When Harry awoke, Grimmauld Place looked much less sinister. He hadn't realized they'd forgotten to close the curtains last night, but he was grateful for the soft light pouring in, and was actually shocked he slept through the night and only had one Voldemort-induced dream. Ron and Hermione were still sleeping. He thought about closing his eyes again, but then he heard what sounded like that same banging sound somewhere in the house, and took that as a cue that it was time to get up. It didn't seem to have bothered them during the night, and as he made his way through the house, nothing seemed amiss.

He paused in front of Sirius's room, debating on whether he should go in or not. It might provide some clues if nothing else. Pushing the door open, he wasn't sure what to expect, considering he'd never been in there before. He took a while in the silence, looking around at his clothes, the unmade bed, the little trinkets and toys Sirius had collected during his life, and it brought a smile to his face.

Harry didn't want to go snooping, obviously, but he didn't not want to look. A copy of A History of Magic sat on the dresser with a picture of Bathilda Bagshot looking up at him. He remembered that name from the wedding; at least he could put a face to it.

"Harry?" he heard Ron's muffled voice call, and was glad Hermione had remembered the counter spell. "Hermione, where are you? I think I found something." They must have had the same idea.

"Good work," Harry muttered as he met Hermione at the bottom of the stairs, who only laughed. "Ron?"

Ron appeared from a hall nearby. It was so hard to tell where noises came from in this house. "This way."

What he led them to didn't look very impressive. It was another bedroom, and Harry had the fleeting thought that none of them would want to sleep in any of these rooms after all. This one looked like a tornado had come through.

"Lovely," Hermione commented sarcastically as she looked around before raising an eyebrow at Ron, who pulled the door closed a little to draw her attention. "Regulus Arcturus Black."

"R.A.B."

Figuring that out would be the easiest part.

Harry started back towards the living room, where all their bags were, and Hermione quickly followed. "We should have some breakfast first," she argued.

"But Hermione, we don't have time-"

"We're safe here, Harry. We don't need to rush right now. We need our strength." When he didn't seem convinced, Hermione didn't budge. "Please. If we're not in top shape, we'll be vulnerable." That seemed to work.

Harry huffed, exchanging looks with Ron before shoving the locket into his pocket. "Fine. What've you got, then?"

"Oh, um… well, I may have to get a bit creative. I hope your mum won't mind, Ron, I kind of… took some stuff from the fridge. I guess I should have taken the cake, too…" Hermione trailed off, setting her beaded bag down on the bench seat of the table. "Can you hold this open for me?" Ron quickly grabbed the edge of the bag as Hermione reached in and pulled out a cooler. "So, you know you can't conjure food, but you can duplicate what you have. So… as long as we keep one of everything, we should be good on supplies. Just keep that in mind."

"You really have thought of everything, haven't you?" Ron laughed incredulously.

It even made Harry feel better. Safer, anyway. He knew they were very lucky to have her and Ron had been right: they wouldn't last two days without her.

Harry had no idea what charm Hermione had put on the cooler, but he could see the steam from ice rising out of it as soon as she opened the lid. She must have put an extension charm on it, too, because she pulled out way more than would have normally fit.

"Eggs and bacon?" she asked.

"Ooh, do you have stuff for chocolate pancakes?" Ron asked, suddenly very into the thought of breakfast. "You said your mum and dad used to make them for you on your birthday, right? You can make some for Harry's birthday."

Hermione glanced over at Harry for a second. "Yeah, they did," she answered, clearing her throat. "Um… yeah, Harry? I know it's a little late, but we can still celebrate."

Chocolate pancakes. A weird sense of panic started to rise in his stomach, and he swallowed it down thickly.

"Harry?" Hermione repeated gently, sure his brain was on the same track hers was if he remembered.

"Yeah," he finally said, shaking the thoughts from his head. "Yeah, that sounds great. Lovely. I think I'm going to go to the bathroom." Harry stiffly and quickly left the kitchen, not heading for the bathroom necessarily, but whatever door he found first, shutting it behind him.

"You think he's feeling all right?" Ron asked after a few seconds of silence in which Hermione kept her hands busy by rummaging for ingredients.

"I'm sure he's fine." She avoided eye contact with Ron, who didn't seem to realize anything, not that she expected him to remember something like that. "I think I brought a Chocolate Frog somewhere…"

Cooking really was a good distraction, especially since she had to search for the cooking utensils she'd brought for the tent. Ron watched her curiously, offering to help, but she refused, trying to get her mind off of Harry's revelation. It didn't have to be the case, right? Loads of people made chocolate pancakes - she doubted she was the only one. It was just a coincidence, that's all. Besides, did Amortentia even work like that? Didn't it have to be an actual smell of someone? Surely the smell of a memory from the other person wouldn't make sense… right? Unless...

