(A/N: I must say that I am very disappointed in myself. My goal was to get this chapter out on Friday. But at least I'm improving by a day each week right? Lol. If you must know, two of my best friend's (they're twins) birthdays are this weekend and we kind of made it a weekend long celebration. Dinner and a movie on Friday, kidnap them to breakfast on Saturday, and we'll TP their house tonight. I actually had intended to make this chapter longer and not end it where I did but I wanted it out today for sure and I figured 15 pages was good enough for a chapter. Things are heating up and though this chapter is still very sad, there is hope for our favorite couple! Yea! I really am excited about how things turned out, my original plan was for the end to be where they escape. But this…this'll work great. Lol sorry I'm kind of babbling to myself. Again, I'd like to thank all of you faithful wonderful amazing people who continue to review ever so faithfully! You're the inspiration for this fic and your support means the world to me! As always if you have an constructive criticism or issues with the chapter, you are more than welcome to let me know. Likewise if there's something you like, I always like to hear those too! Hehee…Anyways, thanks again and hopefully it won't be a full week till next chapter's update! Much love, Haystack)

To my Lovely Reviewers…

cumbacksirius: Don't worry about the busy week. Mine was crazy too! Thanks for reviewing so faithfully!

suckr4romance81789: I wasn't too sure if people were expecting this whole Seamus escape thingy but I'm glad it's working for ya! This chapter is basically a fill in for everybody so though it may not be quite as emotionally interactive as the others, its refreshing for me to have some update! Thanks for reviewing!

Ron'n'Hermione: Hahahaha wow your review had me laughing for a long time! Omg that was hilarious! Lol sorry…phew okay I'm good now. Glad you like the new twist of things, and hopefully the update wasn't too bad. Thanks so much for brightening up my day!

scubagurl: Aw thanks for your sweet review. Yes, Harry is truly dead. A lot of ppl have had a hard time coming to grips with that but we all must, for I'm afraid I can't bring it in myself to bring him back! lol thanks so much for reviewing!

AmyChris: haha You're welcome! Very happy that you enjoyed last chapter! Yes, things are certainly looking up aren't they? You'll get to find out the fates of the other friends like Ginny and stuff so even though it may not be as emotionally exciting, hopefully it'll be fulfilling! Thanks so much for your wonderful review!

dancerrdw: Aw I'm glad you liked last chapter so much! It was fun to write! Hopefully the update wasn't too bad this chapter! Thanks sooo much for reviewing!

RainDateChick: Haha, was the update okay? I'm one day ahead of myself than last week! Glad you're enjoying the story and thanks for reviewing like you always do!

ShimmeringEvil: Yes, finally there is goodness for them! Hope is a wonderful thing isn't it? Lol thanks so much for your review!

Bhekie: lol yes a cliffie! But now there's a plot twist! Woo hoo…plot twists are always fun! Haha…thanks so much for reviewing!

RedRose013: Aw well I'm glad you're enjoying it so much! I'm having fun as well! Yes, there is hope in the air! Yay for Ron and Hermione! Thanks so much for reviewing!

Princess Storm: Okay, before I thank you for reviewing this story, let me thank you for the 14 REVIEWS I GOT FOR SORT TORDU! Omg woman you are amazing! THANK YOU THANK YOU! You have got to be the most dedicated reviewer I've ever met! I was completely speechless when I saw all those reviews! Wow…I honestly don't know how I could possibly put into words how much that meant to me! Though now that I have more experience in writing under my belt and it was my experimental beginning fic (that personally I would love to go back and edit!) it really means a lot to me that you would find something good in it to review on. So THANK YOU! As for this fic I'm really glad you liked last chapter. I never knew my cliffhangers were a work of art. Hehee…I actually was not sure about Ron's wand and if it was new or not, I haven't had time to look it up. I'll just roll with you on this one, cuase once I thought it over I think your right. But thank you for mentioning it! And as always thank you very very much for reviewing!

vacant xpressi0ns: haha, your review made me laugh! Yes I know it's wonderful isn't it? No more prison! Yay! Thanks so much for reviewing! By the way, I completely love your username! Hehee…

nattieb: lol another brilliant review that made me laugh! Yes, you do know me very well. I don't believe in easy things. Ron and Hermione are in for some more trials ahead but as for this particular chapter, I'm going to let everyone soak and relish in this rare ray of happiness for a while! Hehee…I needed a break, and we all need some mega updates from Seamus don't we? I'm honored that you were tearing up a bit, I always love a show of emotion! Lol…thank you soooo much for being such a wonderful reviewer! Here's to chapter 24!

