She woke up in blissful layers, with none of the pain she'd experienced the previous day. Opening her eyes lazily, she gazed out at the tent. The privacy curtain had been replaced and the tent was somewhat dim, meaning it was probably early morning. Yawning, she lay in Harry's bunk - it still smelled faintly of his aftershave, which he often used too much of. She was aware someone else was awake. From the general direction of the kitchen, she could hear someone bustling about, singing quietly to themselves as they worked. Deliberating for a moment on what to do, try to sleep or get up, she decided that getting up was probably for the best. She didn't fancy a lie in.

With another wide yawn, she got up and walked out into the dining area. Sure enough, Jane was up early as usual, and preparing breakfast once again but this time with John's help. It was Jane that was singing, Hermione realized. Though she was attempting to keep her voice down, it was a bit pointless as it was unusually resonant and quite beautiful.

"I heard them promise, till death do us part. Each word was a pain in my heart," she sang, swaying gently as she carefully scrambled eggs in a large pan. "WH-O-O-A-O-O-O-H! All I could do... all I could was cry..."

Hermione didn't recognize the song. Obviously, it was probably by an American artist she might not be all that familiar with. It sounded like it was an older song, perhaps from the sixties. Her mother might have recognized it. The thought only pained her for a moment. So instead of dwelling, she quietly sat down and listened with her chin in her hand. When Jane came to the final verse of the song and the last note was wrung from her throat, Hermione clapped enthusiastically. John, who'd noticed her entering, joined in with a silly smile. Jane was startled and nearly jumped out of her skin, hand on her heart. With a shaky laugh, she recovered and smiled.

Looking directly at Hermione she said, "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"No," Hermione replied, shaking her head. "But if you had, it wouldn't have been terrible, to be honest."

"Oh, well... thank you," Jane spluttered, heat rising in her cheeks.

"I didn't know you could sing."

"Um, yeah. John and I both can, actually. We both also play piano... he's a bit better at it than me," Jane explained as she worked, squeaking when John splooshed some water at her in response to the disparaging comment about her talent with the piano. And when Hermione asked about the song and the artist, Jane was happy to elaborate on it. "Oh, it's Etta James... she's my favorite. 'All I Could Do Was Cry' is one of her more well-known hits, not her signature song but still good."

"You didn't have to stop," Hermione said shyly, immediately feeling embarrassed for being pushy.

But Jane only smiled, going into 'I'd Rather Go Blind' as if she hadn't stopped singing at all. As she cooked and sang, people began filtering in. First was Roxy, who shuffled in tiredly - still in her pajamas, her hair a riotous mess, and with no makeup on at all. She shucked off her coat and tossed it on one of the living room chairs carelessly before sliding in next to Hermione. The young witch greeted her and was treated to a grunt in lieu of a reply. Jade came in next, rubbing her eyes under her glasses as she yawned. Jake followed her and he was the only one that was fully awake until seconds later when Dirk strolled in jauntily. He immediately reacted to Jane's singing.

"Yo! Jane! At Last! Do 'At Last' next!" he hollered, solemnly blowing her a kiss when she paused and scowled genially at his rudeness.

"Evidently, I'm taking requests now," she chided with a chuckle, flipping the sausages over with a spatula.

"C'mon! You gotta," he insisted as he sat down. "Like, fuck, if I knew you were in here singing Etta, I would have gotten up earlier. Don't leave me hanging like that."

With an eye roll, she began with the first long note of Etta James' signature song, plating the food so John could deliver it to the table. And as she serenaded them, her voice filling the tent warmly, everyone piled up their plates and tucked in. The moment she'd finished one song, she began to sing another until she ran out of relatively low-key songs in Etta James' oeuvre. It got quiet then, just the sounds of people eating and dishes being done. Until Dirk decided the silence was unacceptable.

As he took his plate up to give to John so they could be washed, he began to sing, "Listen b-a-a-a-a-a-a-by... Ain't no mountain high, ain't no valley low, ain't no river wide enough baby..."

Jane, who was busy cleaning up, sighed and shook her head exasperatedly but sang back the answering verse all the same. "If you need me, call me... no matter where you are, no matter how far..."