"Are you sure you don't want help?" Ron asked again cautiously as Hermione noticed the rather aggressive way she'd been cracking eggs. She paused and took a breath.

"Maybe you should go check on Harry. He's been gone for a while."

Ron shrugged. "Okay, sure." He got up slowly and headed out into the hall, trying to remember which direction he heard Harry go. "Harry? Are you okay? We're getting worried about you, mate."

"I'm fine," came Harry's voice from a couple doors down. Ron frowned - it definitely wasn't a bathroom.

Ron knocked softly before pushing the door open to find Harry sitting on a couch with his head in his hands. "What's wrong?"

Harry shook his head. "I… Close the door," he started after looking up, his eyes flicking to the hall before moving back to Ron.

Ron did as he was told and sat down on the couch next to him. "If you're not hungry, we-"

"I think I like Hermione," he blurted out, to which Ron fell silent. It felt weird, saying it out loud. Because he still wasn't sure himself.

Ron's lips curled. "You think?"

"I-I don't know," he admitted. "It's weird. I don't think I do. At least, I didn't, but everyone else seems to think I do. And I think she's beautiful and brilliant and I like spending time with her and… I mean, I've thought about kissing her before, but… that's normal, isn't it? When you've got attractive girl friends." Saying it out loud made him realize how stupid he sounded. He really had been thinking about her like that for the past three years, hadn't he?

"Well, don't you like anyone?"

"I thought I liked Ginny. Sorry."

Ron sighed. "Seriously? My sister?" But he laughed nonetheless. "I'd prefer you over Dean."

"Thanks… but… I dunno. I don't want to get you involved in all my problems. Not besides the life-threatening ones, of course. I think I should just not worry about it. Who cares if I fancy Hermione or not? It doesn't matter, does it?" Harry stood from the couch, wiping his hands on his pants.

"Just keep the snogging to a minimum when I'm around, okay?"

"What? That's… come on, Ron, she doesn't even-"

"Oh, believe me, mate. She does. She's just too worried about you to tell you."

"Well, she should be! We all should be! We're in the middle of a war and now is the time for everyone to start catching feelings?!" Harry shook his head in frustration. "It doesn't matter."

"All right," Ron said with a smirk as he stood and opened the door. "Keep telling yourself that. But I get it. I do. It's not a good time. Just saying, if you ever have doubts… don't, okay?"

By the time they got back to the kitchen, Hermione was cooking eggs in one pan and bacon in the other, and Harry blinked away the glow that surrounded her from the sun coming in the window, sitting on the other side of the table, as far away from her as possible without it coming off as rude. Hermione didn't seem to mind, though, and didn't talk much while she worked. She set a plate down in front of him without glancing up.

"Thanks," Harry muttered, his eyes fixated on the plate.

Once Ron and Hermione had picked equally awkward places to sit, not wanting the tension of sitting together and realizing that some dynamic had momentarily changed, Hermione cleared her throat. "Well… I know it's not much, but… happy birthday, Harry."

"It's perfect, Hermione. I mean… it's great. Thank you. It… means a lot."

They all looked at each other for a few seconds. "Well, dig in, you two. I didn't cook all this for you to stare at it."

Once breakfast was over and everything was cleaned and placed back in Hermione's bag, it was back to business. Not long after breakfast, a weasel Patronus appeared in the kitchen - it was Arthur's, telling them that everyone in the Order was safe, but under no circumstances were they to contact them. They were on their own.

It didn't take them too long to find the locket, thanks to Kreacher and, unexpectedly, Dobby, a couple days later. Hermione had to hold Harry back from hexing Mundungus as soon as he showed up in the house, reminding him in a rushed whisper that Mundungus wouldn't help them if Harry did anything stupid. He pointed out from a newspaper that it was Umbridge who had the locket, which meant they had to get into the Ministry during the work day and get it from her.

Hermione was the one who scared Mundungus the most, threatening to blackmail him with Moody's death if he didn't help. That seemed to light a fire underneath him, and the next night, he was back with just enough Polyjuice Potion to get them one trip. All they had to do was add the hairs when they got to the Ministry.

If Harry was being honest, besides the absolute worst Apparting experience he was sure he'd ever have, and the fact that they were in a forest and nowhere near Grimmauld Place, their plan didn't go nearly as bad as it could have. He could hear the locket from the spot where he'd landed, an annoying, unsettling squeaking sound coming from a yard or so away. But they did it. They had it. Now, they could destroy it.