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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: REBIRTH

As Hermione was awoken from her dreamless sleep, she groaned. She hadn't slept that well since before the war and she needed the sleep…desperately.

"Hermione!" A familiar voice whispered in her ear. Silently cursing Ron for waking her up, she groggily opened her eyes. The world was blurred before her. She could see Ron's figure, standing above her, only slightly bouncing on the balls of his feet. Rubbing her eyes, his face came into focus.

He was wringing his hands and biting his lip, things Ron never did unless something had big just happened. Her stomach immediately dropping and her heart racing automatically, she sat up quickly. "What?" She asked, "What's wrong? What happened?"

Her mind was zipping through all the possible reasons for Ron's distress. Voldemort wanted her early, they'd changed their mind and wanted Ron dead instead, he'd somehow found out about another death, he was hurt, they were to kill her in front of Ron…Hermione went through everything she could think of and fear clutched her heart. Why wasn't he talking!

As Ron stood there for another moment Hermione was about to say something, yell at him to just spit it out, that this waiting and pondering was worse than the news itself; when suddenly, he smiled at her.

Hermione blinked several times to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Ron Weasley was smiling at her…after the war and Harry's death he was….smiling!

"Come with me" He said grabbing her hand. "We're leaving!"

As she was yanked off the ground and pulled over to the wall, Hermione silently agreed with herself that Ron had lost it.

"Leaving?" She asked confused "Where are we going?"

"Just come on" Ron grinned, pulling her along, "I have something to show you!"

Just play along, her brain told her. For his sake, just play along.

"Okay…" She said apprehensively as Ron stopped in front of the brick wall.

"Look! Look through that hole!" He exclaimed excitedly, gently pushing her to her knees.

It was a hole not quite big enough to fit her head through. Inching forwards, she pressed her eye against the wall, not quite sure what she was looking for. Suddenly, as her eyes adjusted, she made out the shapes of two people.

"Ron! There's someone out there!" She said fearfully, backing away from the hole.

"I know" He beamed

"Who-" She asked, lifting her face up towards Ron's.

"H-Hey Hermione" A small voice said.

Hermione's heart froze where it was and her breath got caught up in her chest. She knew that voice! She'd heard it a million times, and yet…it couldn't be! There was no way… everyone was dead. She must be hearing things. Or maybe it was a dream; some wonderful yet tortuously cruel dream.

Her head whipped to Ron who stood there, a broad smile flashing across his face. Her heart clenched painfully. "Ron" she breathed, shaking her head; refusing to believe what her ears told her. "No Ron…No. It's not-"

"Yes it is" He said softly

"No! It can't be! I don't believe it!"

Chuckling softly, a sound that sounded like music to Hermione's ears it'd been so long, he grabbed her hand. "Believe it. This is real. We're going to get out of here!"

"NO!" She ripped her hand away from his. A pained expression flew across his face as her stomach churned guiltily. "I told you earlier" She said quietly "I'm sick of getting my hopes up. Now stop torturing me with this. Let's go back to bed."

Confused, Ron suddenly pushed her to her knees again. "Seamus, come closer. It's hard to see you. Hermione, look!"

A shuffle of grass was heard as suddenly, before Hermione's eyes, Seamus' face came into focus. It was as if someone had knocked the wind out of her. There was no doubt that this man was Seamus. All his features were the same. The eyes, the hair, the nose, the skin, the accent…everything was just as it was a week ago. Dirt, mud, and grass were strewn across random parts of his body and his eyes held a different light in them, but otherwise…Hermione felt herself tear up.

"S-Seamus?" She whispered, her voice shaking.

The boy smiled and nodded his head. "Nice to see you too Hermione."

At the sound of his voice…the voice of a fellow Gryffindor, of a fellow classmate, of a fellow friend…Hermione couldn't hold in her tears. Trickling down her face slowly, she raised a hand to his face. She had to touch him, make sure she wasn't dreaming. Placing a hand on his cheek, Seamus smiled sadly, his own eyes glistening as he covered her hand with his own. Squeezing it gently, he turned around.

