A/N: I hope you like this chapter! It took a couple days for me to figure it out. Please R&R! Much Love- Bookworm
Hermione read the book that she had stolen from Bathilda Bagshot's house, and was furious at Rita Skeeter for what she had written. She knew that a lot of what was in the book wasn't true, but she also feared that some of it was. She had a feeling that Harry wouldn't like anything that was written in the book. He had told her on more than one occasion that he felt like Dumbledore had sent them on an impossible mission, and that maybe he didn't know the man at all.
Harry was still unconscious in the tent, so Hermione read while she waited for him to get up. She only stopped reading when she noticed something odd in the book. It was the same symbol that she had seen on the grave the night before. She had no idea what it could be, but she had stopped reading at a picture of a letter Dumbledore had written, and he had signed his name with the strange symbol. Just as she began to read again, she heard Harry stirring in the tent. She closed the book and waited for him to come outside. She watched her breath in the cold air until Harry emerged. He was rubbing his scar, and sat down next to her.
"Feeling alright?" Hermione asked, staring at him as he sighed.
"Yeah. I think so." He said, nodding and looking around them. "Hermione, where are we?" He asked, furrowing his brow.
"Forrest of Dean." She said, looking around at the snow-covered trees that were all around them. "I used to come camping here with mum and dad." She said, smiling a little. "It's the first place I thought of. It's so peaceful here." She said. He looked around, his eyebrows raised a little, before nodding.
"Hermione, I couldn't find my wand. Did you grab it?" Harry asked suddenly, and Hermione bit her lip.
"Yes. I have it." She said softly.
"Great, can I have it?" Harry asked, and she shook her head.
"I'm so sorry Harry. I tried to fix it." She said, digging into her pocket and pulling out his broken wand and holding it gingerly out to him. Harry stared at the broken wand for a minute before slowly reaching out and taking it from her hand.
"What happened?" He asked her. His voice was eerily calm, and it unnerved her a little.
"I can't be sure. I think that it was right before I apparated us away, I had both of our wands in one hand. I tried to curse the snake but I think it rebounded and hit your wand instead of mine." Hermione explained, playing with the cover of the book in her lap.
"Well… Just mend it." Harry said, holding it out to her.
"Harry, I tried. Believe me, I tried. Remember in second year, Ron broke his wand? McGonagall said that it couldn't be fixed with a simple spell. That he would have to get another one." Hermione explained, and Harry looked angry for a long moment before nodding.
"I'll just use yours then." Harry said. Hermione nodded in agreement.
"Of course." She said softly, and he stared at the book in her lap.
"What's that?" He asked her, and she kept her hand on the cover for a moment, attempting to shield it from his view, before lifting it and holding it out for him to look at.
"The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore?" He asked, disgust dripping in his voice. "Good read?" He asked, tossing it back to her. She caught it and rolled her eyes.
"I'm not reading it for fun Harry. I found it at Bathilda's house. Might be nice to know what people are saying and thinking of the man who sent us on this mission in the first place, don't you think?" She asked, and Harry raised an eyebrow.
"I suppose." He said, standing and putting his wand into his pocket.
"I found something in it." She said, and he looked at her with his full attention again. She flipped through the pages until she found the letter that Dumbledore had written. She turned the book around and held it out to him. He grabbed it and read it over before raising his brows and looking at Hermione.
"What am I looking at? It's a letter." He asked her, and she sighed.
"Yes. Look at the signature Harry." She said. He peered down at the page again and his brow furrowed. "He signed his name with that symbol. It looks like an eye." She said, and Harry tapped the page with a finger before speaking.
"I've seen this before." He said.
"Yes. The graveyard." She said, and he shook his head.
"No, before that. I saw this at the wedding. Xenophilius Lovegood was wearing it around a chain. Krum said that it was the symbol of a dark wizard that had gone to school at Durmstrang." Harry said, and Hermione furrowed her brow.
"Why would Xenophilius Lovegood wear the symbol of a dark wizard?" Hermione asked, confused. Harry shrugged and handed the book back to her. "Wait, Harry was it Grindewald?" She asked, and he nodded.
"They were friends." He said softly, pointing at the book, and Hermione nodded. "What was the whole thing about 'for the greater good?" Harry asked after a moment, and Hermione shrugged.
"I don't know Harry." She said, and they lapsed into a silence.
They agreed to stay in the Forest of Dean for a little longer, as they had no leads on where to go next or even what to do next. They occupied there time with silence, they didn't speak much. They would both read, take watch outside, or sleep. They moved around inside the forest itself, even leaving it briefly, just so they didn't stay in one place too long.
It was at one of these moments, when they weren't in the forest but rather they were somewhere on the coast, that Hermione saw the strange symbol again. It was inside of her copy of Tales of Beedle the Bard that Hermione had received from Dumbledore. She had brought it to the attention of Harry, but he had just shrugged and brushed her off.
One night, Hermione guessed that it was sometime in February, Harry insisted on taking the night watch. Hermione had asked over and over again if he was sure, as they typically switched off sometime in the night so the other could get some rest. Harry had insisted however, stating that she had been on watch most of the day and had caught them fish from a nearby stream for dinner that night. They were back in the Forest of Dean, knowing that it was safe for them to be.
Hermione hadn't been able to sleep until the very early hours of the morning, she had been thinking a lot about their next move. Unfortunately, she wasn't asleep very long. She was startled awake by shouting. She jumped out of the bed and threw on a jumper before she walked outside, ready to defend herself. She had been practicing a small amount of wandless magic, and she was confident that she would be able to cast a few charms. Fortunately, Harry was grinning ear to ear as he walked quickly toward the tent. She stepped outside of the wards, allowing him to see her so that they could get back to the tent.
