to wind him up and make him look foolish but if anybody ever tried to hurt her brother Ginny was as protective as Mrs Weasley herself.

Harry dreaded being on the receiving end of either woman's fury and felt another wave of gratitude to his deceased helper for what they had done for Ron that morning.

He entered the shelter of the crack in the rock face and caught Ron and Hermione kissing. They jumped apart and Hermione pretended that she was just checking the hoop around Ron's bicep was comfortable.

"So that looks ok, nice to have finally found a position that's comfortable for us of a night...I mean a position for the hoop on us for when we're sleeping!" Hermione sputtered much to Ron's amusement.

"I knew what you meant Hermione," Ron grinned and looked over to Harry who was deliberately finding his fingernails the most fascinating things in the world right at that moment, "nice walk Harry?"

Harry's eyes darted up and he tried to act as if he hadn't just heard Hermione make an accidental innuendo, although the shadow of a smirk still graced his lips as he answered Ron's question.

"Yeah, I could go out and do it all over again it was so enjoyable," he said, raising his eyebrows at Hermione, "if you didn't mind occupying yourselves for a little longer while I was gone that is."

Hermione flushed a brilliant shade of crimson and Ron tried not to laugh. He too was a little embarrassed, his ears visibly pink beneath his hair, but he was too amused by Hermione getting flustered to let it bother him.

"Well I was just going to brush my teeth and settle down to sleep actually so the two of you can...occupy...each other."

Hermione seemed to look mortified at her inability to say anything without it having a hidden meaning and almost ran out of the cave. Harry couldn't hold in the laugh when he saw the expression on Ron's face at her parting comment.

"People don't think that about us do they?" he said with wide eyes.

Harry was cracking up with laughter as he shook his head and held his sides, feeling a dull ache from his still healing ribs, and staggered over to his sleeping bag. Ron gave a tut and rolled his eyes as he too crawled into his own sleeping bag.

"I can move a bit further away if I make you uncomfortable," Harry said, another wave of amusement hitting him as he spoke.

Ron huffed and scowled an annoyed grin in Harry's direction.

"Shut it Potter!"

Harry let himself laugh freely and finally regained control of himself enough to wipe his eyes and mutter to himself.

"Oh that's definitely got to go in Ginny's letter."

Ron sat up and blinked at him.

"You writing Ginny a letter?"

"Oh no, I was going to ask..." Harry's levity evaporated as he paused and wondered if this was a good idea after all, "...I was just wondering if you were going to write to her. I know she'd like to hear that you and Hermione were doing ok and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't appreciate a letter from me right now."

Ron looked at Harry for quite some time before shaking his head and sighing.

"And what exactly would I put in this letter then Harry? Hi Gin, can't tell you where we are, can't talk about what we're doing, can't say where we'll be tomorrow and don't know when we're going to be finished. Lots of love, Ron. P.S. We're not dead yet!"

Harry gave a sad chuckle as Hermione walked back into the cave with her toothbrush in her hand.

"Please tell me you haven't just written that down and intend to send it to your sister Ronald?"

"Just a joke babe," Ron shrugged as he lay back on his elbows.

Hermione had frozen for a second at Ron's endearment, Harry too had stared at Ron with a smug grin as if waiting for Ron to realise what he'd just said and become cripplingly embarrassed, but Ron didn't seem to register that he'd said anything out of the ordinary. Hermione quickly pulled herself together and settled into her own sleeping bag at Ron's side.

"Well if you want to write Ginny a letter to reassure her please run it past me before you send it, you haven't got a clue how to structure a letter."

"Yes Professor McGonagall," Ron huffed and Hermione elbowed him in the ribs.

"That's not funny!" she snapped.

"You're telling me," Ron said with a shudder at the thought of having a mini McGonagall for a girlfriend.

Hermione couldn't keep up her disapproving attitude with him and broke into a smile. Harry felt sure it had something to do with him having just called her 'babe' without thinking anything of it.

"Anyway," Ron continued as Hermione rested her head on his shoulder, "it's Harry who wanted to write to her, not me."

"I didn't say that!" Harry protested, "I just said I thought one of us should write to her that's all."

Hermione gave a thoughtful frown before narrowing her eyes at Harry.

"Saying what?"

"Oh don't you start!" Harry grumbled as he realised that a letter would only exacerbate things as far as Ginny was concerned. All they would do would be to highlight just how out of the loop she was right now and Harry didn't want to do that.

They lay around the crackling fire in silence for a few minutes before Ron sighed and whispered in to Hermione's hair.

"So do you want to try that thing and get it over with straight away then?"

Hermione nodded and lifted her head off of his shoulder to look up at Ron, Harry felt incredibly uncomfortable all of a sudden.

"Yes, let's see if it does any good, at least that way I won't be kept up all night waiting for you to get it over with."

Had they forgotten he was there?

Harry cleared his throat urgently, Ron and Hermione looked away from each other and across the campfire to him.

"Harry missed that whole conversation, I'll explain it when we're done ok?" Hermione said in a very business like manner.

Harry was even more panicked now.

"When you're done with what exactly?" he said as he shifted in his sleeping bag as Hermione moved away from Ron who was taking a deep breath and laying down with his eyes closed.

Hermione put her finger to her lips before looking back down at Ron.

"Ready?"

"Go for it."

Hermione flicked her wand at Ron and uttered an unfamiliar spell.

"Sopor!"