"Don't worry, baby," He belted it out as he pointed at her emphatically.

"Just call my name, I'll be there in a hurry. You don't have to worry."

And it quickly escalated as they both belted out the chorus gleefully. Dirk in his great wisdom bumped John out of the way so he could eat and took over for him, singing the entire time. His voice wasn't quite as good as Jane's, but it was decent and surprisingly smooth. And as they worked, they both danced, causing them both to neglect the volume of their voices. The unfortunate side effect of this little performance was that it was quite loud and there were still people asleep in the tent. As they came to the towering crescendo of the song while those who'd finished eating clapped in accompaniment, there was a muffled oath coming from the dining room-cum-sleeping chamber.

"JESUS CHRIST, PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!" shouted the disembodied voice of Rose Lalonde, who sounded tired and less than happy by the interruption of her sleep.

Dave had stumbled in by this point and heard his sister's complaint with the preternatural clarity afforded to all siblings whose ears were attuned to what would annoy their sister most. His gaze met his brother's and by silent agreement they both began to beat box the opening riffs to 'I Want You Back' by the Jackson Five. Dave pointed at John, who without waiting for any further word got up from the table and immediately began his best Michael Jackson impression, which was honestly a solid effort that sounded eerily close and was greatly helped by his vintage Jackson 5 moves. Dirk, Roxy, and Jade didn't need prompting to shout out the backing chorus while Dave continued to beatbox and from there it became something like musical anarchy - no so much in that it wasn't melodic, more that its sole purpose was to fuck with Rose's calm.

During this entire interlude, Rose was moaning for them to shut the fuck up. No one listened. Hermione watched all this with befuddled amusement, looking around as if she was slowly witnessing everyone in the room all going mad simultaneously. And then a shoe rocketed out of the makeshift bedroom Rose resided in, almost triumphantly in time with the chorus of the song. The shoe hit exactly no one, smacking the side of the tent pointlessly but satisfyingly. Everyone went quiet for several minutes, all eyes on the shoe lying all by itself on the floor.

Surprisingly, it was Jane was decided to continue the mischief. Getting Jade's attention, she mouthed one word, 'Halo'. Jade, evidently, knew what this meant as she nodded and then pulled an entire acoustic guitar from god damned nowhere. She then leaned over and whispered something into Jake's ear, and he nodded. The message was passed around until all attention was on Rose's room. Jade and Jane positioned themselves near the 'door' as they began - Jade strumming her guitar in a slow, pleasant rhythm.

When she'd been trying to be quiet her voice had been beautiful, but now in its fullness it was transcendent, backed by Jade's skillful playing. And then everyone began clapping in time. When Hermione didn't join in, Roxy, now quite awake, nudged her playfully, a silly grin on her face. Reluctantly, the young witch joined in while Roxy clapped and rocked back and forth in her chair to the rhythm. Once Jane hit the chorus, everyone slowly added their own voices, Jade in particular singing counterpoint to Jane. Her voice was lower and rawer, but they complimented each other nicely.

There was rustling coming from the dining room/sleeping area and muffled complaints while Jane sang on. "Hit me like a ray of sun, burning through my darkest night. You're the only one I want, think I'm addicted to your light," and as the words flowed sweetly from her mouth, Rose dramatically appeared at the door.

She violently pushed aside the tent-flaps and held them open as she glared at everyone serenading her. It might have been menacing had her hair not been a rat's nest. Her normally imposing image was further dented by the fact that she wore no makeup at all and was dressed in a rumpled silk chemise with a very silly cat pattern gamboling all over it covered by an equally rumpled cotton robe that had clearly seen a few too many wash cycles. She looked like a very irate university RA, which was a less than intimidating look.

No one was fazed at all by her reaction. In fact, they all seemed galvanized by it. At some point, Karkat had joined them, quietly for once. He was near the end of the second table. Somehow he'd found a lighter and was holding it over his head, its little light flickering as he slowly moved his hand back and forth as if he were at a proper concert, while reading his phone at the same time. This inspired the others, who continued to sing and clap even louder. As they came to the end of the song, Jane's voice ebbed and flowed magnificently while everyone joyously joined in for the last full repeat of the chorus.

