Ron had come back to supervise, though he told Hermione multiple times he had no idea what to do if something went wrong.

"Go get someone who does, then. And I remember in class learning something about some of these needing a witness, so you may need to be here anyway."

Harry made a mental note to ask Fleur that night if theirs needed a witness as well. As long as it wasn't Hermione (or Ron, honestly, since he couldn't trust him to keep that kind of a secret from Hermione) he'd be fine with just about anyone else. They had practiced drawing the runes enough times that Harry's wrist was hurting, but he couldn't complain - they couldn't get this wrong. They couldn't afford to get this wrong, no matter how much Hermione assured him she knew what she was doing. Mostly.

She was well aware of the stakes, which was why she came up with something that wouldn't be too complicated. Double runes were third year material - it got harder as more runes were added, of course, but two was easy. And they weren't easy to invert, so that was relieving. She just had to trust herself, which was difficult due to the fact that her hands kept shaking every time she practiced the runes with her finger.

"Hermione," Harry assured her, reaching over to take her hand in his. "Breathe."

They were in position, knees touching as they sat back on their heels on the floor. It wasn't the most comfortable, but the contact was grounding, and Hermione was struggling not to just cradle herself into Harry's chest.

He took a couple of deep breaths with her, never breaking eye contact, and even then, it took a few minutes before Hermione nodded and Harry let go of her hands.

"You go first," Harry told her. "I'll copy you." She was always shocked to be reminded of the fact that he trusted her with his life. It shouldn't, though, because she trusted him with hers, especially since he'd proven it.

Hermione checked her notes one more time, just to be sure, before picking up her wand. Harry nodded at her, and she pointed it at his chest.

Concentrate. Ehwaz. Ehwaz. Teamwork. Loyalty. Partnership. Success. Ehwaz.

She tried not to gasp as the rune appeared like a glowing black fire where she drew. Harry's eyes widened a little as he looked down at it - eerily similar to Voldemort's writing in the Chamber of Secrets. He pushed that thought away. This was nothing like that.

Hermione briefly wondered if she'd be able to do this if she couldn't do nonverbal spells, but fought to bring her mind back to the task at hand. She couldn't get distracted.

Gebo. Partnership. Exchange… Sacrifice. Gebo. Gebo.

An black carving in the air appeared to the right of the first, centered right in front of Harry's chest, and Hermione then took a breath to relax her shoulders and check her drawings. Identical. Good.

"Now I have to activate them and make sure they're correctly done. I have all this written down for you, too, when it's your turn, okay?"

Harry just nodded.

Hermione looked into his eyes briefly before her gaze moved back to the runes, gathering her concentration again. She drew a circle in the air around the runes, centered on Harry's heart, and tapped the center with her wand. "Venenate."

Nothing seemed to happen, but Hermione wasn't deterred.

"Specialis Revelio," she whispered, dragging her wand over the two runes and smiling as the black lines began to glow amber, making them look more like flames.

"Good job," Harry muttered nervously so that Hermione would know he'd been paying attention when she taught him what it meant.

Ron was on the edge of his seat.

"Okay… I'm going to… push them into you, okay?"

Harry gulped and closed his eyes.

It was warm - he could feel the symbols on his chest like a branding, but it didn't hurt. Then, the warmth spread from his heart outward, down his torso, through his arms, fizzling out once it neared his neck and legs. He shivered at the loss, but once it was all done, he didn't feel any different.

When he opened his eyes, neither did anything else, except for Hermione's eyes, which looked more beautiful than he remembered.

"How do you feel?" she asked, wringing her hands in her lap.

"Fine," he smiled. "It just felt warm. Like drinking hot chocolate. But it didn't hurt at all."

Hermione sighed with relief. "Good. What about marks?"

Harry pulled his shirt collar out a little bit to look down at his chest. "I don't see anything. How do we know they worked?"

"We don't, I guess?" she admitted.

"So I just have to do the same thing to you, right?" Harry asked.

"Right."

"That was bloody cool," Ron finally said with a grin. "It looks so much better than just learning from the books."