A purple light from the end of Hermione's wand hit Ron and his face went slack, his breathing deep and even, and his arms lay heavily at his sides.

"Hermione what was that? A kind of sleeping charm?"

He watched her turn Ron's head to one side and gently stroke his hair away from his eyes.

"It puts him in a state of deep sleep almost immediately, this way we won't have to wait three or four hours to get the message from him," she explained, "he was feeling kind of bad that you had to wait up all night just to get the messages."

Harry felt himself relax now, he couldn't believe what he had been thinking earlier, and shuffled a little closer to Ron's still form.

"So do you think it's going to," Harry began just as Ron's eyes opened and he sat up, "work? Never mind."

"Ah that's logic and we don't go in for that kind of thing," Ron smiled a weak smile.

Hermione frowned at this statement and called out to the walls of the cave.

"What did I do wrong?"

There was a short pause before Ron delivered an emotionless answer.

"Hermione you're to do the spell in the morning in future, he wants us to get a good night's sleep before dragging us off far and wide."

"Oh," she said, her head lowering, "I suppose that is quite logical isn't it?"

"Wait, dragging us off? Where are we going?" Harry called out to nothing in particular.

"Harry we're obviously going to be taken to the next horcrux," Hermione said.

"Yeah but how does he now where they are in the first place and why can't he just tell us where to go and let us go when Ron's conscious and why can't he tell us who he is?"

"Why are your messages always so bloody long?" Ron grumbled.

Hermione looked at him and laughed.

"Ok," Ron sighed, "Harry he doesn't need to drag all of us with him, just me, but because of the bond of blood he can't take me anywhere without Hermione's permission and he doesn't think that you'll let me go alone Hermione."

Hermione threw herself forward and gripped Ron's arm tightly.

"No I won't!" she snapped.

"Hermione, he's wearing the hoop, you don't need to physically hold on to him y'know?" Harry pointed out.

"I know that," she said, not loosening her hold on Ron for a moment, "he's not going anywhere without me."

"Or me," Harry called up to the rock above his head for some reason.

"I would but I can't move," Ron frowned.

Harry knew that Hermione had restricted Ron's movements so much that he couldn't even pull out of her arms.

"Hermione let me go."

"No!" she yelled with determination.

Harry could do nothing but watch as Ron looked into the middle distance while Hermione shifted to get a firmer grip on Ron's body, pinning his arms to his sides, and seeming to be immovable.

"Is this..." Ron began to ask the opening in the rock face, "...will this be dangerous?"

Hermione pressed her lips together firmly and muttered under her breath.

"He's not going without me, he's not going anywhere on his own."

"Why doesn't he want us to come? I thought we were all on speaking terms now?" Harry asked himself aloud.

"I'm not letting him go without me," Hermione said with determination.

Ron let out a loud sigh and his eyes began to move around the rock wall as if he was looking for something black in a dark room.

"Hermione are you there?" he asked the space over Harry's left shoulder.

"I'm here Ron, I'm right here," she turned his head towards her but his eyes were glazed and staring through her earlobe it looked to Harry.

"I need you to take off the hoop."

"No!" she gasped.

"I need you to let me go alone. Please Hermione."

She held him tighter and burrowed her face into his neck, muffling her ongoing protests.

"I can't, I won't, don't ask me to do this."

"I trust him ok? I trust him to look after me, please let me do this without you."

Hermione shook her head and sobbed.

"I don't care if you trust him or not, I don't care, he's not taking you anywhere without me."

"Do you trust me?" Ron asked with a sigh.

Harry knew that Ron really felt he had to do this alone. He didn't want to let him go either, not after the night of the coffin, despite everything the spirit had done for Ron he still held that night against him. What could have gone wrong during the discovery of the R.A.B horcrux was too close for comfort.

"Please don't ask me to do this Ron," Hermione cried.

"I'm asking for you to do this, not him, he says you can come but I'm asking you to trust me and let me go."

Hermione was weeping into Ron's shoulder now and Harry wondered what he would do if the choice to release control of Ron rested with him. He was glad it didn't.

"I trust you Ron I really do but I'm so scared that there's nobody there to protect you except for some ghost."

"A ghost who can do wandless magic Hermione," Harry said, he wasn't quite sure why he was taking the spirit's side, "and who gave Ron some peace at long bloody last this morning. This is Ron asking us to stay anyway, not the ghost,Ron."

Hermione wiped her tear-stained face and pulled the hoop from Ron's arm with heart-wrenching sobs that came from deep within.

"Thank you," Ron sighed before getting to his feet and walking towards the opening in the rock face.

"You promise me you'll look after him," Hermione suddenly bellowed, he ragged voice echoing off the walls and shaking Harry to the bone, "promise me you'll take better care of him, promise me!"

Ron stopped as he reached the opening and looked back over his shoulder.

"He says he promises."

Ron stepped outside and disapparated without another word.

Hermione lost her composure completely and broke down onto Ron's vacant sleeping bag. Harry wanted to comfort her but there really was nothing he could think of to say. All that ran through his mind was what kind of letter he would write to Ginny about all of this. How could he explain to her that not only had he taken her brother on a dangerous journey without her to watch his back but he had lost him multiple times and was now waiting to see if he would come back from a perilous trip they let him take in his sleep with a dead man for company.

Hermione was hugging Ron's pillow to her face now and whimpering prayers to every body she could think of to pray to for Ron to be all right and Harry stood and walked outside to look out at the waterfall.

"Don't make us wait too long mate."