"There's someone else who wanted to see you," He said softly

Hermione squinted in the darkness to see, as Lavender Brown emerged from the shadows, tears of her own falling down her face.

"L-Lavender?" She whispered, her mouth open in shock, a delicate hand covering it.

"Oh Hermione!" The girl cried, rushing forwards to grab Hermione's hands through the hole. Staring at her roommate's face, her blurry red eyes, her messed up hair, her tear strained face, she couldn't help it. The tears simply burst from her eyes like a dam and she sat there pitifully, her head bent, sobbing.

No one said anything for a moment, the only sound being the sobs of the two girls. Hermione had lost all her senses. Her mind seemed useless as her body racked with tears. Seamus and Lavender were here…alive! They were fine, they weren't dead! Just that realization made Hermione want to cry forever, happiness like she hadn't felt in ages overwhelming her body.

"You have no idea how worried we've been about you two! It's been so horrible! We saw H-Harry…oh merlin we saw him! He'd been fighting so well…and then they just…Oh Hermione I don't want to be the one to tell you this, but he's dead!" Lavender cried in between tears.

Hermione could only shake her head and whisper, "W-We know. We saw it too"

"You did!" Lavender gasped, "Oh God…I-I'm so sorry! So sorry!"

"Who…Who else?" She said, not hiding the emotions in her voice.

"You mean who else is left?"

She nodded.

"Not here" Seamus said quickly. "We need to get you both out of here. Do you have everything you need?"

Hermione looked at Ron who shook his head. "We don't have anything but each other"

"Alright then. Back away." Seamus instructed.

Obediently, the couple backed away from the wall. Walking away, Hermione stole a glance at Ron. He was looking at her intensely.

"You okay?" He whispered

Hermione smiled softly and nodded. "Never better"

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It was unlike anything Hermione had ever experienced. It was like being born again. Everything was so new, so wonderful, and so good. Her senses were on overdrive trying to relish in the feeling of the cold soft grass underneath her feet, the swish of the night air as they ran, and the healthy beating of her heart all at the same time.

Seamus had magically enlarged the hole to about the size of a doorway, making it only too easy to walk through towards freedom. Guilt pounded in her heart at the thought of leaving Harry behind. It hadn't been easy to walk slowly through that doorway. But with the warm guidance of Ron's hand, Hermione desperately pushed all thoughts out of her mind.

Jumping over a fallen tree and ducking a branch, her mind couldn't help but race, wondering about the answer to her last question. Who else was left? She couldn't help but hope. Seamus and Lavender's sudden re-appearance filling her with the hope she hadn't felt for what seemed like ages.

They stopped in front of an enormous rock. Serving as a little cave, Hermione crawled in after Ron.

The four said nothing for a while, everyone concentrating on catching their breaths. Finally, it was Seamus who, breathing heavily, began. "This is where we've been for the past two days."

"Here?" Hermione asked, looking around. It barely held all four of them, how could they have lived here like cavemen for two full days? What had they been eating, how did they sleep? Someone could easily walk in, how had they not been caught? Had they just been sitting in here? How did they know to come look for them? So many questions buzzed around her head, that finally Hermione gave up and leant up against the wall.

"Yea" Seamus said

"How did you find it?" Ron panted

"It kind of found us. We were running from Death Eaters and Lavender tripped right in front of it. This little cave saved our lives."

Ron nodded. "What have you been doing here all this time though? How do you know about the others? How did you know where to find us?"

"Slow down." Seamus sighed, leaning against the wall. "I guess we better start from the beginning."

"We don't have time for the whole story," Lavender said quickly "We have to leave before the sun comes up"

"I know" Seamus ran a hand through his hair. "I'll be quick, I promise"

"Fine" Lavender said, settling against the wall like the others.

Hermione was struck by them both. True, during school they had not always been her favorite people; finding Seamus too loud and obnoxious, and Lavender too ditzy for her own good. But here…she never would have guessed. Seamus spoke in a calm quiet voice and Lavender no longer used that excited high-pitched voice of hers. Both were tired…that was easy to see. They were much more serious…as if they'd matured to the age of thirty, in two days time.

