I don't think Harry ever realized the effect he had on people. Even at the young age of seventeen. He had this way of making you feel safe, of giving you hope. Maybe it was because we all knew he would do absolutely anything on this earth to protect us.

He wasn't exceptionally gifted with magical talent. He didn't intimidate with physical strength. He was small, he was awkward, and he wore glasses.

And yet, somehow...he was our hero.

We trusted him and believed in him and we would have followed him to the ends of the earth. Because Harry was brave, he was compassionate. He was solid like a rock. He was honest and humble.

But more than anything, Harry was a force of nature.

He always has been.

Hermione opened her eyes.

She was met with the sight of a dark, grey cobwebbed ceiling above her that left her momentarily confused. Her brain was still foggy from sleep and she was finding it difficult to remember what day it was.

Then out of nowhere, a snore erupted from somewhere below. She sat up quickly and noticed Ron's sleeping figure on the ground. And just like that, all of yesterday's events came crashing before her eyes.

They were in Grimmauld Place, and their mission had begun.

Hermione tried to wrap her head around this, but it all felt so surreal.

Brushing her hands through her tangled hair and wiping the sleep off her face, she let her feet fall to the cold ground. She stood up and stretched to step over Ron's sleeping body, but paused abruptly when her eyes settled on the vacant spot on the ground next to him.

Where's Harry?

She quickly scanned the room around them, but he was nowhere in sight.

Okay, calm down. He's got to be here somewhere.

She made her way out into the first floor landing, and called his name. But there was no response. She then rushed down the stairs and checked the kitchen, the sitting room, the library, and several bedrooms but he was nowhere in sight.

Hermione was beginning to worry now as she hurried back to the drawing room to wake Ron up. What if Harry left? What if he was once again under the foolish illusion that he should embark on this mission alone?

"Ron! Ron! Wake up!" she said, shaking him.

He rolled over lazily, trying to cover his face with his sleeping bag.

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed again, shoving him harder.

He whined, opening his eyes tiredly. "What do you want?" he mumbled.

"I can't find Harry!" she stated loudly.

Ron looked momentarily confused as he sat up and squinted at her. "What do you mean you can't find Harry?"

"I mean that he wasn't in here when I woke up, and I've been trying to call his name, but no one's answering," she said, starting to get frustrated.

"Well have you checked everywhere?" he asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"No, not everywhere. But that's why I need your help. This place is massive. Ron...what if he left?" Hermione said, finally voicing her worries aloud.

"Hermione," Ron started, attempting to calm her. "He's not dim. He knows he can't do this Horcrux thing alone. We'll split up and look for him, okay? You go upstairs, I'll go down."

Hermione nodded, racing up the steps to the second floor landing. Looking around, she saw several more rooms.

"Are all of these really necessary?" she said to herself, as she opened yet another vacant bedroom.

The hall was quite long, so she tried calling his name again.

"Harry? Harry! Harry!" she finally cried out desperately.

"I'm here!" a voice called suddenly. "What's happened?"

Feeling a wave of relief wash over her, Hermione burst through the door she'd heard his voice coming from, and saw him standing there with a piece of parchment in his hand and an anxious look on his face.

"We woke up and didn't know where you were!" she said breathlessly. Turning around, she shouted down the stairs to Ron that she'd found him.

Ron's annoyed voice echoed distantly from several floors below. "Good! Tell him from me he's a git!"

"Harry, don't just disappear, please, we were terrified! Why did you come up here anyway?" she asked, taking in the ransacked room around her.

"Look what I've just found."

He handed her the parchment that he'd been holding and she looked at him curiously before accepting it. It was a letter Harry's mum had written to Sirius. Hermione suddenly realized they were standing in Sirius's old bedroom.

As she began reading it, she felt an odd tingling sensation inside of her that was a mix of both happiness and sorrow. She could only imagine what Harry must have felt reading his mother's words for the first time.

Hermione looked up at him after she was finished and found that he had been staring intently at her.

She smiled kindly back at him. "She sounded really happy," Hermione said softly.

Harry breathed in slowly and nodded.

"And Harry, look!" Hermione gestured suddenly. "She makes her 'g's the same way you do."

Harry gave her small half-smile. "Yeah I know. I'm surprised you even noticed," he admitted.

Hermione shrugged. "I guess I'm just weirdly observant."

