Dear Fred,

I miss you. Which is strange, because there are things all around this house that remind me of you. Your old room still has some of your things in it. Well, and George's stuff too, of course. I've spent some nights in there, the bed still smells like you a little. I don't mean for that to sound creepy… I know that if I was actually telling you this, that you would laugh.

We have a plan, we know what one of the Horcruxes is. We are already working on tracking it. Kreacher is actually helping us, though Harry was a tad reluctant to even ask him to help. We should be hearing back from him soon. On a cheerful note, he has stopped calling me Mudblood. Kreacher now calls me Miss Hermione. Kindness does do some good with House Elves, just like I said.

We have been taking turns going into the Muggle world to get food. Don't worry though, we disguise ourselves every time before we go out. We aren't really taking any chances after what happened in the cafe. I know I can't send this, I wish I could. But I can't risk you getting hurt if I send this to you and it gets tracked.

I Love You,

Hermione

She set down her quill and folded up the piece of parchment, opened up a drawer of the desk that she was sitting at, and slid the letter in it. She let out a sigh and turned back to look at Harry and Ron, who were playing a game of Wizard's Chess to pass the time. They were all getting a little restless. As Harry had said, they had only expected Kreacher to be gone for a few hours. It had been two days already, and nobody had heard a peep out of him.

"You okay?" Harry asked, looking up and seeing that she was watching them.

"I'm fine." She said, and he held her gaze for a moment before giving a nod and turning back to the game. In reality, she wasn't sure what they would do, even after they were able to get the Horcrux. They had no idea what the others could be, and Hermione had no idea how to even figure it out.

She knew how hard it was to be in Grimmauld Place for Harry, and if she was being honest with herself she didn't fancy it either. Being in the house that used to be Sirius's home was unnerving. It was nice to find things that had belonged to the Weasley's though, whenever they did. Like how yesterday, Harry had found a closet full of knitted blankets. They all knew that Molly Weasley had made them.

The next day, everything changed. Kreacher came back, Dobby and Mundungus Fletcher in tow. He and Dobby had wrestled around for a moment with Fletcher before Hermione, Ron and Harry ran into the kitchen where they had appeared.

"Kreacher!" Harry bellowed, and the elf stilled. "Dobby?" He said as he saw the other elf.

"Master Harry!" He squeaked happily. Hermione saw that Mundungus had drawn his wand, and she flicked her own, silently disarming him. She caught the wand out of the air and shoved it into her pocket.

"There was a locket. What happened to it?" Harry asked.

Of course it was Umbridge. They sat around the table, trying to think of a way that they could get the locket back. Hermione sighed and placed her hands flat on the table.

"I only see one way that we could get it." She said.

"Kill her?" Ron said under his breath.

"Ron!" She said, glaring at him.

"What? After everything fifth year, I say she deserves it." He said, defending himself. Hermione raised her eyebrows and sighed.

"That's not up to us to decide. No, our best option is…" She sighed again, not believing that she was really thinking this. "We have to break into the Ministry." She said. Harry and Ron both stared at her, mouths open.

Fred,

We are about to do something crazy. And yet, I think this will be the least crazy thing that we will do in this war. I won't say what, just in case someone who shouldn't find this does. But I'm sure you will hear about it, and I'm sorry for what this will do to your family. I'm sure that you will be questioned, and I really hope you won't be, but you could possibly even be arrested.

I should have helped all of you go into hiding. I told you what I did with my parents, maybe I should have done the same to you. I know it's selfish, but I want you to be safe. As long as you are alive, nothing else matters to me. No… That's not what you would have wanted. I know that.

We have a good plan though, everything is planned out. We have spent the last month planning everything. Lupin came to see us. Said that he wanted to come along with us. Then we found out that Tonks is pregnant. Harry said some really nasty things to him, but it made him leave and go back to her. I've told him so many times that he isn't able to pass on lycanthropy to his children unless he scratches them or bites them. He doesn't believe me though. Oh well, he'll see. I have to go, I love you Fred. I wish I could tell you that to your face. Soon, I hope.

Love,

Hermione

Things didn't quite go as planned at the Ministry. Yes, they had gotten the locket , but they had been found out and chased all the way back to the floo grate. Yaxley had grabbed a hold of her ankle right before they had been taken to Grimmauld place, and as soon as she got free of him, just as they had gotten to Grimmauld, she apparated away with Harry and Ron.

As they landed on the forest floor, the first thing that came to mind was thank Merlin she had thought to put enchantments on the dresser. She didn't want anyone finding those letters and attacking the Weasleys, though they were bound to now that they knew that Ron was with Harry.