"Harry!" he heard Hermione cry out, and when he turned, the rest of his hearing came back - Ron was on the ground, writhing in pain with Hermione next to him, trying to get his shirt off. "Harry, quickly, in my bag… there's a bottle labeled essence of dittany." He nodded, but had no idea how he was going to find it; there had to be some kind of organization. When it took him a few seconds too long, Hermione yelled "Quickly!" and he decided that using a spell would be faster. Again, another example of him forgetting to use magic at an inopportune time.

"Accio dittany!"

"Unstopper it," she ordered once he was close enough.

"Hermione… his arm…" It looked like it was splitting from his shoulder. Long gashes of broken skin stretched too far made it look like it was resting at a weird angle, like it didn't even belong to him.

"I know, just do it!" Teary eyes looked at Ron as shaky hands covered in blood tried to soothe him. "Shh… it's okay… this will sting a little..."

"What happened? I thought we were to be going back to Grimmauld Place."

"We were there," she explained, drizzling a couple droppers full of the liquid over Ron's arm. Smoke started rising as the skin mended itself together and the angle of his elbow became more natural. "We were there, but… Yaxley had hold of me and one he'd seen where we were, I knew we… we couldn't stay, so I brought us here, but… Ron got splinched."

She visibly relaxed as the medicine took hold and Ron stopped groaning, though he didn't move or open his eyes. But he was relaxed, breathing, and at least his arm looked like it wasn't about to fall off, even if scars would stay. Hermione rose to her feet and grabbed her wand, moving a couple yards away.

"Protego Totalum. Salvio Hexia."

"What are you doing?" Harry asked as he took Hermione's spot next to Ron to keep an eye on him.

"Protective enchantments. I don't fancy another visit like the one we had in Shaftsbury Avenue, do you?" Harry shook his head. "You can get going on the tent," she continued, moving a few feet to the side and repeating the enchantments.

"Tent? Where am I supposed to find a tent?" But Hermione just continued with the enchantments, and Harry had a feeling it was to keep her mind off Ron.

But then he remembered everything she'd pulled out of the bag. It couldn't possibly be in there, could it…? Once he made sure Ron was at least stable and conscious, he took the couple steps over to the bag.

"Accio tent?" he tried, jumping back a little when a duffel bag flew toward him. He caught it without much trouble and began unzipping it. He'd never set up a tent before, but this was a magical tent, so surely it would help him a little. He managed to lay everything out and stake it down, but there weren't any other pieces left. "Hermione?" he called cautiously in case she was still working. "I think we're missing something…"

Hermione looked over with a smile as she finished the last charm, a shimmer leaving her wand and joining the dome of protection before fading into nothing with the rest of it. She looked at the barrier, mentally calculating, before nodding and heading back to Harry. "I borrowed this from Arthur. You've done a good job at staking it, but we should just be able to… stand back." Harry followed her orders and moved away a few feet.

"Erecto." The tent sprang to life, supports appearing underneath the front to hold it up, and Hermione sighed. "I hope the inside worked…" From the outside, it looked small for the two of them, much less all three.

"Otherwise we'll have to get very comfortable," Harry laughed. Hermione shot him a sideways glance, but shook her head.

"Come on. Let's get Ron's bunk set up and then we can bring him in." She opened the flap and let out a sigh of relief. "Excellent. Okay."

Following behind her, Harry couldn't help but let out a "woah" at the sight. Like the tent they'd stayed in for the Quidditch World Cup, the interior was much bigger than it looked on the outside. It wasn't as elaborately decorated, but the less that was in it, the less they had to pack up when they left, which was for the better. The immediate area had a small "living room" with a couple of folding chairs and tables. Harry could also see a bench-style table on a small platform and an area he assumed was set off for the kitchen nearby. There was a partition for a bathroom and exactly three bunks arranged throughout the tent, already made with pillows and blankets.

"Obviously we can rearrange things if we need to, but… I suppose this will be home for a while." She nervously looked over at Harry. "It's not as good as Grimmauld Place."

"It's safer," Harry reassured her. "And it's plenty of space. And it's portable, so wherever we are, we'll have somewhere to stay. That's what matters. Thank you, Hermione."

She smiled softly, taking a breath. "Well… the bunks are already made, so let's get Ron in and then we'll make a game plan, I suppose."