"We were both sent out of the same door, along with the Patil girls, Dean, Luna, Neville, and Ginny. But once the war started, we all kind of lost each other. Everyone had their own spot of trouble. We tried to help as much as we could, but everyone had their own battles to fight. I was right near the Forbidden Forest when Hogwarts crashed. Lavender was in the forest. Some Death Eaters had dragged her in there."

Hermione looked over to Lavender, who stiffened, looking towards the floor.

"When the first part started collapsing, I was shouting at everyone to run for it. Not many people listened to me though. I ran into the forest and found Lavender who was um…" Seamus paused to gage Lavender's reaction "having some trouble with a particular Death Eater who was torturing her pretty bad. I knocked the bastard over and we ran for it. Then we found this place and hid for a while. The dust and debris wasn't that bad for us since we'd found shelter before Hogwarts completely collapsed, though it did kind of snow us in. Those who were right near it weren't so lucky. Michael Corner somehow managed to crawl around into the forest. He died right outside this place. We tried to get to him but we couldn't get out, this tree had fallen in front of us. We think that's why nobody looked inside here. No one likes to go near a dead body."

Hermione ignored the look Ron was giving her.

"We kept pushing at this tree to move and eventually created a hole big enough for us to slip through. We were trying to run back towards Hogwarts when we ran into Luna. She was frantic. Neville was hurt really bad. We eventually found Hagrid who rushed away with Luna to help Neville. We still don't know what happened to the three of them."

"What about Ginny?" Ron interrupted

Seamus and Lavender exchanged looks and Ron's hands balled up into fists, digging his fingernails into his palm nervously. "What? What happened? Is she okay?"

Hermione took in a breath. Ginny was one of her best friends…she was one person she wasted to know about.

Seamus cleared his throat. "Um…Luna was the one who told us. She said that Ginny had been tortured really badly because the Death Eaters knew how close she was to Harry. They dragged her to where Harry and Voldemort were battling. They were trying to distract him so that Voldemort could just finish him off. But Harry didn't fall for it."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HARRY DIDN'T FALL FOR IT!" Ron suddenly bellowed, his face bright red "HOW COULD HE NOT HAVE SAVED HER! I THOUGHT HE BLOODY LOVED HER!"

"Ron calm down" Lavender soothed

"NO!" He cried out stubbornly

"Just let me finish!" Seamus cried. "It's not like Harry didn't want to save her. And don't worry, when the Death Eaters triedtorapeher Harry killed them all."

"What was that?" Ron asked, "I didn't catch that last bit"

"You didn't? Oh well-" Seamus looked around nervously

"The Death Eaters tried to rape Ginny" Hermione interrupted. She knew she was the only one, save Ginny and Ron's mum, who could control Ron. Seamus shot her a thankful look.

"WHAT!" Ron screamed.

"Ron…" She warned. Ron met her eyes, fire dancing among the sea of blue. She gave him a very pointed look and after much protesting, the fire simmered and only concern for his baby sister flowed out from him.

"She is…I mean…Is she…Okay?" Ron asked afraid

Seamus and Lavender exchanged a bewildered look between them. Looking at Hermione impressed, Seamus continued his story. "Um…we're not really sure."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked for Ron, but her own heart aching for a certain answer.

"Well once Harry had killed the Death Eaters she was weak, crying on the ground and stuff. They'd tortured her pretty badly. According to Luna, Harry didn't know what to do. He tried to run to her, but Voldemort kept shooting curses at him. He was shouting stuff at her, and begging for someone to take her and get her away, keep her safe. The Creevy brothers apparently heard him and Colin picked Ginny up and the three of them ran into the forest."

Seamus finished his story, staring at Ron expectantly.

"Well, what happened next? Where is she? Is she okay?"

"W-We don't know" Lavender said timidly "That was all Luna knew at the time. But you have to realize Ron, at the time such a detailed report of someone was special. Luna gave us more information than we could have ever hoped for."

Ron said nothing. He looked at his hands, refusing to meet eye contact with anyone. He nodded his understanding to Lavender but bit his lip, trying to fight back tears. Hermione's heart broke for him. Placing a loving hand on his shoulder she tried to get him to look at her. He wouldn't.