Her second thought, was that something sticky was on her hand, and as she looked around, she saw that her hand was resting on Ron's bloody arm. Her breathing stilled for a moment as she realized that he had splinched. She quickly sat up and stared at him for a moment before coming to her senses.

"Harry! I need you to grab the Dittany out of my bag!" She called to him after seeing that her bag had landed right next to him. She pulled out her wand and began muttering every healing charm that she could think of, not that it did very much to the mangled arm. She should have studied more first aid charms, she thought to herself as she hopelessly worked on his arm. At least she had the good sense to pack some healing potions and Dittany. She only hoped that it hadn't shattered when they landed.

Ron was slowly healing, they had stayed in one place for far too long because he wasn't well enough to apparate again, but Harry had insisted that they move. So they walked. Slowly, as Ron was feeble and unable to move at a fast pace. She hadn't packed any blood replenishing potion, so his body was forced to replenish itself. That in itself was a feat, as they never had enough food. Hermione knew that the Weasley's wouldn't forgive her if he died while in her care, so she did her best.

Worse still, they had no way to destroy the locket. They took turns wearing it, but it soured their mood. Hermione insisted that Ron not wear the thing, as he was still healing. So she and Harry took turns, she tried to take it more than he did. She was trying to make it easier on him. She felt so helpless until she read something that gave her an idea.

"Harry!" She called from the picnic table in the tent. He ducked inside and raised his eyebrows. "Look at this." She said, tapping the page with a finger. He looked over her shoulder, his head tilted a little.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" He asked, and she let out an exasperated sigh.

"Harry. The sword only takes in that which makes it stronger. You destroyed the first hurcrux with a Basilisk fang. How did you kill the Basilisk?" She asked, hoping that she was remembering the story correctly.

"I… Stabbed it.." He said, his face lighting up enthusiastically. She smiled and nodded.

"That means we could destroy it with the sword." She said, and he nodded.

"Hermione, you are brilliant." He said, sitting down on the bench next to her. "There's only one problem-"

"Sword's lost." Ron said, startling both Hermione and Harry. "That's right, I'm still here. You two go on though, I don't want to ruin the party." He said sourly.

"Ron-" Hermione started.

"No. You two act like I don't exist. Like I'm not here too. But I am!" He said angrily. Hermione's gaze went to the locket around his neck that he had insisted he could start wearing two weeks ago, and she stood.

"Ron, take off the locket." She said, but was drowned out by his shouting.

"You have no idea where we are going, what we are doing!" He shouted at Harry.

"If you haven't noticed, we have the locket!" Harry shouted back, raising to his feet and pointing at the locket around Ron's neck.

"Yeah, and we are about as close to destroying it as we are to finding the others!" Ron yelled. "I thought Dumbledore told you more! I thought you knew what we were doing!" He said.

"I told you everything I know!" Harry said heatedly.

"Ron, take it off!" Hermione shouted over them. Ron reached up and ripped the locket off from around his neck, throwing it down on the ground.

"I'm done! I'm not going on a wild goose chase when we are being hunted by Death Eaters and the Ministry!" Ron shouted, and Hermione's mouth fell open.

"Ron, you don't mean that!" She said.

"Don't I?" He asked, grabbing his rucksack from the ground and shoving his clothes into it.

"Ron, we said we would stay with Harry." She said, walking to him and attempting to stop him

"That was when I thought he knew what he was doing!" Ron said angrily. Hermione placed a hand on his arm, but he pulled away and threw his bag onto his shoulder. "And you?" He asked, staring at her pointedly.

"What?" She asked, furrowing her brow.

"Are you coming, or are you staying?" He asked her.

"Ron… We promised." She said, and he shook his head.

"Fine." He spat, turning to the flap of the tent and walking out. She walked out after him, calling his name desperately. She wanted him to stay, he was her last connection to Fred. She wanted him to stay for her, she had already lost everyone else, she couldn't lose him too.

"Ron! Please. Ron, come back. Ron!" She shouted desperately as he passed the wards she had set and disaparrated. She stopped in her tracks, he had really left. She stared at the empty forest for a long moment before turning back to the tent, to Harry. She walked slowly, their best friend had just left them. She entered the tent again, and picked up the locket.

"He's gone." She said softly, and Harry sighed as he snapped the book shut and slumped down onto the bench. He ran his hands through his hair before looking at her.

"I'm sorry." He said, and she shook her head. She was fighting tears, after everything they had been through and he just left. She walked over to an armchair and sat down heavily, already missing Ron and his familiarity.

"I'll take first watch." Harry said softly, standing and grabbing his wand from the table. He lingered for a moment, watching her, before leaving the tent.