It was fairly easy for the two of them to carry Ron into the tent and lay him down on one of the beds. Harry stayed with him while Hermione unpacked most of the things in the tent and started setting up before she quickly gathered supplies for a makeshift sling. By the time it was all done, it was dark outside. "We'll have to stay here for a while until Ron can Apparate again, but we should be all right." Carefully, she sat Ron up and maneuvered his arm into the sling before securing it tightly. "How does that feel?"

"Fine," he said with a smile. "You saved my life, Hermione."

"I saved your arm," she corrected, grinning. "But you're welcome."

"Even after all the-"

"Ron, stop. We're friends, okay? I'm going to do whatever I can to save your life no matter how you feel about me." After a pause, she turned to Harry. "I can stay with him for a little if you want to start dinner. Everything should be ready."

Harry frowned, but looked between the two of them and suddenly got the feeling they wanted privacy - as much as they could get here. "Right, yeah. Thanks." He quickly got up and headed into the kitchen, hoping everything was there.

Ron noticed Hermione's eyes lingering on Harry as he left, a sort of sad look in her eyes, but he didn't want to say anything. They weren't even settled yet and trapped in a tent together was not the time to be thinking about relationships. Not to mention how awkward it would be. After a while, the healing potion Hermione had given Ron made him a little sleepy, so he promised her he'd be all right for a little bit and he'd come eat dinner when it was ready. She got up from his bunk and pulled the blanket over him, then she and Harry were alone.

She didn't want to get too close, so she just stood in the kitchen while he worked. "Are you doing okay? Do you need help?"

"I think I've got it, thanks. You deserve a break today."

Hermione just laughed, shaking her head. "I don't think that's in my vocabulary. I'm impressed, though. The way you stood up to Umbridge like that. I was afraid for a moment she'd figure us out."

"Well, she was about to, which is why I had to act. Were you really going to blackmail Mundungus if he didn't help us? What proof do you even have on him?

"Nothing," she smirked. "But he doesn't have to know that, does he?"

Harry grinned, and for a moment, Hermione had never looked more attractive. She blushed under his gaze, and he cleared his throat. "Good going on grabbing the locket, too. I thought we wouldn't make it out of there."

"Me too," Hermione whispered.

"Well, we did, okay?" Harry left the stove to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder briefly. "We escaped and we're safe. That's all we need to worry about right now."

"I know." She looked over at Ron. "I know."

Harry quickly moved his hand away to cook again. "We need to destroy the locket tomorrow."

"Do you still have it?"

"It's on the bed."

Hermione stood to grab it from the bunk Harry had chosen, above Ron's, and looked at it carefully. "I can't even see a latch or anything," she mused, sitting back down in the chair. "What do you think is inside?"

"I don't think I even want to know, Hermione. I mean, I know it's a piece of his soul, but… I don't know what will happen when we destroy it."

"Three more after this, right?"

"Right. Almost halfway there." He took a deep breath, grateful for the silence as he cooked. Hermione could tell, and she didn't say a word; instead, she carried over the locket and a few books to the kitchen table to start her research.

Once dinner was ready, Hermione gently woke Ron and helped him to the kitchen table while Harry set out the plates and food. They ate quickly, with Ron having to push Hermione's books out of the way with his free arm to convince her to stop studying during dinner.

"But-"

"It can wait. Look, I know things are important and this is a lot different than we're used to, but you need to rest, too."

Hermione glanced up to Harry briefly before nodding and closing the book. "I hate it when you're right."

"Well, it doesn't happen often, so I'll consider it a compliment," Ron grinned, nudging her with his shoulder.

Hermione rolled her eyes, but the rest of dinner and the night went smoothly, with talk of the horcruxes less frequent than they had been in a while. Harry went into the bathroom with Ron briefly to help him change, but otherwise tried not to hover too much. He didn't really like being alone with Hermione necessarily, because every time, he felt himself analyzing every look she gave him or word she said to him, even when they were trying to do research. After dinner, when it started to get dark, Hermione announced that she was going to go start a fire and go on first watch.

"A fire?" Harry asked, his eyebrows furrowing. "What do we need a fire for?"

Hermione wrapped her arms around herself, shrugging. "I dunno, I just thought it might be... comforting." At Harry's confusion, she smiled a little. "Have you never sat around a fire before?"

"Not outside the common room."

"Oh. Well... you'll just have to see, then. Ron, would you like to join us once I get it started?"

Ron waved his hand nonchalantly. "S'okay. I don't feel like moving much. You two can enjoy."

Hermione nodded and ushered Harry outside with her head. "Come on, then. Help me get some sticks."

Harry followed her instruction of what she needed, and tried to gather as much as he could to help her, ending up with an armful of twigs of various sizes, some pinecones, and bigger branches that he's found. Hopefully they'd work.

