Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter Eleven: Back at Headquarters
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'HERMIONE!' screamed Ron. He dropped to his knees beside her, his eyes wide. 'Are you alright? Can you hear me?'

Hermione blinked and tried to sit up. She felt a sharp, piercing pain course through her body and settled back against the dirty ground. What had hit her? It looked like one of those ninja star things she had seen in Muggle movies. Or perhaps it had been an automatic Severing Charm of some sort. Whatever it had been, it had been sharp and as it had passed her, it had slashed across her shoulder. 'I – yes, I'm fine,' she whispered.

'You can – oh,' Ron gasped and cursed.

'What is it?' asked Harry, who appeared at her side. Bill was behind him.

'She's bleeding ...' Ron said with a shaky voice. 'She's bleeding a lot.'

'Oh, shit,' said Bill. 'Look at all that blood.' Hermione scowled at their filthy mouths, but decided it wasn't the best of times to lecture them.

There was blood. Her shoulder was hurting, yes, but was it really bleeding?

'What are you talking about?' Hermione asked worriedly. 'Don't just stand there! Help me up.'

Harry bent down to get a better look at her. He and Ron carefully picked her up, trying not to hurt her. She cried out in pain as she gently moved her left shoulder. Using her other arm, she brought her wand up to her injured shoulder and gasped. Her robes were already starting to soak with blood. The ground was completely red where she had landed.

'Get back to Headquarters,' ordered Harry. He sounded nervous.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. 'I told you that I'm fine,' she insisted stubbornly. 'I don't need to go to Headquarters.'

'I didn't ask your opinion,' Harry said, sounding bolder, though he still looked worried.

'I'm not –'

'Hermione ...' Bill said.

'No! I know what I'm feeling better than you do, and I'm not hurt at all,' she protested. 'It looks far worse that it really is.' Although that wasn't true – it was extremely painful. In fact, the only thing that exceeded the hurt she felt right now was at the Department of Mysteries, when she nearly died at the hands of Dolohov. And that was only the aftereffects, because she lost consciousness immediately after the spell was preformed. Regardless, she wasn't about to pack it in and accept defeat just yet. They were on a mission, and a little injury wasn't going to jeopardize that.

'Hermione,' said Ron, a concerned look on his face. He took her right hand in his and stared into her eyes, pleading with her to go back. 'It's fine that you don't think your injury is all that serious. Nobody will think badly of you because you got hurt. Just go back to Headquarters and get treated – for me. Please?'

She sighed and looked at her feet, wincing when her shoulder gave another painful throb. 'Okay.'

'Thank you,' he said. 'I'll walk you back across the planks.'

Hermione would've protested, saying she was perfectly capable of doing it herself, but the look in his eyes told her not to argue. She merely nodded and smiled at Bill and Harry before turning around and walking in the opposite direction.

'I'll send someone back with Ron, in my place,' she promised.

'Are you sure you're alright?' asked Ron as she winced yet again.

'Yes,' she lied. In truth, she was getting an almost unbearable jolt of pain through her neck, shoulder and arm every time she moved. When they finally came to the small wooden planks that led the way across the dangerous water, Hermione took a shaky breath and walked across much slower than she'd done before. She ignored the pain in her body and focused on not falling. Ron was on her right, on another plank, concentrating as hard as she was.

'Ron? Hermione? What happened?' questioned Tonks.

'Hermione's hurt. Something flew out at us and cut her shoulder,' explained Ron. 'Someone needs to walk outside with her, so she can Apparate back to Headquarters.'

'I'll go,' Tonks volunteered. She cast another look at Hermione. 'Remus, will you help me?' Lupin nodded.

'Thanks. And someone can come back over with me, as the fourth person,' Ron continued.

'I will,' said Moody.

'Okay. Come on,' Ron said. They went in one direction, and Hermione, Tonks and Lupin went in the other. 'She'll say she's fine, but she's bleeding rather badly, so don't listen to her!' he yelled.

Hermione laughed softly and kept walking. 'He's taking this too seriously,' she said. 'I'm really not in that much p-pain.' She tried to sound strong, but her voice betrayed her, coming out quiet and weary. She winced when her shoulder brushed uncomfortably against the jumper underneath her robes.

She was beginning to feel dizzy, and she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. How much blood had she lost?

'Ron's right, you're bleeding a lot. The entire left side of your robes is covered,' Lupin noted, examining her shoulder.

