Harry and Hermione looked at each other before quickly running down the stairs. The burst into the kitchen and found Molly staring in horror at the refrigerator.

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"You have next to no food in this house. Those horrid men must have eaten all of your food."

"You screamed for THAT? We're at war, Mrs. Weasley. Don't you think your screams should be reserved for real emergencies?" asked Harry.

"Honestly, Mrs. Weasley, there wasn't ever much food in here anyway," Hermione replied, peaking her head into the near-barren fridge. "Today was supposed to be shopping day, I suppose."

"Well, dear, there's no need to worry about it now. I'll make sure you're good and fed at ..." she looked to Harry before looking to Hermione again, "wherever it is you're going."

"He can know, Mrs. Weasley. It's..." she paused for a moment, thinking about what she was going to say. "It's his house."

"You're going to Grimmauld Place?" Harry asked.

"Yes," she replied coldly as Molly turned and prepared three cups of tea.

"Snape knows where that is!" Harry screamed, much like Hermione had earlier that day.

"I know. And I told Bill as much. Fat lot of good that did though. Honestly, Snape could find it if he tried and if he brought Malfoy with him there would be nothing to stop him from ..." she trailed off.

"From what?" Harry asked with anger etched in his tone.

"From doing what he no doubt is supposed to do with me. I'm not stupid. They're not coming to kill me, Harry; they're coming to capture me. Cleverest witch of my age. And of Draco's age." She paused to let that sink in.

Harry stared at her hard for a few moments. He was trying to figure out exactly what she was talking about. His green eyes penetrated her brown ones and, all of a sudden, he started seeing images.

"You know I'll never be with you. Not as long as I have power over myself," Hermione stated to the white-blonde standing in front of her.

"You're mine, Mudblood. You shouldn't bother fighting it. Let me in and we'll get this over with," Draco Malfoy spat.

"You know as well as I do that you'd rather die than do this."

"Obviously not or I wouldn't be here. Now let me come in and we'll do the ritual and get this whole bloody thing over with," he said as he placed his hands on her upper arms - much more gently than she would have expected - and tried to shift her out of the way. "It will save us both," he added.

"What makes you think I'm willing to do this just so we both can live? Don't you think I'd rather die than marry you and produce an heir?"

"No," he responded. "I think you want to live. And I think you want Weasley to live too."

"He has nothing to do with this, Malfoy."

"After you give me a son you will be freed," Draco told her, once again trying to move her over to gain admission to her house.

"You mean I'll be killed," she spat.

"Think about it, Granger," he said when he noticed an older woman in the yard by the fence. "It can save you and Weasel."

Harry was shocked back to the present to see Hermione rubbing her temples. "I cannot believe you just broke into my thoughts, Harry!" she shrieked.

"I didn't mean to," he cried, wiping at his blurry eyes. "I don't even know how I did it! I mean, I was just looking into your eyes and then ..."

"You're a Legilimens. I had no idea," she said.

"You're trying to avoid talking about what I just saw," Harry accused.

"You saw it. There's nothing to explain."

"Hermione, the Order and the Weasleys think they're trying to kill you. They're sending you to Grimmauld Place because they think no one will be able to get to you there. But you're unprotected in my home without me there." He stopped to look at the vacant stove where Mrs. Weasley had been standing moments ago.

She looked at him for a moment before lowering herself into a chair. "I don't want anyone around because they'll kill whoever tries to stop them from taking me. I'm living on borrowed time, Harry. If they want me bad enough they'll take me. You and I both know that." She stopped for a moment before looking back up into his emerald eyes. "I can't let him take me, Harry. Marrying a Malfoy? Having a child with Draco Malfoy? What if it's a girl, Harry? Will they kill her? Will they kill me?"

"I'll protect you, Hermione. I won't let them get you," he said.

"You'll stay away, Harry, and let fate take its course."

"You don't believe in fate," he reminded her.

"I do now," she told him.

"What made you change your mind?"

"Ron told me he loved me," she smiled. "And Ginny's been saying when the time was right he'd tell me. And he did. Nothing will keep me form loving him, Harry. And I know he can't love me if I'm with Malfoy. I won't let this love that I've just found be taken away by a hatred that's always been there."

"Then don't cast that distance spell on Ron. Let him protect you. I'm going to talk to Mrs. Weasley about sending someone over to stay with you. Maybe Lupin. Just ... just someone until my birthday," he said to her as Mrs. Weasley came back in and told Harry it was time to go. He nodded and gave Hermione a kiss on the cheek. "Please don't shut us out," he said and waited until she nodded before allowing himself to be taken from her house by Mrs. Weasley.

It was only a moment later when Lupin arrived to take her to Grimmauld Place.

Harry returned to the Burrow, much to his surprise. "I think you need to tell Ginny and Ron about what you and Hermione were discussing," Mrs. Weasley told him. I'll gather Ginny and then we'll take you back to Privet Drive. Ginny will stay with you two until you return. I want my baby girl to be safe," she added before yelling, "GINERVA WEASLEY! PACK YOUR THINGS. YOU'RE GOING WITH HARRY!"

Five minutes later Ginny ran down the steps, her trunk floating along behind her. "Ready!" she smiled, then looked at Harry. "You're in a bad mood."

"I'll explain when we get there. I have to tell Ron too and I don't think I can say it twice."

Ginny nodded and looked at her mother, who gave her a slightly pained look and handed her a portkey. "Two minutes," Molly said before leaving the room.

"Is it bad?" she asked Harry.

"Yeah, Gin. It's pretty bad."

Before they knew it, they were in Harry's room on Privet Drive. Ron immediately sat up and trained his eyes on Harry, then noticed his sister. "What's going on?" he asked.

"We have to talk about Hermione," Harry said. "I have something I need to tell you both and I need to be able to do it without interruptions. Okay?"

"Before you start, just tell me one thing: is she okay?" Ron asked.

"For now," Harry responded carefully. "Just let me get through this, yeah?"

Both Ginny and Ron nodded but looked skeptical nonetheless. They wanted nothing more than to see Hermione but knew she'd been taken somewhere safe.

"Okay, first, they aren't trying to kill Hermione; they're trying to kidnap her." He ignored the gasps from his best mate and his girlfriend and continued, "It really has nothing to do with us, either. Well, that's not true but it's more about Malfoy." Ron made to open his mouth but Harry raised his hand to stop him. "I saw one of her memories from this summer. Malfoy was at her house talking about some kind of ritual ... a marriage ritual ... and he was talking about heirs. His new thing ... assignment, whatever, is to marry Hermione and produce a male heir. Lupin's with her now, but as soon as I turn 17 we're going to Grimmauld Place."

"Snape knows where that is!" Ginny screamed.

"I know, Love, but there's nothing we can do right now. She's there with Lupin and, for now, she's safe. Ron," Harry started as he saw his best mate start throwing things in his trunk, "where are you going?"

"I'll not let that greasy git lead Ferret King right to her. Snape wouldn't hesitate to kill Lupin and that would leave Hermione vulnerable to Malfoy," he responded as he continued to pack his belongings.

"He won't hesitate to kill you either," Ginny said.

"There are worse things than to die for love."

"She'd never let him go through with it," she told him.

"She would if they hit her with an Unforgivable or two," Harry piped in.

This had quite the effect on Ron. Rather than continue to pack in a normal manner, he began to throw clothes, books, and anything else that belonged to him in the trunk. "Keep Pig. See you soon," he said before he disapparated away.

"Your Mum's going to kill me."