"That's why practical application is very important in any class, Ron."

"And you're the only person I'd trust to do this for me, Hermione," Harry said with a grin that made Hermione blush. "You still trust me?"

"Well, we've already got half of this done, so it wouldn't do us any good to stop now," she teased. "But yes, I do. Of course I do. I trust your intentions. Just make sure to concentrate." Hermione slid her notes over to him, detailed step-by-step instructions with the pictures of the runes included and key words to focus on. She set him up so he couldn't fail, and for that, he was extremely thankful.

And he didn't. He carefully followed Hermione's instructions and copied her actions, pushing the same runes into her chest as well. She took a deep breath, but let it out slowly, her shoulders lowering as he imagined her feeling that same warmth traveling through her body. Unlike him, though, her eyes never closed, and the eye contact made the ritual even more intimate, not that he minded.

"Wow," she breathed, running a hand through her hair. "That was something."

"Do either of you feel any different?" Ron asked carefully.

"Not particularly, no," Hermione answered with her eyes still locked on Harry's. "But maybe we can test my nonverbal magic theory?"

"I'm always up for watching you two duel."

"Are we okay to get up now? Everything's done?" Harry asked. Hermione nodded, and he stood, reaching out a hand to help her up. As soon as their fingers met, the warmth was back, flowing between the two of them. "Well, that's weird."

"A good weird."

"Definitely. It means something happened at least. And you didn't even need Divination after all."

Hermione laughed, shaking her head as she got up. "That's not entirely true. I just did all the research I could and, yes, I actually meditated on intention this morning while you were in the shower. Just for you, I might add."

"Always appreciated."

"Let's just get to the dueling. Please? It's been a while since I've seen you in action, and Muriel's gets so boring with everyone trying to keep quiet and safe. No fun spells or anything. And not that kind of action, Harry. Wipe that smirk off your face."

A couple minutes later, Ron was standing a couple yards away from Harry and Hermione on the beach. He hadn't realized that in order to test if they could help each other out with wandless magic, he would have to be the target, a fact that Hermione pointed out to him with a laugh at his enthusiasm.

He hadn't been sure which one he would rather have shoot spells at him, considering the power he'd seen from them before this ritual, but in the end, he chose Harry. He'd be more likely to go easy on him than Hermione. Maybe.

Hopefully.

Hermione could tell Harry was nervous, with or without the bond. "Just don't do anything that can cause serious injury until we know if anything changed," she reminded him. "Maybe just a leg-locker?"

"Rictusempra?" Harry teased.

"Actually, I think that's perfect. Ready?"

Harry dropped his wand. "Ready."

Ron closed his eyes, bracing himself.

Nothing happened.

"Dammit," Harry whispered. "Were you concentrating?"

"Of course I was," Hermione retorted. "Were you?"

"Always."

Hermione crossed her arms and gave Harry a playful stare. "I know that's not true."

"Okay, the other night wasn't my fault! My feet got cold and-"

"Oi! What are you two doing?" Ron called, finally opening one eye. "Did you try something?"

"It didn't work," Harry said back before picking up his wand again and spinning it around a couple times to get the sand off.

"Maybe it just takes some time for it to kick in?" Hermione suggested.

"Maybe. We'll try again later." Ron looked incredibly disappointed. "You can hang out with us, you know. You don't have to go back to Muriel's."

"Thank Merlin," he said, jogging over to them. "Fred and George are going mad, too. I don't know how they're doing it. Are you sure they can't come hang out with us, too?"

"Ron, you know the more people we have here, the riskier it is that we'll be found, especially if we have more members of the Order."

"Reckon Griphook'd be up for a conversation? Maybe a game of Exploding Snap?"

"If you can accomplish that, Ron, I'll take back every rude thing I've ever thought about you," Hermione teased.

"You know, you say things like that like they don't hurt my feelings." But he made sure she didn't miss the teasing smile that accompanied his words. "And you're getting bold. You sure you're not turning into Harry?"

"Just getting you back for everything you've said about me over the years. Fair game."