'Oh,' Tonks gasped. 'Hermione, are you okay? That looks terribly painful.'

'Wh-what? No, I'm fine. N-never better.'

Why was this tunnel so long? Had they done this much walking when they first went through it?

'Come on, we're almost there,' said Lupin. His voice sounded soothing and it reminded Hermione of her father. She missed her father ... and her mother, too. She instantly regretted not telling them about the missions, because they were bound to find out now, and she'd be in quite a bit of trouble when they did. Her right side slumped against Lupin and she blinked several times, mentally urging herself forward.

At last, they arrived at the stairs.

'Remus ... no way out ...' Hermione heard Tonks say. '... Opening must've closed ... trapped.'

'Forget ... hope we're close enough to the outside ... safe to Apparate,' Lupin said. They sounded far away to Hermione. Were they talking about her? She was having trouble focusing on their conversation. '... In no condition ... stairs ... fall through ...'

'Hermione? Hermione?' Hermione opened her eyes (when had she shut them?) to see Tonks staring at her. '... Need to focus ... can't get outside ... Apparate here.'

Right, Apparate. She'd Apparate to Headquarters and everything would be okay. If only she could focus, like Tonks had said to do. She knew she wasn't going to be able to do it without Splinching herself unless she focused.

'... Alright to do that?' asked Lupin. '... Side-Along, if you're not –'

'No,' said Hermione, though her voice sounded faint and strange to her own ears. 'I can d-do it ... I can f-focus.' She cleared her throat, and her eyes fell shut. She took a deep breath and tried her best to picture the room at the Romanian Headquarters. When she opened her eyes, she winced and tried to adjust to the lights in the castle. Where was Charlie? '... Charlie,' she groaned.

Hermione saw bright red hair rushing over to her. 'Bloody hell ... covered in blood ... what happened ...?'

'Portkey ... I need to get to Headquarters ...'

'Hold on ... Cassi ... Portkey ... now ...'

A woman, who Hermione assumed was Cassi, appeared from around the corner holding something in her hands. Everything was going fuzzy. Someone grabbed her right hand and placed it on a hard, cold object.

'... Count of three ... one ... two ... three.'

She was vaguely away of a strange feeling in her stomach, and the disappearance of any solid ground underneath her feet.

She heard a loud shriek and struggled to open one of her eyes. She saw more red hair. 'Hermione? ... Charlie, what's happened ...?' It was Mrs Weasley, with McGonagall behind her. Hermione shut her eyes again and tasted copper in her mouth. Her throat felt thick when she swallowed.

'... Don't know, Mum ... the Healer ...'

'... Of course ... Ginny, get someone ...'

'... Bleeding ... looks bad ...'

Hermione groaned and felt a protective arm go around her waist. Her head lolled to the side as she fell back into somebody. She forced her eyes open and saw a tall, red-haired man holding onto her, looking concerned. She smiled dreamily at him.

'Ron ...' she whispered before passing out.

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Ginny was a wreck.

It was getting close to two hours now that they'd been gone. What if something happened?

She wished her mother had let her go with them. She could only imagine what they had encountered. What if Voldemort had figured out what they were doing, and showed up with his Death Eaters? Harry, Ron and Hermione were no match for them, even with Tonks, Lupin, Kingsley and Moody. They'd had too many close calls already ... what if this one was it? What if they didn't come back?

She was lying on one of the couches in Grimmauld Place, waiting for everyone to get back safely, when she heard her mother scream. Her heart stopped as she sat up and ran to the kitchen. She was already shaking – she knew it was bad. Was it Harry? Ron? What had those two idiots done now?

'Hermione?'

Hermione? Oh Merlin, what was wrong with Hermione? Please let her be okay.

'Look at her! Oh, no! Charlie, what's happened to her? Is she alright?' Mrs Weasley questioned.

Ginny finally made it to the kitchen just in time to see Hermione's eyes close. She was swaying dangerously on her feet. Charlie was behind her, looking oddly pale, shaking his head. McGonagall looked utterly shocked, and with a shaky hand, she covered her mouth and gasped, examining the left side of Hermione's robes. 'I – I don't know, Mum,' said Charlie. 'She needs to see the Healer now.'

