Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter/Wizarding World. They were all created by the genius that is J.K. Rowling.

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who's reading the last chapter ended up being just a little bit of fill but this one should start to progress the story again. I also wanted to throw a Happy Halloween out there too.

Chapter 29: Turn of the Tides

It was close to dawn when Ron arrived back at Grimmauld Place. He tried to be all stealthy but forgot not just about the ward Mad-Eye had set up for Snape, not to mention the umbrella stand in the entrance which when he knocked it over set Mrs. Black off. "Shut your damn mouth you annoying bitch." Ron yelled back at the shrieking painting as struggled to get the curtains that generally covered her shut.

"It's about bloody time your back." Harry said walking into the hall to help him.

"Sorry." Ron said sheepishly. "Where's Hermione?"

"Asleep on the sofa in the sitting room, she fell asleep a while ago."

"It's been an exhausting." He agreed. It was hard to believe that only a day ago, his biggest problem was trying to figure out a way to break things off with Lavender without hurting her too badly. Compared to what was happening now it seemed so trivial.

"What did you find out?" Harry asked.

"Wake Hermione, I'll go find us a couple of glasses. I picked up a bottle of firewhiskey." Ron raked his hand through his shaggy ginger hair.

Harry started to say that they should let her sleep then thought better of it, he liked his parts dangling just the way they were. "Is it that bad?"

"It's pretty damn bad." Ron sighed.

A quarter of an hour later they were all sitting in front of the fire holding mix matched glasses. "So start from the beginning, what took you so long to get back?" Hermione asked.

"I went to the Leaky Caldron and set in the corner freaking forever. The place was practically empty, which is very unusual. I mean, there are always patrons there. So I gave up and decided to go into Diagon Alley to see if I could find anything out. It was like a ghost town and the people who were actually on the street weren't exactly helpful. By that point the Poly-Juice potion was starting to wear off. I was close to Fred and George's place so I figured it would be the best place to lay low and find out some information." Ron said.

"They were back from the wedding?" Harry asked.

Ron nodded, "Mum and Dad made them come back they thought it would look suspicious. It's not like the Death Eaters are gonna let it out that they attacked my family's home trying to get at you."

Hermione took a drink of her firewhiskey, "That makes sense, what did they say happened after the attack and we left? How's Ginny?"

"Well the Death Eaters are a bunch of pussies, after they saw us leave with Harry they fled." Ron said then took a deep breath and took a long drink of the whiskey. "Dean was the only casualty."

"And Ginny?" Harry asked.

Ron let out a little bit of a laugh, "That is interesting. The official story is she's staying with my Great Aunt Tessie."

"And the real story?" Hermione asked.

"She's with Viktor Krum."

"What?!" Both Hermione and Harry exclaimed together.

"Krum saved her from some Death Eaters after Dean fell. He left with her and until the house is secure she's staying put." Ron said as a flush crept up the back of his neck and spread to his face. It was clear that Ron wasn't as alright with the situation as he was trying to lead on. They both knew exactly how he felt about the Quidditch star.

"So…" Harry cleared his throat. "And is there any other news?"

Ron pulled a rolled up newspaper from the inside of his robes and tossed it down on the coffee table, "Fresh off of the press. After I spent so much time trying to get information, I figured what were a few more hours. You're really not going to like it."

Hermione picked the paper up and paled when she saw Pius Thicknesse looking up at her. "No.' she gasped.

Harry took the paper from Hermione his frown deepening. "So the attack on the Ministry of Magic was just a ploy to get Thicknesse in as minister and there by Voldemort."

"I don't understand why he wouldn't just take it over himself." Ron said. "Since Dumbledore…well he kinda is the most powerful wizard I mean it's not like we're ready for a full on attack yet."

"It would be too easy. Why would Voldemort come out into the opened when he can have a puppet in front of the world, while he's standing in the background pulling its strings? If people don't *see* Voldemort, that means Thicknesse can pretend like he's doing everything possible to stop him." Hermione said.

"That's the reason why I adore you." Harry said to Hermione and lifted her hand that he'd been holding and kissed her knuckles.

Ron made a face. "Please tell me that I'm not going to have to sit back and watch the pair of you snog."

"Nobody told you that you had to watch Ronald." Hermione said.

"Not to mention, for almost a full year you and Lavender spent all of your time snogging on every inch of the Gryffindor Common room, the Prefect bathroom, oh and the Room of Requirement." Harry grinned.

Ron gave his best friend a murderous look but didn't say anything.

Hermione made a face, "The Room of Requirement Ron? Honestly."

Ron started to point out that Harry had done it first, but if looks could kill well he was pretty sure he would have been dead. "I'm not the first one to have thought of it." He grumbled glaring at Harry.

Hermione had turned her attention back to the Daily Prophet and sighed, reading over the article about the appointment of the new Minister of Magic. "This is not good at all. They swept the whole truth about Scrimgeour being murdered under the rug. They make it sound like a spell gone wrong not a killing curse to the head."

"Well we knew it would be like this." Ron said.

"It just really puts a damper on things. Not only do we have to figure out how we're going to get back to the Burrow to get that bag. We also have to find R.A.B., the real locket, and the rest of the Horcruxes. This mission seems to be getting more and more impossible." Hermione replied.

Harry frowned and looked at his girlfriend; he knew the thing about the beaded bag had really gotten her down. They'd always relied on her for her infallible ability to get them out of the worst situations. He just hoped he could get her out of this rut. Hermione had always been the reason he'd been able to go on. So many times, if it wouldn't have been for the fact he knew that she was watching him expecting him to be the hero he'd been dubbed as being from the time he defeated the Dark Lord as a toddler, he would have given up. He wondered if she knew how much power she held over him and if knowing that would change how she felt about him for better or for the worse. It was the reason he could never tell her, because he wasn't sure if he would be able to get through all of this if it wasn't for the way she looked at him. "We'll get this worked out we always do."

Hermione nodded, "I hope so Harry…I really hope so."

Nobody said anything after that, they didn't need to. Things had just changed in their world and they no longer had Dumbledore to protect them or to tell them the best course of action. They were alone and the new world that was being formed was every bit of their worst nightmares.