Turning to Lavender and Seamus, Hermione asked, "Is that all we really know? What about Colin and Denis? Do we know what happened to them?"

Again, the two exchanged worried looks. Seamus cleared his throat nervously. "Well…we know the three of them were together. Colin and Dennis would never separate from each other, Dennis would never disobey an order from Harry, and Colin…he would never leave Ginny like that."

Hermione searched in her brain for the memory of Colin. Over the years, true, he'd changed much. Once fifth year hit and the news of Voldemort's return was made public, he changed. No longer did he annoy Harry and the others; instead he took to reading up on all he could. He wanted to fight with them, and with help from Harry in the D.A. he transformed into a reliable fighter. He still took pictures, his passion for photography never ceasing, but he'd matured and become much more serious. By seventh year, he had grown up entirely. He and Dennis were best friends, the brothers seeming even closer than the Weasley brothers. Dennis was a lot less serious than Colin, but with the help of his older brother Dennis also was made into a fierce warrior. Thankful that it had been these two that had responded to Harry's call, Hermione had subconsciously let out a breath she'd held in the whole time. She didn't have to worry too much about Ginny's safety. She was more than safe in the arms of the two brothers.

"I know," She agreed, feeling much better.

"So I mean we still don't know about Ginny, whether or not she's safe."

Confusion arose on Hermione's face. But hadn't they just said…? "What do you mean?"

"Well I mean we can only guess." Seamus said sadly "W-We came across Dennis's body in the forest."

Hermione's eyes widened and she gasped. All the safety and securities she had felt previously, washed away from her, leaving her with a sickening worry for her friend. Heart beating she whispered, "And Colin?"

"We don't know what happened to him. Or Ginny. We searched around…we never found their bodies or any trace of them. The best we can hope for is that Colin at least has Ginny safe."

Hermione nodded as if she were in a trance. This was too much information to process. She stole a glance at Ron. His arms were resting on his knees, his face buried in them. She suddenly had an urge to bury her face in his shirt and cry into it, or run her hands comfortingly through his hair. Nodding, she scooted up to Ron and leaned her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around herself. Ron didn't respond to her gesture for a while, but finally gave in and took her hand gently. She squeezed it, desperately trying to give him some kind of comfort.

Lavender and Seamus were watching the interaction with interest. "So…" Lavender said softly "A-Are you two together?

Hermione looked up at the girl. Lavender always had a passion for gossip but without Parvati at her side, she seemed half as enthusiastic about the news. Hermione simply nodded. She smiled. "Good. We were all wondering when you two would."

Seamus laughed. "Merlin, we had bets going around for years. Most people figured you two would cave in during sixth year. Everyone was rather annoyed I'll tell you that."

"Everyone?" Hermione asked curiously, not helping the blush that crept up the sides of her face.

Seamus nodded enthusiastically. "Hell yea. All of Gryffindor betted on you two. Most of the school as well. Even the Slytherins knew you would get together eventually."

"But how did they-"

"Oh it was obvious." Lavender broke in, smiling at Hermione. "The way Ron looked at you all the time. The way you looked at him. He was always so protective of you. And the way you both fought…we all knew it was sexual tension building."

Hermione couldn't help it. With a burst of laughter, she grabbed her sides, never loving a feeling more. And once she began, there was no stopping Ron. Looking up for the first time, he shot her a lopsided grin before falling in step with her laughter. The two continued for what felt like minutes, they couldn't be stopped. Lavender and Seamus looked at him confused, which made the situation all the more funny. Tears of happiness were tempted to spill over Hermione's eyes. The situation was all too hilarious.

"S-Sexual….hahaha…Tension?" She managed to say in-between giggles

"Well yea" Lavender said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world

This set Hermione out on another set of laughter. "W-What's so funny?" Seamus asked

Hermione calmed down enough to talk. "It wasn't sexual tension in the least! It was more like Ron annoying me to all edges of insanity and me lashing out at him!"

"Yea!" Ron suddenly said, "It was a competition to see who could last the longest."

"No it was not" Lavender insisted. "We used to examine the facts. Maybe it wasn't sexual tension but it was at least a tension that everyone knew would lead to romance. It was more of when you two blockheads would admit it. We used to talk about it all the time. Me and Parvati I mean…" With this last statement, the soft smile was wiped off of Lavender's face and she looked down at her hands. Catching on, Hermione's laughter was cut and her smile turned into a frown.