'Oh, yes, of course,' agreed Mrs Weasley. She spun around and came face to face with Ginny. 'Ginny, get someone to help Hermione. And hurry!' Ginny nodded and ran upstairs, where the two Healers were talking, waiting for someone to be brought in for them to treat.

'She's bleeding a lot, Mum. It looks bad. I don't know what could've happened ...' she heard Charlie say.

'Audrey!' called Ginny as she flew up the stairs, almost tripping over her feet. 'Earl!' She found them in the first room to her left, looking eager but concerned. 'Someone get to the kitchen now!'

The two Healers nodded and ran out of the room with Ginny hot on their heels. 'What is it?' Audrey asked as they entered the kitchen. Ginny gasped and stopped dead in her tracks. Hermione was passed out, in Charlie's arms, looking dangerously pale.

'She's bleeding ... we don't know what happened,' said Charlie hurriedly.

'Bring her into the living room and set her down. We'll help her,' said Earl.

'Yes, yes, hurry,' sobbed Mrs Weasley. 'Please.' Ginny took one look at her mother, who was crying and shaking, and knew it was bad – no, it was worse than bad.

Charlie picked her up, careful not to move her left side (Ginny was rather sure this was where her injury was), and carried her to the living room. He set her down on the floor and backed away as Audrey knelt beside her and made a quick, slicing motion with her wand. The sound of fabric ripping covered the heavy silence in the room as Hermione's blood-soaked robes tore at the shoulder, allowing Audrey to pull them off and revealing Hermione's torn jumper. Ginny gasped at the large, deep cut on her shoulder. Her bone would've been visible, Ginny was sure, if it wasn't for all the blood gushing out of the wound. Her sleeve was completely coloured with blood, and a tiny pool of the red liquid was forming underneath her, on the floor.

Audrey waved her wand again and the jumper ripped. Carefully, Audrey peeled it off the wound, biting her lip in concentration. Waving her wand one final time and muttering something under her breath, the cut disappeared. Fresh skin healed over the area.

Earl came back into the room – Ginny hadn't even realized that he had left – with a red potion. He handed it to Audrey, who tilted Hermione's head back, opened her mouth, and poured the potion in. The colour almost instantly returned to her face and she coughed, but didn't regain consciousness.

'She lost a lot of blood,' Earl explained. 'That was a Blood-Replenishing Potion that we gave her.'

'Will she b-be okay?' asked Mrs Weasley.

'Oh, yes,' said Audrey after a long moment. She got to her feet and smiled. 'I expect that she'll be right as rain in an hour or two. There are no infections, at least none that I can see. She should rest for a bit, though. Can you get her to the couch?'

'Sure,' said Charlie. He and Earl lifted Hermione up off the ground and put her on the couch, where she groaned and rolled onto her right side, but still didn't wake.

'What could've done that to her? Merlin, what're they dealing with on these missions?' cried Mrs Weasley. Her weeping had ceased, only to be replaced by anger and worry. 'I can't believe my Ronnie is still out there ... Bill and Harry, too. Oh, no ...'

Ginny's heart clenched; she'd completely forgotten about Harry and her brothers. She felt a new sense of panic was over her as she looked at the pool of blood on the floor ... Hermione's blood. She was lucky; she made it back to Headquarters, and she was helped by a Healer. What about Ron? Would he make it back if he was hurt? Harry would probably try to go on, ignoring the fact that he was injured. Bill was tough, but Voldemort was a lot more powerful. Could they hold up against the spells Voldemort put in place to protect the Horcrux? What if they didn't make it back?

What if they were all dead? What if Hermione was the only one who got away? Could it be that she was in the best shape out of them all?

'Ginny, dear, go back home and get some other clothes for Hermione. The ones she's wearing are all bloody and torn,' said Mrs Weasley.

Ginny shook her head. 'No, I'm not leaving, Mum. What if something h-happens while I'm gone? I c-can't ... I d-don't –'

'Okay,' said Mrs Weasley. 'I'll go. If anything happens while I'm gone, someone had better come and let me know.' Charlie nodded and Ginny collapsed onto the other couch, trying to slow her racing heart. She watched as her mother went to the fireplace, threw in some powder, stepped into the flames and yelled, 'The Burrow!'

She returned ten minutes later, but it was almost another half hour before Hermione woke up.

Ginny heard a groan and jumped to her feet as Hermione rolled over and opened her eyes.

'Hermione?'

Hermione sat up quickly, looking around. 'Ginny? Is Ron okay? What about Harry?'