"Those are perfect, Harry!" she grinned, setting down her own larger branches next to the clearing she'd made in the leaves. "Now, you can't judge how good this fire is going to be, okay? I'm... well, it's much easier with magic."

"Finding joy in you finding something you're not brilliant at? I would never," Harry smirked.

"Shut up. You two don't need any more ammunition over me, especially when I'm in charge of making your dinner tonight."

"You don't have to, you know," he reminded her as she started to set up the twigs in a small pile, changing the shape she stacked them a couple times before realizing it really didn't matter.

"I know. But... I want to."

"You want to get your mind off of things?"

"I want to help. Both of you. And... if there's something I can do to win this war, I want to do it." She quickly cast a shield-like charm in a small circle around the sticks so the fire couldn't escape, then pointed her wand at the center. "Incendio." Flames immediately licked up the side of the branches, devouring the pine straw and smaller twigs before settling down as it caught onto the bigger ones. Hermione threw a couple more on to hold it before sitting down unceremoniously on the ground and patting next to her.

Harry quickly followed along and looked at Hermione. "Now what?"

"Honestly, Harry, you're just supposed to relax," she laughed. "There's nothing profound about it, I don't think."

Relax. How was he supposed to relax when there was a horcrux in their midst, they were being trailed by the Ministry of Magic, and Voldemort could be waiting for them around every turn. Ron had nearly died not eight hours ago and she was expecting him to relax?

"The tenser you are, the harder this hunt will be, Harry. You know that, don't you?"

He hated how she could read his mind sometimes. He picked up a stick and started drawing in the dirt with it, random shapes that didn't mean anything, but got his brain off of some of the stuff he didn't need to be worried about tonight. When he looked up at her, she was staring at him in a strange way he hadn't noticed before. Where her eyes usually betrayed the fact that her mind was going a mile a minute, right now, Harry felt a strange fluttering in his stomach like he was the only thing she was thinking about. He swallowed, and she quickly looked back to the fire, leaving Harry to shiver a little at the loss. He looked into the fire, too. Maybe the answers would be in there.

It was a little warmer here in the forest than it was in the castle, but the heat from the fire didn't seem to bother him. In fact, he scooted a little closer. The bite against his skin was nice. After a few minutes, he could feel a bead of sweat rolling down the back of his neck. Now that the sun had gone down and they'd gotten quiet, the forest began to come alive. The longer he listened, the more noises he could hear. Bugs, animals, the crackling of the fire. In a way, it was relaxing. He could turn his brain off for a second and focus on the other noises. He'd also never seen Hermione this still.

She had her knees pulled up to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs, and he could see the fire reflected in her eyes. Her face was relaxed more than he'd seen it in a while. Beautiful.

"When have you done this before? Sat around a fire?"

Hermione blinked away her thoughts, but didn't avert her gaze. "My parents and I used to go camping. I know, it's crazy to think about me camping, right?"

"Not at all. Considering that's what we're doing now."

She grinned softly. "We'd go a couple times a year when the weather was nice. It's so much easier with magic, though. Setting up a tent without it is a pain in the arse, so I'm lucky we got this one."

"You miss them."

"I do."

"I can't even imagine," Harry sighed. "Is... is this helping or hurting? Being here with me?"

"Helping," Hermione answered without hesitation. "Making good memories. I have a feeling we won't have a lot of those on this trip, so I'm trying to do what I can, I guess."

"You're doing amazing, Hermione." He scooted closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She retaliated by resting her head on his shoulder. It was way too hot, but he wasn't about to pull away from the butterflies erupting through his stomach. "I'll never be able to thank you enough for coming with me. For helping."

"Well, I wanted you to have a chance," she replied with a smirk, and Harry laughed. With Hermione here, he knew he had a much better one.

They didn't talk much over the next couple hours, just watching the fire and listening to the woods, but it was a comfortable silence, something he was used to with her. Eventually, the fire started to die down and Hermione tossed another log on, finally picking up her head from Harry's shoulder and yawning. "You should get to bed, Harry. I'm sure Ron's ready, too."

"You sure you're up for first watch?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've got a Stamina Potion if I need it."

"Okay, well, don't feel bad about waking me up if you need to come back in early, all right?" he said, pushing her hair behind her ear before standing up. Her cheeks reddened a little, but he told himself it was just the heat.

"I promise. 'Night, Harry."

"Night."

After he'd gotten ready for bed and helped Ron get ready as well, it was Hermione's eyes and the feeling of her head on his shoulder that allowed him to drift off to sleep.