"Yea, what about Paravti? And Padma?" She asked quietly, looking at Lavender intensely.

Lavender said nothing, she looked around the little cave, desperately trying not to meet Hermione's eye. It was Seamus who squeezed her shoulder comfortingly and met Hermione's gaze.

It was filled with sadness and heartache. That much was obvious. Hermione's stomach felt empty and suddenly she wished she hadn't asked. She wanted to laugh again…it had filled her with so much warmth. She didn't want to talk about war anymore. Tears were gathered in Seamus's eyes and Hermione knew, without a word uttered by anyone, that they were dead.

Her head was pounding. How could this happen? The twins were always there, so bubbly and happy. Hermione had always sniffed when Lavender would walk around and chat excitedly about something with them, but not because she didn't like them. She'd still held a grudge about not having any girl friends at first and since Lavender and Parvati hadn't welcomed her into their group, even in first year when they shared a room, she couldn't help but pretend like she didn't want their friendship. But once she really got to know them, especially in sixth year, she found out about the school's secret craving to be inducted into the Golden Trio. From there she'd been distant friends with the twins and their deaths, however they came about, didn't seem to click in her brain. Michael Corner had been one thing…but she'd never really known him. Even Dennis Creevy's death hadn't had as big an impact on her, he was in a different year after all. But Padma and especially Parvati…this one hurt.

"How?" She managed to squeak out, tears of her own in her eyes.

Seamus looked away and put his hand to his neck as if he were debating whether or not to tell her. Finally giving in, he leaned forwards, his eyes not quite meeting her own- as if he were staring into another distant world.

"After we found Denis and searched for Ginny and Colin, we headed back towards Hogwarts. The dust had settled more so it wasn't that bad. We were running through the forest, and were at the edge of it, almost to where the castle used to be when we heard all this commotion. It was Harry. Naturally, we ran towards it to see if we could help when we saw him up in the air.

A Death Eater came right behind us so I pushed Lavender into some nearby bushes. From there we watched as Voldemort made his speech and well…you know the rest. Once Harry was…" Seamus seemed unable to say it "…gone, we heard these screams coming from right beside us. As the Death Eaters and Voldemort celebrated, this other Death Eater was watching the forest, looking for friends of Harry to have some kind of reaction. Apparently, Parvati had started crying.

This guy swooped down and dragged them both out of the bushes right next to us. Right next to us. We had no idea…that whole time they were there…we didn't know. He didn't think to look for us. They're the ones who saved our own pathetic lives. Because they died…we're alive." Seamus was beginning to raise his voice, a voice that was chalk full of heartache. Lavender was sitting there silently crying while Seamus battled tears in his own eyes.

Hermione had never seen something so…heartbreaking. It just tore at her to see them like this. Wiping a stray tear off her own face, she urged Seamus to continue.

"They dragged them both out. Voldemort broke away from the celebrations to look them over. He questioned them about where the rest of us were. They wouldn't tell them anything, Parvati kept crying about Harry. He really liked that that bastard. From there, he tortured them. In front of our own eyes, he put them under Crucio. I-I can't describe what it was like. Their screams…they just…" Seamus shuddered "I won't ever be able to forget them. By that time Lav was sobbing. I was crying too. He set Padma's hair on fire. When the flames reached her scalp she just-" Seamus broke off, tears slipping down his face. He wiped them up, ashamed. "Sorry" He mumbled.

Hermione's tears suddenly didn't seem enough. Her hand was covering her horrified open mouth, and her whole body seemed rooted to the spot.

"It's okay mate. We understand." Ron's strained voice said. He wasn't crying, but tears were shimmering in his blue eyes.

"D-Dean was with them though. I'm hoping he's still alive. Obviously we searched for him in the bushes but he wasn't there." Seamus said. "That's all we know of everyone."

"Thanks for filling us in" Ron said softly, patting Seamus on the back.

Silently, Hermione crossed over to where Lavender sat, tears still streaming down her face. Sitting next to the girl, she took her into her arms. At the gesture, Lavender burst into open sobs. "I'm so sorry" She whispered. "I-I know they were your best friends."