Ginny shook her head. 'I – we don't know yet. They still aren't back.' Hermione yawned and touched her bare shoulder. It was fully healed; the only sign that she'd been injured was that the skin was slightly redder on the spot that had been cut open. Her jumper hung limply on her left side, revealing the top of her bra. 'Mum brought some clothes from The Burrow for you,' said Ginny.

Hermione shook her head and stood up. 'No, there's no time ... I've got to get back.'

'Excuse me?' asked Ginny. She stared incredulously at Hermione as she got up and rushed into the living room. 'You aren't going anywhere.'

'Yes, I am,' argued Hermione. Ginny followed her into the kitchen, where Mrs Weasley and McGonagall were talking quietly. 'I need to know what's going on. I can't be expected to just sit here and wait.'

'Miss Granger, I am extremely relieved to see you up and about,' McGonagall said wearily, 'but make no mistake; if I need to, I will put you in a full Body-Bind to keep you out of danger. And I have sent an owl to your parents, informing them of your condition.'

Hermione opened her mouth to protest but was cut off by Mrs Weasley jumping up from her chair and hugging her tightly. 'You gave us such a scare,' said Mrs Weasley. 'Please stay here with us. Your parents wouldn't want you to go out again, either.'

Hermione nodded and half-heartedly walked back to the living room. She sat down on the couch and sighed angrily. 'I should be out there,' she said.

'Hermione, I know you want to go help, but I'm glad you're not,' said Ginny. 'You didn't see yourself ... you were so pale, and you lost so much blood ...'

'I was fine,' she insisted.

'Actually – Hermione, is it? – you were not fine,' said Audrey, coming down the stairs. 'In fact, if you hadn't made it back here when you did, you mostly likely wouldn't be alive right now.'

'I – what?'

'That's right,' said Audrey. She walked over to the couch and extended her hand. 'Audrey Fiske. I'm a Healer.'

'Hermione Granger,' Hermione said quietly.

'Pleasure.' She shook her hand and smiled sweetly. 'As I was saying, you lost quite a bit of blood. We gave you some Blood-Replenishing Potions and healed your wound. It was rather nasty. May I ask how you attained it?' She rubbed a dark pink, watery substance onto Hermione's formerly-injured shoulder.

Ginny froze. Audrey may be with the Order, but she wasn't allowed to know about Horcruxes. How could Hermione talk her way out of this one?

'Oh, you know ... someone conjured a Severing Charm ... let's just say they need to work on their aim a little,' laughed Hermione. Audrey nodded, but didn't look the least bit convinced. It was a blatant lie, no question about it, but Audrey was trained to know better than to press Hermione on the matter.

'Right,' said Audrey. 'Well, I just came down to apply this and to see how you're doing. If you're feeling any pain or discomfort, come get either Earl or myself. We'll be upstairs.'

'Thank you,' said Hermione as Audrey went up the stairs.

'Do you mind telling me what really happened?' asked Ginny. Had Hermione been telling a total lie, or had a Severing Charm really been used on her, and just not in the context Hermione had implied? If it was true, that would mean that someone had to conjure it. And nobody on their side would do that ...

'Okay,' said Hermione. She still looked pale, possibly due to loss of blood, but more likely because everyone was still out there. She folded her legs underneath her body and leaned forward, like she was gossiping, instead of explaining how she almost died. 'We took a Portkey to this ... place, and then walked for a really long time, to the cemetery. When we finally got there, one of the graves rose out of the ground and turned into stairs. There were some trick steps so you had to jump over them, and then we wound up in this really dark, cold tunnel.'

'It sounds creepy,' said Ginny.

'It was, I suppose,' Hermione shrugged. 'Anyway, we walked for a long time and then –'

'RON!'

Hermione stopped and she and Ginny leapt up from the couch. Neither girl moved, waiting for everyone to traipse into the living room and announce that they were all safe. They had been gone a long time, but had it been long enough for them to have been successful, or was Ron simply injured, like Hermione, and had to come back?

Ron stumbled into the living room (he was limping) with strange look on his face. Ginny's heart sunk; she was almost positive it had something to do with Harry. She held her breath. Harry was dead, wasn't he? How had it happened? Why wasn't Ron saying anything? Ginny deserved to know how he died!

'Hermione!'

A big, stupid grin stretched across his face as he quickly hobbled over to them and hugged Hermione. She started to cry and Ron quickly pulled away.