"Why are you shouting?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. Harry turned his head, glancing behind him, then stepped to the side and allowing her to see past him. Ron was walking behind him, and her eyes immediately went to his hands where he was holding a long sword and the locket. Her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms at him.
"Ron's here." Harry said, stating the obvious for her.
"I see that." She said, letting the venom drip off of her voice.
"Hey." Ron said weakly, waving a little with his free hand. Hermione took a few steps forward before launching herself at Ron.
"You come back after weeks! And all you have to say is 'Hey'?" She shouted, punctuating each word with a fist contacting with some part of his body. A rucksack fell from Ron's shoulder, and she grabbed it off of the ground. She used the shoulder strap to swing it at him, satisfied when it came into contact with his side. "You absolute arse Ronald!" She said, throwing the bag down and staring at him, breathing heavily. He was staring at her with an incredulous look on his face.
"Hermione-" Harry began, and she spun on him.
"My wand Harry. Give me my wand." She demanded, stopping toward him. He took a few steps away from her, his eyes full of terror.
"Why does he have your wand?" Ron asked, confused.
"Nevermind why he has my wand!" Hermione snarled at him before looking down again at what he held in his hands. "And what is that?" She asked, pointing. He held the sword and locket up, the locket was a charred broken mess, and the sword glinted in the moonlight.
"I killed it." Ron said simply.
"And how is it you just so happened to have the Sword of Gryffindor?" She asked, glaring at him.
"Actually. I found it." She heard Harry say, and she turned to him.
"What?" She spat out, and he nodded.
"I found it in a pond. Ron actually saved me. I went into the pond and the locket kept me under. It wouldn't let me surface, but Ron was able to pull me out." Harry explained. "And then he destroyed the locket." Harry added, glancing at Ron from the corner of his eye. Hermione looked at Ron again, her eyes wide, and he held up the charred locket once more.
"You… You destroyed it?" She asked, and he nodded. "I'm going to bed." Hermione said, letting out a sigh and turning away from him. She walked back into where the wards began, and she was again able to see the tent. She heard Harry and Ron following behind her, whispering silently. She was exhausted and didn't want to deal with Ron being back at the moment.
About a week later, Hermione overheard Ron and Harry speaking to each other, and she silently listened in on them. She was curious as to what Ron had been up to, and where he had been.
"They're called snatchers. They round up muggleborns and take them to the ministry for questioning on their blood status. I think they get a gold reward too, but I'm not sure. A group of them caught up to me in a muggle alleyway. Oh! You said you needed a wand, right? I got this one off of one of the snatchers. He was part troll for sure by the smell of him." He was telling Harry, who laughed lightly. She heard Harry cast a charm and a light shout.
"What's going on in there?" She asked from her place at the opening of the tent.
"Nothing!" She heard Harry shout back, and she shook her head and sighed.
It was nearing the end of her watch shift, when Ron walked outside. He was holding a radio in one hand, and looking nervous as he approached her. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he held up his free hand in a gesture of peace.
"I want you to listen to something." He told her. She stared at him for a moment before nodding. He took a seat on the ground next to her, and turned up the volume on the radio. Immediately, she was stunned.
"-Has been taken from his shop in Diagon Alley. Our own Royal went and saw the shop for himself, and it does appear like he gave the Death Eaters quite a struggle." She heard the familiar voice say. Her hand flew up to her mouth as her eyes went wide. She couldn't be sure if it was Fred or George, they sounded so similar and she had never heard them over the radio.
"Correct Rapier. When I reached the shop, I knew that he had been kidnapped. His shop was torn to pieces, and broken wands were everywhere. It was a sad sight, and unfortunately there are no leads to where he is." She heard, and she looked to Ron, and Harry who had just joined them.
"Is that Kingsley?" Harry asked, and she nodded.
"Wherever you are Ollivander, stay strong. Don't let them break you. We are all standing behind you." She heard a voice say.
"Lee." She sighed, smiling.
"Romulus, you said you had a bit of news?" Lee asked.
"Correct. I urge all of our listeners to subscribe to the magazine The Quibbler. The editor Xenophilius Lovegood is an avid supporter of Harry Potter, so we must show him our support as well." The voice they recognized as Remus Lupin said. They were all smiling to each other, thankful to be hearing the familiar voices of their friends.
"Thank you Romulus. Before we sign off, any last messages?" Lee asked, and Hermione noted that Ron moved his gaze to look at her.
"Thank you River. I have a final message for my Otter. We haven't heard anything about you in a long time, and it makes me worry. I know we would have heard about you if you had been found, so for the first time I'm glad there's no news. Make sure to kick some Death Eater ass if you run into any, alright love?" Hermione's previous confusion about whether it was Fred or George was finally decided. That voice coming from the radio was Fred Weasley. Ron gave her a small smile and Hermione smiled back.
"I can't believe that they are doing that. What if they get caught?" Hermione asked, suddenly worried. Ron waved his hand at her, and shook his head.
"They move where they are doing the show every time, and they make a new password. You never know when the next broadcast will be." He explained, putting his ear close to the radio so he could catch the next password. Hermione bit her lip nervously and nodded. She stood, feeling very tired now.
"I think I'm going to go lay down." Hermione said. She walked into the tent and quickly laid down on the bed. She pulled the covers tightly around her and closed her eyes, wishing that she was with Fred instead of in a tent in the middle of a forest.