Instead of the riotous cacophony of earlier, which was mainly meant to annoy, there was something gentler as they all joined in proclaiming that they could see her halo until the last momentous note faded into silence. Rose obviously could tell the difference between the two performances but she was still playfully annoyed as she gazed at a sea of amused faces. The room erupted in cheers as they all clapped, whether it was because it was the natural way to end such a performance or to salute Rose, no one really knew or cared. She pushed past them with good-humored imperiousness, sitting down as graceful as a queen. Dave, obligingly, brought her a plate piled with food, ruffling her hair which she endured with stoic dignity.

Looking them all over with raised eyebrows, she smiled wryly as she smoothed out her rumpled clothes. "You're all pathological," she declared primly as she carefully finger-combed her hair into some semblance of order before digging into her breakfast.

Hermione couldn't help it; she openly stared at Rose as she ate her breakfast. She thought back to the first and only time she'd met her - how effortlessly intimidating she was. But without makeup she looked years younger and though there was still an aura of quiet authority about her, she seemed somehow more approachable. Perhaps it was the luminescent smoothness of her bare skin or the now visible sprinkling of freckles across her nose. It could have been her chapped lips or the way her hair still stuck up crazily, making her resemblance to Roxy far more obvious than normal.

"Enjoying the view?" Rose drawled languidly, the lack of dark lipstick did nothing to dim the impishness of her smile.

Hermione nearly choked on her orange juice, sputtering a sentence that could only be considered an incoherent string of sounds. Rose laughed - it still had the same resonance, the same resemblance to pealing church bells. The most awful thing about all of this was the familiarity. Rose sounded the same. She smiled the same. But she wasn't the same because they hadn't even met yet.

"How quickly you've forgotten what Kanaya told you last night, Hermione," intoned Rose slyly. The use of her name at that moment had been pointed as she gazed at the young witch with piercing bright lavender eyes. "Light illuminates the most fortunate path forward and that path includes you quite prominently. So, you see, I don't need to meet you at a particular time to know you." Her smile softened at the stricken look on Hermione's face.

Hermione could not help but feel the ominousness in those words. As if she'd heard her say it out loud, Rose reached over and gave her hand a comforting squeeze before flouncing off to deposit her dishes with Dirk, who was still singing and washing away happily - this time it was some song that was entirely in Spanish. Meanwhile, Roxy had watched the entire exchange silently. Her pink eyes slid over to the girl who would be, was, and always will be her friend.

"Hey," she said, nudging Hermione with an elbow. "Wanna go out on patrol with me? I mean, after I get freshened up, obvi."

"Patrol?"

"Hmm? Yeah, patrol," she repeated with a hint of irritation. "I mean, I got this place on lockdown. Ain't no one can find us if I don't want em to. Don't mean accidents ain't gonna happen and there are people out there none of us want tripping face first into our biz. So, we've been taking turns checking the perimeters of the camp. So, whadya think? Come with?" There was a hopeful lilt in Roxy's voice and an obvious but understated current of excitement in her eyes.

Pressing her lips together, Hermione's gaze couldn't help but drift to the room where Harry lay, still in an induced coma. She wanted very much to go with Roxy, but she wasn't fourteen anymore. There was the matter of the Horcrux, which she really ought to retrieve. It was dangerous to leave it out on a table like that. Plus, what if Harry woke up - he'd need a familiar face to explain what had happened. Four years ago, she didn't have near the responsibility she had now. As fun as it sounded, her place was here. She breathed in to say as much but Roxy cut her off.

"You ain't doin' him no good here," Roxy declared firmly, her eyes hard. "He's in a bad way and there's no fucking chance he's gonna be awake anytime soon. Moping don't solve shit. You need to get out of this musty old tent."

The words were eerily familiar, said in almost the same tone as they had been four years ago.

"But... there are people out there looking for me... well, for Harry and me both. I couldn't bear it if something were to happen to you," Hermione began with a tremulous sigh, it wasn't exactly a lie but she didn't really know how true it might be. In fact, it sounded terribly close to complete bullshit if she was really thinking about it, just an excuse because she didn't want to leave Harry. "It's simply not safe."