'Shite, I hurt you, didn't I?'

'No,' Hermione said, sobbing. She shook her head and hugged him again. 'I'm so glad you're okay.'

Ginny ignored them and turned back to the spot where her mother was. Lupin walked in from the kitchen, followed by a black-haired Tonks. Moody trotted in after them, and Kingsley entered the living room next. Bill came in, wincing as he moved, chatting with McGonagall. Mrs Weasley was next, with tears in her eyes and a worried expression on her face.

And then, finally, Harry appeared.

His hair was messier than usual and his glasses were hanging off his face. He looked exhausted and sweaty and had a big cut on his forehead. Dried blood was caked on his face, starting at the spot over his right eye and going down to his jaw. He looked slightly dizzy.

But he was still Harry, and he was still alive.

He didn't get a chance to go deeper into the room because Ginny was already running toward him at full speed. When she reached him, she threw her arms around him tightly and nearly knocked him over from the impact. Before she realized what she was doing, she was crying and calling him a git. Harry put one hand behind her head and pulled her face to his, kissing her softly and then pulling back to look at her, a smile playing across his exhausted face. He wiped away her tears with his thumb and kissed her again.

After they separated (Ginny was relieved to see that nobody had paid any attention to them), she went down the line and embraced everyone else. Finally, Hermione asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

'Did you get a Horcrux?'

Mrs Weasley smiled. 'That can wait until later, dear. If anybody needs to see a Healer, there are two upstairs.' When nobody moved, she folded her arms and said, 'Bill Weasley, don't think I didn't notice how stiffly you were moving! And Harry, you get upstairs and clean yourself up this instant.' Harry sighed and grudgingly followed Bill up the stairs to the Healers. 'Ron, are you alright? Come here; let me get a good look at you.'

'Mum, I'm fine. It was bloody amazing,' said Ron. 'Well, at least at first.' He cast a worried look at Hermione. 'You're sure you're okay?' he asked. Hermione nodded.

After more pestering, Ron obliged and humoured Mrs Weasley, turned around and letting her examine him from all angles. He managed to stand steadily on his bad foot and avoided being sent to the Healer. Ginny knew this was the smartest thing for him to do, since their mum would never allow him to go on another mission if he came back with even a scratch on him. Once he passed the inspection, Ginny couldn't contain herself, and wound up giving him another bone-crushing hug.

'I love you,' whispered Ginny, 'even though you're rather daft at times.'

'Thanks, I think ...' laughed Ron. 'And I love you, too – even though you act like a brat most of the time.'

Harry emerged from upstairs looking good as new, followed shortly thereafter by Bill, who had been treated for a few bruised and cracked ribs. Audrey and Earl came down next, said a quick goodbye, and then left.

'Okay,' Ginny said eagerly. 'Did you get the Horcrux or what?'

Harry shrugged and pulled a large, green gem from his robes. 'This is all we found,' he said quietly.

Ron frowned. 'It doesn't seem very important, though.'

'When it comes to Lord Voldemort, anything can be important,' said McGonagall. She pulled out her wand and ushered everyone back into the kitchen. Harry sat the gem on the table and everyone crowded around and watched as McGonagall muttered an incantation and pointed her wand at the stone.

Ginny held her breath. She tried to remember what happened last time McGonagall preformed the spell. It had taken a moment before the Horcrux had had a reaction, she recalled. She told herself not to panic if nothing happened right away.

'That bloody thing had better start glowing,' said Ron, 'because I sure as hell didn't stick my neck out for a bloody useless rock.'

'Ron,' scolded Hermione. 'Watch your language.'

'No. You got hurt. It better not have been for nothing,' he argued.

Ginny was so caught up in the amusement that was Ron and Hermione that she almost missed the bright glow coming from the stone. The purple glow was stifled by the emerald colour of the jewel, but the point got across all the same: it was a Horcrux.

Ginny squealed and couldn't contain her grin as McGonagall repeated the same spell that she'd used on the locket to destroy the gem. When she finished, an odd, muffled cry rang out before the Horcrux disintegrated and disappeared.

'Good work,' McGonagall said.

'Four down, two to go,' said Moody.

'Right, you lot –' Mrs Weasley pointed at Ginny, Harry, Hermione and Ron 'back home. It's been a hectic day, and you all need your rest.'

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