"And thank Merlin for that," Harry stated. "Oh, and there's this too."

Digging into his pocket, he extracted what looked like a torn photograph and handed it to her.

Hermione immediately smiled widely. It was the picture of Harry on his first broomstick that Lily had mentioned in her letter. The black-haired baby was zooming in and out, laughing merrily while a pair of legs that must have belonged to James Potter chased after him.

Hermione knew that this simple letter and photograph had meant the world to Harry. And she was incredibly touched that he had shared them with her. After all, he rarely shared anything even remotely intimate with anyone.

She wondered briefly how different Harry would have been if his parents had lived. Perhaps he would have been more open, more trusting, more secure.

More happy.

Looking back down at the photograph one more time, Hermione silently prayed that one day, Harry would be able to laugh like that again.

"Okay, let's go over it again."

Ron groaned loudly. "Hermione, we've been through the plan sixteen times. Trust me, I've counted."

"Yes, and nearly every time we've come up with another thing that could go wrong," Hermione responded, heatedly. "We have to think of every possible scenario."

"Yeah because Harry's robes suddenly catching fire is a possible scenario," Ron retorted, sarcastically.

"We don't know the full effects of a Horcrux!" Hermione said defensively.

"Look," Ron said, laying his hands down on the table, "we've been planning this for nearly a month now. There's nothing more we can do, so I say we throw caution to the wind and just hope for the best."

Hermione nearly choked on her own air. "Throw caution to the wind?" she demanded. "Oh yes, what a fantastic idea, Ronald. Do you hear that, Harry? Let's just 'throw caution to the wind'!"

"Oh, for the love of—!"

"Stop it, both of you!" Harry yelled.

He ran his hands through his hair in frustration, and then exhaled loudly before continuing.

"We're not going to get anywhere fighting like this. Yes, Hermione, we should think through every possible scenario. But Ron's got a point, too. There's no way of knowing how tomorrow's going to play out, and we have to be prepared to think on our feet. So why don't we just go through the plan one more time and then call it a night."

But as it turned out, they hadn't thought of every possible scenario.

Hermione could have hit herself.

Somehow, in a whole month of planning, none of them had even considered the possibility of being forced into the duties of their Ministry counterparts.

As a result, Hermione now found herself seated beside Umbridge in a large courtroom where she was witnessing muggleborn after muggleborn being sentenced to a lifetime in Azkaban prison. And there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

She tried desperately to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes as she watched countless innocent lives begging on their knees for mercy. Begging for someone, anyone to understand that they had committed no crime. They had done no wrong.

Hermione felt sick.

These people, sitting beside her...Umbridge, Yaxley...they couldn't be human. How could someone just sit there and watch? Hermione was sure she would vomit at any moment, and yet there they were, completely indifferent to the scene before them.

No...not even indifferent. They were pleased.

Hermione grimaced as yet another scream rang throughout the large courtroom.

"Please! Please, don't do this!" the young girl pleaded. She couldn't have been more than twenty.

"Oh God...I was going to be married!" she choked out, burying her head in her hands and sobbing uncontrollably. "You're monsters, you are. MONSTERS!"

Umbridge tutted loudly, shaking her head in disapproval. "I'm afraid that kind of language will earn you a kiss from the Dementors, my dear."

Hermione's heart nearly stopped. "W-what?" she choked out.

Umbridge turned to look at her. "Did you say something, Mafalda?" she asked.

Hermione swallowed painfully. "Er—I—I was just...do you really think that's necessary, Dolores?" she said, somewhat shakily.

Umbridge sighed. "Now, now, Mafalda. How many times do we have to go through this? You need to trust my judgement."

"But—"

"Take her away," Umbridge ordered to the guards.

Hermione felt herself go into a sort of shock as she watched them drag the young girl away to a fate worse than death.

She could barely even register what was happening around her for sometime afterwards.

"I'm behind you," whispered a voice, suddenly in her ear.

Hermione instantly jumped so violently in her seat, she nearly overturned the bottle of ink with which she was supposed to be recording the interview. Neither Umbridge nor Yaxley had noticed, however, as they were too busy interrogating a woman by the name of Mrs. Cattermole.

Harry. That was Harry's voice. Harry's here!

Somehow, his presence empowered her. It gave her hope. Harry would save them. He would save Mrs. Cattermole. He would save the young witch who was to be administered the Dementor's Kiss. And he would save all the men and women waiting fearfully outside. She knew it and believed it with all her heart.