Roxy burst out into loud peals of laughter. "I appreciate you worryin' about me and all, but you seen what we did to those Dementors. 'Sides, I have it on good authority that you know I got this rad 'sleeper' power that I haven't seen fit to give you the 411 on."

"Are you ever going to fill me in?"

"Nah, waitin' for your big brain to put all the pieces together on its lonesome," Roxy said with a wink and a grin. "So, coming with? Or are you dead set on moping around in this grungy tent like a shitty wet blanket?"

"You're not going to leave me alone unless I agree, are you?"

"I'm gearing up to be downright relentless about it, if I have to. Just hoping you'll preemptively say 'yes' to save us both some effort," she said, wrinkling her nose adorably. "Plus, I feel like I gotta 'splain some stuff about how I reacted when I was being an assbutt... like I know I already apologized, but just feels kind of shitty that you don't know the reason why. Cus I'm pretty sure you don't. It's stuff I don't like talking about all that often. Stuff I think my newest bestie oughta know." Roxy looked up cautiously through her messy fringe. There was a raw vulnerability in her gaze that was almost hard to look at.

The dreadful importance of this moment hit Hermione just then. There were hints she'd inferred from certain passages in the green book about Roxy. Hints she didn't quite want to believe because if she did... her heart broke for her friend. With a small nod, she gave a reassuring smile. "I'd love to go with you."

The smile Roxy gave then was nothing short of luminous. "Sweet! Be back in five. Gotta make myself presentable," Roxy chirped happily before she hopped up and nearly skipped out of the tent.

In truth, it was more like fifteen minutes than five before Roxy returned, dressed and ready to go. She stepped into the tent, her hair 'fixed' up but still somehow windswept. Her energy was boundless, as always, as she nearly dragged Hermione out of the tent, barely giving her time to throw a coat on. She blinked owlishly as she stumbled out of the tent. Two days ago, the weather had been miserable and gloomy. But the sun had come out since then and it was very bright. She stopped cold, looking around while trying to adjust to the difference between the tent and the outside world. Roxy would not be denied, grabbing her by the hand to encourage her forward. They walked briskly through the camp, Roxy happily greeting Jake as he carefully stacked firewood.

The camp itself was quite large. It consisted of four other tents besides the one Hermione had provided. Besides the regular tents, there was a large pole-tent of sorts. The windward sides of the shelter were literally blocked up by bright green bricks. The other two had the same thick carpet like coverings she'd seen four years ago which were clumsily tied back with cords. Inside she could barely make out what looked like a brazier similar to the one they'd used in the monastery four years ago. An extension cord dangled from canopy of the tent, though what it was attached to was not immediately obvious. One of the small green generator boxes sat just below it, as if waiting to be used. Near the pole-tent was a cord of wood that Jake was currently stacking. To the left were the temporary shower facilities and further away from that was the lavatory.

Then there were the tents themselves, scattered haphazardly across the camp. Hermione's was nearest to what Roxy had termed the 'entertainment zone', indicating the pole-tent. To the far right was a red tent, which was shared by Dave, Jade, and Karkat. There was a smaller green tent which was farther away than the others, which belonged to Dirk and Jake.

Roxy pointed excitedly at a blue tent just behind Hermione's own. "That's my tent. I share it with John and usually Jane, but since she's on healin' duty it's just been the two of us." On the outskirts of the camp was the last tent, which was dark purple. "That one is Vriska and Terezi's. Trolls got better hearing than humans, so they usually set up near the border of my influence. Better to get the jump on anyone who gets too close."

Roxy chatted with her amiably about nothing at all important as they walked out of the camp. The further they went into the forest, the quieter she became. She stopped suddenly, her hand lifting up and tapping at nothing. From seemingly nowhere a wicked looking short-barreled rifle appeared. She caught it, swinging it over her shoulder with almost perfunctory flare.

"What's that for?" Hermione blurted out, slightly alarmed by the presence of such a dangerous but distinctly muggle weapon.

Roxy's eyebrows rose subtly. "Protection, obviously."