Lavender nodded through her tears. "Yea…they were," She whispered

"I know what it feels like to loose a best friend" Hermione whispered gently, wiping all her tears away

"I know"

"I really am sorry"

"I know you are. I'm sorry about Harry too."

"I feel really guilty." Hermione confessed. "All those screams that Ron and I heard all night long. I wished for them to stop. But I never stopped to think about who they belonged to. T-That must have been unbelievable to watch."

"It should have been me. They were the ones with the plans for their lives, they were the smart ones, they were the best people I ever met. And what am I? I didn't want to fight in the first place. I only went so I wasn't left behind."

"No one wanted to go." Hermione replied gently

"But still…what good have I ever done? I wasn't clever at school like you, I wasn't funny, I couldn't play Quidditch…I was a good flirt and I was pretty. My favorite subject was mealtimes where I could catch up on gossip. I mean what a wasted life! Padma was in Ravenclaw, she was so smart! Parvati was really good at school too, she was always explaining things to me, but she was funny. They had so much going for them. Why am I the one alive and they're the ones lying there dead!"

"Sh…Don't say things like that. You were in Gryffindor, we all know you're brave. You rescued Ron and I, if that wasn't courageous I don't know what else was. Did you know that in the morning I was going to be raped by Voldemort and killed? You and Seamus saved my life. And probably Ron's too eventually. So don't say that you haven't done anything. You've done one of the best things you possibly can. Parvati and Padma gave their lives for you and Seamus, and because of that, Ron and I are living."

Lavender wiped her tears away and sniffed. "You were going to be raped by Voldemort?"

"Yea" Hermione replied looking at her hands. "In some mad attempt to hurt Ron."

"I'm sorry"

"Don't be sorry. You saved me from it. But I've been wondering…how exactly did you know where Ron and I were?"

Lavender looked up "Seamus? You want to take this one, I'm too tired."

"Sure Lav, you want to go to bed?"

"I'll just take a quick nap. I'll be up in an hour." She said kissing his cheek and switching positions with Ron so that she was in the darkest corner of the tiny "cave."

Ron was watching their interactions curiously. "So are you two together as well?" He asked in a soft tone so that Lavender was able to sleep.

"Nah." Seamus said "We're just friends. But you can't help but feel close to someone who went through all that hell with you, you know? Anyways, about you guys." He said in a business like manner. "Sorry to say that the story you guys are in isn't very exciting. But I'll do my best to lavish it up for you." To this, Hermione had to smile. "So after all that, we were sitting in those bushes, crying and stuff when we heard a Death Eater from the jail walk out to join the celebrations. He walked over to Voldemort and announced that they had captured you both.

Obviously Lavender and I freaked out, especially after what we'd just seen, and listened carefully. Voldemort asked what cell you were in so that he was able to visit you later and the guy told him. We were so shocked though. Nobody had heard or seen from you, no one had any information. For all we knew you both had died with Harry or something. But to hear that you two were alive…well it wasn't a hard decision to rescue you both.

We knew that the Death Eaters wouldn't leave the area that night so I carried Lavender who had practically fainted with all the stress back to this place and we waited it out. You should have seen her, I've never seen anyone cry so much. She never stopped, even in her dreams. In the morning, Death Eaters were sent to search out people like us who had escaped the war. Most were and still are living in the forest. It was terrifying. You never knew when they'd come for you, if you were next. Lavender learned how to cry silently. But Michael's body and this tree probably saved our lives. They never came near us.

Then tonight we snuck out. I lifted Lavender up to that little window to see which cell you were and if there was a crack in the wall that we could enlarge. We got lucky getting it right the first time. And that's it. You both know the story from there."

"Wow" Ron said "I had no idea…thanks Seamus. Really. We owe you our lives. So if there's anything we can ever do to repay you both, you just name it"

"Don't. Please. We'd both hate it I promise. This was our way of dealing with Parvati and Padma's deaths. I'd feel too guilty to accept anything."

"But Seamus-" Hermione started

"Shush. No more." Seamus said firmly "Now, we need to talk about tonight."

"Didn't we just-" Ron asked, confused

"No, I mean what's to come for tonight."

"What?"

"We're escaping"

"Tonight?" Hermione asked, bewildered. They'd just escaped from prison, barely escaped death. She physically couldn't. She was too emotional drained.