A glint of gold suddenly caught Hermione's eye, and she turned her head just a fraction to see Umbridge lean over the barrier, a golden locket around her neck swinging forward as well.

Hermione gasped. It was the horcrux. Umbridge was wearing the horcrux around her neck.

She couldn't be sure if Harry had seen it. So, with her heart pounding frantically, she said in a loud voice, "That's—that's pretty, Dolores."

"What?" snapped Umbridge, glancing down. "Oh yes—an old family heirloom. The S stands for Selwyn...I am related to the Selwyns...Indeed, there are few pure-blood families to whom I am not related."

This was all it took to unleash Harry's anger. A flash of red light instantly hit Umbridge in the back and she crumpled, hitting her head on the edge of the balustrade.

Before Yaxley could comprehend what had just happened, Harry struck him as well.

However, with Umbridge stunned, her Patronus quickly dissipated. Hermione watched in terror as the hundreds of Dementors moved out of their corners and glided down towards Mrs. Cattermole. Hermione knew there was no way she could cast her own Patronus quick enough to save her.

"Harry, Mrs. Cattermole!" she shouted.

Harry whipped around, throwing off his Invisibility Cloak. His eyes widened in horror as he took in the scene, as well.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

The silver stag soared from the tip of Harry's wand and leaped towards the Dementors, which fell back and melted into the dark shadows again. The stag's light, more powerful and more warming than Umbridge's Patronus, filled the whole dungeon as it cantered around and around the room.

"Get the Horcrux," Harry told Hermione, as he took off to release Mrs. Cattermole from her chains.

Hermione ran over to Umbridge's crumpled form. Not caring to be gentle, she pushed the woman's head forward, and quickly undid the clasp.

She was about to run off when a sudden thought struck her. "She can't know it's gone..." Hermione whispered to herself.

Staring at the locket, she concentrated hard as she cast the charm.

"There...that should fool her..." Hermione said, placing the duplicate locket around Umbridge's fat neck.

She then ran to meet Harry who had just released Mrs. Cattermole.

"Harry, how are we going to get out of here with all those Dementors outside the door?" Hermione asked.

"Patronuses," he replied. "As many as we can muster; do yours, Hermione."

Hermione gulped, staring ahead. The last time Harry needed her to fight off Dementors, she had let him down miserably. He was left to pick up the pieces. He was left to save her, Sirius and himself.

But this time, there was a hall filled with people who needed saving and Harry couldn't do it all alone again. He needed her.

"Expec—Expecto Patronum," said Hermione. Nothing happened.

"It's the only spell she ever has trouble with," she heard Harry tell Mrs. Cattermole. "Bit unfortunate, really...Come on, Hermione..."

Okay, focus. Harry needs your help! Focus, Hermione, focus!

Happy thought, happy thought. Think of what makes you happy. Harry makes you happy. Think of Harry. Think of Harry!

"Expecto Patronum!"

A silver otter burst from the end of Hermione's wand and swam gracefully through the air to join the stag. She let out a breath of relief, and followed Harry as he led her and Mrs. Cattermole to the door. Once they reached the lift with the large group of muggleborns in tow, they reunited with Ron.

But everything from that moment was like a whirlwind. All Hermione could recall was the feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach as she witnessed the fireplaces in the Atrium being rapidly sealed off.

This was it. They were done for. There was no way out.

"Harry!" Hermione cried desperately. "What are we going to do?"

"STOP!" Harry thundered, his voice echoing throughout the Atrium.

There was instant silence in the hall as nearly every head turned to look at him.

"This lot need to leave before you seal the exits," he said, gesturing to the group of muggleborns beside him.

Hermione was slightly taken aback as she stood there listening to Harry argue with one of the wizards sealing the exits. She had never before heard such authority in his voice, and for a moment, she nearly forgot it was him speaking.

"Seal the exit! SEAL IT!"

Hermione whipped her head around and saw Yaxley burst through the lift and run towards them. But he was too late for the muggleborns. Nearly all of them had already escaped, with only Mrs. Cattermole left behind.

Ron, still disguised as her husband, quickly grabbed her, pulled her into a still-open fireplace, and disappeared.

"Come on!" Harry shouted to Hermione, seizing her hand.