"Muggle weapons are useless against wizards," she explained with an air of exasperation.

Her blonde haired friendly smiled slowly. In a blur of motion, she shouldered the rifle and shot it; completely obliterating a tree a good ten feet away from them with a loud, futuristic sounding bffftwang. It had happened so quickly that Hermione barely had time to breathe from shock. "I'd like to see the wizard that got the reflexes to beat me in a quick draw. Mostly cus I'm sure they don't exist." There was no arrogance in the statement at all, just grim fact. "C'mon. Somebody is probably gonna notice that and I don't want to listen to another lecture 'bout not blowing the fuck outta innocent shrubbery."

It was hard to believe Roxy was as deadly as her other friends were. Well, really, Hermione had barely believed any of them were capable of summoning the kind of raw power they'd unleashed just two days ago until she'd witnessed it firsthand. It just seemed especially unbelievable in Roxy's case. She was so affable and goofy, but here was the evidence that she was every bit as deadly as her peers.

Hermione fell back on her old standby, disapproval. "You know, they don't allow those types of weapons in this country."

Roxy let out a hearty guffaw. "What? You mean to tell me they don't allow no Star War future weapons in this neck of the woods? I am shocked and appalled I can't get my Han Solo on - got half a mind to write a sternly worded letter to the Queen."

She narrowed her eyes wryly and corrected her, amusement coloring her voice. "Don't you mean Star Wars?"

"Nah, I meant what I said - One whole Star War, with no pluralization taintin' its lofty magnificence," Roxy quipped, her eyes sparkling as she gave Hermione a little nudge with her shoulder.

The young witch smiled despite herself, playfully pushing Roxy away with a laugh. Almost as if planned, they both went silent, falling into their own thoughts. The day was cold and crisp; the sky was a lovely pale blue. In the distance, Hermione thought she heard a bird sing. There were still a few leaves on the trees, though they were all dull and brown now. Hermione sniffed, looking down at her feet as they went ever forward. Each footstep came with an accompanying crunch from the dead leaves below. Roxy, by contrast, was nearly silent as she moved; her eyes scanning the woods cautiously. Hermione gripped her wand which was in her coat pocket, suddenly worried.

"Is there something the matter?" she whispered, her heart beating a bit faster.

"Not really. Just..." Roxy huffed frustratedly. "There were some guys on that ridge there," and she pointed at it, "just a couple days ago. Pretty sure they're wizards, on account of their terrible taste in fashion. I mean, who the fuck wears a drum major jacket with a pirate shirt and culottes, honestly? Plus, they got wands and can't help but shoot 'em off like every five minutes like a buncha tools. Anyways, I've been tracking them last couple days - cus they keep circling closer to us. And that don't sit right with me."

"What would they be doing out here?"

"Looking for folks on the run, like you," Roxy suggested with an easy shrug. "Rose says they're called snatchers. Roving gangs of magic folk that ain't good enough to be Death Eaters what go looking for people in hiding with bounties on their heads. And then turn them in for fun and profit."

Hermione paled. She knew it was bad. After all, the three of them did have a price on their heads. When Ron was still here and they listened to the radio broadcasts, it was clear the situation was dire. But they hadn't really listened since then. They'd had no news of what was going on in almost two months. She had never imagined things would go downhill this way and so quickly. And the fact that some of these awful people were near enough to worry Roxy... she slowly drew her wand from her pocket, looking around the woods as if seeing it for the first time as a very dangerous place.

Roxy stopped and looked at her with a strained half-smile she clutched her arm and squeezed it. "You don't got nothin' to worry 'bout. You're with me. I got your back."

Hermione returned the smile and responded quietly, "I know. But... you need to know that I have yours as well."

A look of surprise flitted across her blonde friend's face that warmed into a fond, watery smile as she nodded sharply to acknowledge what Hermione had said. "C'mon. There's a real nice flat rock down that way by this little stream. Looks like a good place to talk."

4/7/20 I decided to upload the update a bit early and separate it into two parts. You'll be getting the regular update on 4/13 but with everything going on, I thought it'd be nice to release a little early and spread some joy (hopefully).