"Good. Because I don't know if I could handle two of him." Harry playfully pushed him down into the sand.

After lunch, they started on their plan for Gringotts again. All their research for the runes had put it momentarily into the back of their minds, which turned out to be a good thing. A clear head was what pushed Hermione to let out an "I've got it!"

The Snitch Harry and Ron had been tossing to each other while they bounced ideas around was spooked and immediately zoomed into Harry's pocket at the sound of Hermione's voice.

"What?"

She was quiet for a second as she looked over what she'd just written.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked.

"I'm just already nervous. It's mad. And risky."

"What's not these days?"

"Okay, so… we need to bring Griphook into the vault. That's the only thing I'm stuck on. He might need to open the door."

"And he'll want to make sure he gets the sword," Harry reminded her.

"Right. If I use the Polyjuice Potion to turn into Bellatrix, I should just be able to walk right up and ask for access to her vault, right?"

"Theoretically."

"And then Griphook can get us in… somehow."

"We have the Cloak," Harry suggested. "Maybe the three of us can go under it."

"No, we won't fit. Ron and I barely did when we used it-"

"Wait, when was that?" Harry looked between the two of them. "When did you two use my Cloak?"

"I used it to sneak into the library to do some research on the horcruxes. And Ron came along."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Ron went with you to the library…?"

"Yeah, and I fell asleep," he quickly added.

"Why didn't you tell me? I would have helped you."

"I… I felt like you had enough on your plate, Harry. I just wanted to take something off of it."

He opened his mouth to tell her to stop doing things behind his back, but then he realized exactly what he'd be doing at midnight, and extra research on Hermione's part didn't seem nearly as betraying. Maybe they'd be even, though, once Harry told her. If he ever got the chance.

"That's fine," Harry promised. "I just didn't know, that's all." At her remaining hesitance, he stood and crossed the room to stand by the desk next to her, squeezing the tension out of her shoulders. "Really, it's fine, Hermione. Either way, we can't fit all of us under there."

"But you can't be seen, Harry."

"Me and Griphook, then. He can't just walk back into Gringotts, I imagine. They know he was kidnapped and if they see him, they might think he's under the Imperius Curse and is trying to get into the vault for You Know Who."

"Right. So you and Griphook under the cloak. I'll turn into Bellatrix. Ron…"

They both turned to look at him before looking at each other. "Disguising spell?" they said in unison, eyes widening.

"That was cool!" Harry laughed.

"And weird. But yes. I think a disguising spell for Ron is our best bet. Now Ron, you'd have to keep it cast on yourself. But I want to make sure my arm's healed, so we have plenty of time to practice. And we'll need some different clothes for you and me, too."

"But it'll work?"

Hermione took a breath. "You and Griphook will be under the Cloak. I, as Bellatrix, will ask for access to my vault, and bring along Ron, who will be disguised. The three of you will get into the cart with me. Once we get to her vault, Griphook lets us in, we get the horcrux, and destroy it. Then Griphook can have the sword."

"Easy as pie," Harry teased.

As soon as they got into bed that night, Harry and Hermione couldn't keep their hands off each other. Even the slightest skin contact while they settled down lit up their nerves like Christmas lights, and cuddling wasn't cutting it. They had a feeling it was a combination of the bond and the runes, but he wasn't about to complain while Hermione was kissing down his body, his hand in her hair.

He'd gotten back into the habit of twirling a curl around his fingers as she drifted off to sleep. It was almost meditative for him, and it was a way for her to have some acknowledgement that he was still awake. It wasn't too long before he had to be downstairs with Fleur, but as comfortable as he was lying with Hermione once they'd worn themselves out, he felt his eyes trying to close on their own accord.

Harry reluctantly got out of bed and rubbed his eyes as he slid his shirt back on, as well as a pair of sweatpants. He trudged over to sit on the chair at the desk, scanning Hermione's notes. They'd added a lot of information from Bill about the vaults themselves and the various ways to get in, clothes they would need, spells they would need to practice, and making sure they could easily get out of Gringotts the way they came back in. Harry was well aware that getting out may be much harder, especially with a horcrux on them, but with Griphook, maybe he could pull a few strings there, too.