The two of them sprinted towards the only remaining unsealed fireplace and jumped in together as Yaxley's curse just skimmed Harry's head.

As they shot out of the toilet and into the cubicle of the Ministry entrance, Harry grabbed onto her hand again, quickly found Ron, and together the three of them apparated away.

However, as they were being pulled through the invisible tube of apparition, Hermione suddenly felt a forceful hand grab onto her elbow. All around her everything was a blur except for the unfamiliar arm and Harry's hand that was quickly slipping out of reach. She tried desperately to fight the former off, but the more she fought, the farther her hand slipped out of Harry's grip.

She saw the door of number twelve, Grimmauld Place materializing before her eyes and knew that within a second the stranger holding on to her would see it as well. The Fidelius Charm's protection would be broken. They would no longer be safe there.

Hermione knew she had to steer her, Harry, and Ron away from there as fast as she could. So with a sudden bout of strength, she forced her arm back and cast the most powerful Revulsion Jinx she could muster. Yaxley's face appeared for the briefest of moments before being pulled away by the invisible force of the jinx. And the very next moment, Harry, Ron, and Hermione landed on the damp forest floor.

Hermione's eyes snapped open.

She looked over to her left, and what she saw made her heart stop.

"Oh my God," she whispered, standing up shakily on her feet.

Ron groaned in agony. His whole left side appeared to be drenched in blood.

Hermione stumbled over to him, taking his head in her hands. She tried breathing in deeply so as not to be sick, but her whole body was shaking like mad.

"What's happened to him?" Harry asked, running up to Ron's other side.

"Splinched," she replied, not able to form a properly coherent sentence.

Her vision was starting to blur with unshed tears, but she frantically blinked them away. Looking over Ron's body, the blood was wettest and darkest near his upper arm. She quickly tore open his shirt to get a better look, and saw that a chunk of flesh appeared to be missing, scooped cleanly away as though by a knife.

Hermione nearly gagged at the sight, and had to take in several deep breaths through her nose in order to keep herself together.

Ron let out another painful moan. He seemed to be flitting in and out of consciousness.

"Harry, quickly, in my bag, there's a small bottle labelled 'Essence of Dittany'—"

"Bag—right—"

Harry sped off to retrieve the bottle, as she remained by Ron's side trying desperately to soothe him.

"You're going to be okay," Hermione trembled, smoothing down his hair. "Shh, you're going to be okay, I promise."

But he only cried out louder, his whole body shivering madly.

"Quickly!" Hermione screamed out to Harry.

Harry sprinted towards her with the small bottle in hand.

"Unstopper it for me, Harry," Hermione directed. "My hands are shaking."

Harry wrenched the stopper off and handed it her. She took it and poured three drops of the potion onto the bleeding wound. Greenish smoke billowed upward and when it had cleared, the bleeding stopped. The wound now looked several days old; new skin stretched over what had just been open flesh.

Hermione let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, and fell back on her legs. She tried wiping her brow, but her hands were covered in Ron's blood.

"Wow," said Harry in awe. "How did he even get hurt?"

She proceeded to explain to him what had happened while they tried apparating away from the Ministry, including the fact that they could no longer return to Grimmauld Place.

It wasn't until Ron had awoken and the tent and protective charms were all in place, that Hermione was finally able to relax a bit.

"I-I should go make some tea," she announced, heading towards the kitchen.

In truth, Hermione just wanted to have a moment alone. She needed to think. She needed to breathe.

Casting a quick silencing charm around her, she sat down on the kitchen floor, and rested her head on her knees. Scenes from earlier that day were replaying themselves in her mind. Her heart ached as she remembered the faces of the men and woman in the courtroom. Grown men and women...crying and screaming like helpless children.

It could have been her. She could have been chained to that chair today just like the rest of them. Perhaps she would have said something that caused her to be sentenced to a Dementor's Kiss. It would have been so easy...so easy for them to destroy her life.

Then there was Ron. She didn't recall ever being so terrified. It was easy to read about splinching, to see pictures. But to witness it firsthand...it was just absolutely terrifying. What if she hadn't thought to make that potion beforehand? Ron could have died...

Hermione felt a single tear roll down her cheek.

She knew this journey would be difficult. She knew they would be encountering all kinds of horrifying things. But it didn't matter. Knowing, preparing...none of it mattered. Because life would always stray from the plan, life would always be terrifying.