"Yes tonight" Seamus said "In the morning they'll realize you're gone and trust me, by the way Voldemort sounded when he found out that you both were captured, he will not be happy and he will find us. I can guarantee that."

"Where are we going?" Ron asked

"America" Seamus said, "Lavender has an aunt who lives in some remote city there, we can stay there."

"But…how?" Ron asked

"Well we had two plans. Do you have your wands with you?" Ron and Hermione shook their heads no. "That's what I figured. We'll just have to try Plan B."

"Which is?"

"We escape Hogwarts grounds by foot and reach King's Cross. From there, we can take a train to the Leaky Cauldron. We can go to Diagon Alley and buy you both wands. There's no way we can spend the night there though, there will be too many spies. So immediately, we'll apparate to America. And don't even think of telling me we can't apparate cause we're underage, Hermione." Seamus said, noticing her open mouth.

Ron smirked and Hermione rolled her eyes at them both. "No, that wasn't what I was going to say."

"Well then," Seamus said, bowing his head "The floor is yours."

"Thanks. I appreciate you having a plan Seamus but this isn't going to work."

Sniggering Seamus asked in an amused voice, "Why not?"

"Because" Hermione said indignantly "With Harry gone, Voldemort will have access to Ministry files, if he doesn't already. Every time you apparate, it goes on file. He'll just be able to check where our latest apparation was and find us."

Seamus's face fell. Obviously he had not thought of such a thing. "Oh. I forgot about that"

Ron's worried face turned to her. "Do you have another plan?"

"Not exactly. But I know that we can't travel magically. It'll be just too easy to track down. We need to do it the Muggle way."

"Alright I'm fine with that," Seamus said. "But how do we get to America the Muggle way without Muggle money?"

Hermione sighed, "We can't. I don't have enough money to buy a plane ticket for four people. Or a boat ticket. We can't go to America."

Seamus's face opened in protest. "But we have to! That's the farthest away place that we have connections!"

"Exactly." Hermione said, "We need to go somewhere he won't expect. No where too far, or too close. He'll look there first. And we should stay in Europe with magical people that will be able to help us."

"What about my family in Ireland?" Seamus offered

"Too close. I'm sorry"

"Eh…your right."

"Hermione, I know you want to pick the perfect place but I don't know people who live in other European countries!" Ron cried, "The first real foreign witch or wizard I met was at the Triwizard tournament!"

Ron's words sent Hermione's brain into overactive mode. Triwizard tournament, foreign witch or wizard who would take them in, European country that was pretty far away…That was it!

"What is it?" Seamus asked seeing her face

"I've got it" Hermione breathed, running through her idea real fast to search for loopholes.

"Who?" Ron asked

Hermione looked at Ron. "You're not going to like it." She said truthfully

"Just tell me!" He rolled his eyes

"Wait, do I know them?" Seamus asked

Ignoring Seamus's question, Hermione kept staring at Ron, waiting for the connection to click in his brain. Suddenly his face lit up with the answer, and then darkened dangerously. Panicking, his turned towards Hermione. "Oh No…no, no, no, no, no…not him…please Hermione!"

"Ron…" She warned. "Don't go there"

"Hermione! There has to be someone else!"

"No Ron!" She cried seriously, "There is no one else! It's perfect! Admit it! You know we'll be safe there, he's rich enough to hide us safely, he'll have a lot of news, we can take the train there, and most importantly, no one will ever suspect it!"

"Hermione…" Ron moaned

"What's wrong?" Seamus asked, sincerely confused, not catching on to whatever they were talking about.

Hermione turned towards him, "Seamus, we're going to Bulgaria!"

"Bulgaria?" He scrunched up his face. "What's there? Who we know in Bulgaria?"

"Vicktor Krum" She sighed, rubbing her head, trying to relieve herself of a growing headache.

Seamus looked from Hermione to Ron, who was fuming in the corner, his face bright red. A smirk lit up his face as he realized exactly what Vicktor Krum symbolized to Ron and he sniggered. "Bloody Hell! This is going to be good!"

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(A/N: Wow this chapter just flew by. Sorry to end it where I did. More to come I promise! Please let me know whatcha think! Hugs, Haystack)