The faster Hermione's arm could heal, the faster they could get this plan in action. She hadn't tried to use it that he was aware of, and he knew it was a sensitive subject for her, but he really did want to help. She didn't complain about it too much, and every once in a while, she'd be able to move it a little bit, just barely, so it couldn't be that long before it would be fully functional again.

She had been sleeping better, and at least didn't need the Dreamless Sleep Potion every night, as the nightmares hadn't been as frequent now that their bond was stronger. Even still, he couldn't stop himself from noticing the ever-present dark circles under her eyes and how quickly and easily she fell asleep. At least they were getting better food, and they were still trying to stay in shape. He was tired too, though. Emotionally and mentally exhausted. Watching her sleep made him even more tired, but she was so at peace and so gorgeous that he couldn't stop.

Ten minutes before midnight, Harry finally tore his eyes away from Hermione - he was doing this for her. Protecting himself for her. For their relationship. For their life together after the war.

"Part of me didn't think you'd show up," Fleur smiled as he found her in the living room. "Are you ready?"

"Absolutely. I did want to ask about healing, too. For Hermione."

"I figured you might," she smirked. "Papa gave me a couple options when I asked. Which ones did you end up doing?" Fleur had some written runes spread around in a small pile on the floor in front of the couch, and she sifted through them, along with her dad's letter.

"Ehwaz and Gebo," he explained, and Fleur nodded. "Is that okay with Eihwaz?"

"It should be. But… Gebo, huh?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough if you haven't already," she smirked.

Harry's eyes widened. "Fleur, what is it?"

"Nothing bad, I promise."

"Fleur."

"You said you were embarrassed to talk about it."

Oh. That must have been why they couldn't stay away from each other. "Well, that explains a lot."

"Are you sure you did your research?" she giggled, looking up at him.

"Hermione did."

"Hmm. Learn something new every day, I suppose."

"What?" His tiredness was quickly draining his patience with all of this cryptic language.

"Nothing, nothing."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'd like to go back to bed."

"Of course, of course. Okay, so we're doing Eihwaz, Algiz, and… Berkano for healing, if you want to transfer that. Just be sure that you two are, um… being safe."

"Safe?"

"Like… using protection? Healing usually goes hand-in-hand with fertility. And I can't imagine you want that."

"Oh, no definitely not," Harry answered quickly. "She's… she took a contraceptive potion at the end of the school year last year, so we should be good for a while."

"Good. Make sure she'll keep up with it or you'll use something else. This will not go away, so if you ever do decide to go in that direction, just be warned it probably won't take too long. Or with anyone else you may be with in the future."

"Okay, can we just get to it?"

"I'm just warning you of the risks, Harry, so you can't say I didn't."

"Fine. I'm sorry, I'm just tired."

"Sit. I'll get everything ready."

Harry sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the couch, and Fleur arranged her notes. It was crazy of him to trust her as much as he trusted Hermione with this. Even more, he realized, since he was trusting her with his protection. And, apparently, his fertility, but that wasn't the intention, so all three were pressed into his chest at midnight. The warmth spread through his entire body this time, going to his fingers and toes before boomeranging back towards his heart.

"Thank you, Fleur," he said once it was all done and Fleur had gathered up her notes and stuffed them into a book, putting it back on the shelf.

"You're very welcome. I just hope it worked."

"You can thank your dad as well. And your mum."

"You can tell them yourself after the war is over," she smirked, hugging him gently. "Get some rest."

Hermione rolled over when he got back into bed, opening her eyes slowly. "Is everything okay?" she whispered. "Where'd you go?"

"Bathroom," he answered, pulling her close to him again. "Sorry for waking you."

"S'okay." Her eyes fluttered closed. When he leaned in to kiss her, they both shuddered a little. "Is it going to be like this all the time?" Hermione asked with a sleepy smile.

"No idea." At this point, Harry didn't even know which runes were affecting him and which ones weren't. He was going to say something else, but she was already asleep.