So she had to be strong.

Not just for Harry, but for herself, as well.

"Can you believe it?" Harry said later that evening, seated outside the tent as Ron dozed peacefully in his camp bed. "We broke into the Ministry..."

"Extremely haphazardly, may I add," Hermione said.

"Yeah but we succeeded. Wish I could say we all got out in one piece but..." Harry gestured inside toward Ron.

"That's not funny," she reprimanded him.

"Sorry," Harry replied, trying to hold back a grin. "You were pretty amazing back there, though. Ever thought of becoming a healer?"

"Been utilizing Ron's birthday present, have we?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow, and trying to ignore the fluttering feeling her heart was making.

Harry looked confused for a moment, but then comprehension seemed to dawn on his features as he let out a light chuckle. "Yeah, it's all in chapter five: 'Guidance for Her Future'."

"I thought that was more Chapter Three: 'Compliments'..." Hermione said.

"Well, either way, I've charmed you, haven't I?" Harry asked, taking a sip of his tea.

Hermione looked away from his penetrating green gaze a moment to hide the small smile on her face.

Oh you have no idea...

"Let's not let our heads get too large, Harry," she said, turning back to face him. "Oh, and for the record, no I've never thought about becoming a healer, and after today...I really don't think I'd ever want to."

"I don't blame you," Harry said, leaning his head back against the tent behind him, with one arm draped over his knee.

Hermione could tell the image of Ron's mangled body was haunting Harry as well, but of course, he'd probably never admit it aloud.

"Harry, Hermione?"

She looked up at the sound of Ron's voice drifting toward them from inside the tent.

"Why don't you go head inside," Harry suggested. "I'll stay out here and keep watch."

"We'll switch off, okay?" Hermione said, standing up. "And the same goes for the locket. I don't think any one of us should be wearing it for too long."

Harry nodded and bade her goodnight.

"Hey," Hermione said, walking over to Ron's bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've just been run over a herd of hippogriffs."

"So, better then?"

"What were you and Harry talking about outside?" Ron asked, frowning slightly.

Hermione shrugged. "A lot of things."

"Like...?" Ron prodded.

"I don't know, Ron," Hermione said, starting to get annoyed. "Everything that happened today. The ministry, you, the horcrux."

He nodded, seeming satisfied by this answer.

"So, is there anything to eat around here?" he asked, sitting up carefully. "I'm starved."

"About that...see, I thought we'd be returning to Grimmauld place after the Ministry, so I only packed the essentials..."

Ron stared at her. "Last time I checked, food was pretty essential, Hermione."

"Yes, I-I know, but..." she trailed off, feeling a slight pang in her chest for being so stupid. How could she have not packed food? It was the most obvious thing, and yet she had overlooked it.

"Here," she said, dejectedly. "I picked a few mushrooms earlier. Hopefully they can hold you over till tomorrow morning. And don't worry I made sure they weren't poisonous."

Ron eyed them warily, but seemed to decide it was better than sleeping on an empty stomach. "Thanks," he said, not sounding very grateful.

Hermione turned to walk away when she felt his arm stop her.

"What?" she asked.

"Listen, I...I just want to thank you...for this," he said, waving a hand over his sling. "I mean, you pretty much saved my life, didn't you?"

"It was nothing, Ron."

"No...it was definitely something. Seriously, you should become a healer, you know," he said, observing the sling she wrapped around his arm.

Hermione couldn't help but smile as she thought of her conversation with Harry earlier.

"What's so funny?" Ron asked, noticing the look on her face.

"Wha—? Oh nothing, just thinking of something. But thanks, Ron. I'll...take that into consideration."

He looked at her strangely as she wished him goodnight, but he thankfully didn't question her further.

Somehow she didn't think Ron would enjoy the idea of Harry charming her as much as she had.

A/N: So this is probably one of the fastest updates ever! It's a bit shorter than the past couple of chapters, but it covers a lot of important subjects, I think. I hope you guys enjoy it. Also, in response to one reviewer's question, this will not be an unrequited love story. Harry will realize his feelings for Hermione eventually. It may take a bumpy road to get there, but we'll get there. So never fear. Man that would be just awful if poor Hermione spent the rest of her life pining over Harry...I would never be that cruel! But yeah, anyway, we just all have to be a little patient. Thanks again for reading, and as always feel free to leave some feedback!