Chapter Fifteen

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A rough tongue licking her face awakened Hermione Granger.

"Ooooh…Crookshanks…" She muttered, scratching him behind the ears. The cat purred and jumped off her, his mission of awakening her complete. Only when she sat up and felt a sharp pain in her ankle, did she remember where she was and what had happened.

"Ooooh…." She groaned.

Ron lifted his head. " 'Ermione?"

"Yeah," Hermione gingerly moved her leg in front of her so she could see her ankle. It was swollen and puffy. "You all right?"

"I hurt all over, but yeah," Ron said.

Hermione withdrew her wand shakily and kicking her medical book open with her other foot, set to work mending her ankle. Ron watched her for a moment as if hypnotized, then started.

"Harry!"

"Is he conscious?" Hermione asked as Ron dragged himself over.

"Not yet," Ron said, shaking his friend. "Hey, Harry!"

Harry rolled over with a groan, his eyes still tightly closed. "Goddamnit, Aunt Petunia, I'll cook breakfast in a minute!" he mumbled.

"He's fine," Ron said, flopping onto his back. "Whoa…cool…Hermione, I have a handprint on my arm!"

"What?"

Ron showed Hermione his arm, which had a purple bruise shaped like a handprint.

"It must have been when the Inferi grabbed me…"

"Uck, Ron, heal that. It's disgusting," Hermione cried, squeezing her eyes shut.

"No way! It's cool!"

"It is not! Stop waving it in my face!"

Ron continued to wave it in her face.

"That's it! If you won't heal that I'm going to have to heal it for you!" Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and put her wand to it.

"Hey, get off!" Ron grabbed her arms as well and before they knew it they were wrestling over Hermione's arm.

"Ugh…get off me…Ron!"

"This is fun! OW! Hey! That hurt!"

"You touched my chest!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too! Get OFF me!"

"No way, gimme your wand! OW! Stop kicking me!"

They heard a loud groan from behind them and Hermione twisted around to see Harry who was awake and staring at them bemusedly. "If you two are going to do that, go to another room."

"We're not…Ron's being obnoxious!'

"Riiiigggghht…" Harry said, rolling his eyes. "Hey, why is my arm numb?"

Ron and Hermione suddenly stopped fighting and glared at him.

"Wait for it…" Ron muttered.

"Ohhhh…" Harry said, remembering. He looked down at his arm. "Wow. I can't believe I'm not dead."

"Neither…can…I," Hermione said through gritted teeth.

"And you reattached it! Thanks…. er, Hermione, why are you looking at me like that?"

"OF ALL THE STUPID, POORLY THOUGHT OUT, IMPULSIVE, RASH, INCONSIDERATE THINGS YOU'VE DONE, THAT WAS THE I WORST/I You could have DIED! You just randomly shove your hand in a HORCRUX, without even giving us WARNING and then of course, you start DYING and we have to CUT YOUR ARM OFF! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW FRANTIC RON AND I WERE? HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO US? TO YOURSELF! HONESTLY, HARRY!" Hermione finished off.

After a seconds silence Ron cried, "Yeah, what she said!"

"It was the only way to get the Horcrux off the table!" Harry said. "If I'd warned you I was going to do it, you would have stopped me."

"No, we wouldn't have!"

"Yes you would've."

"Well, maybe, but HONESTLY…"

"Did we get the Horcrux?"

"YES!"

"Then you see my point."

"NO, I DO NOT!" Hermione exploded. "THIS IS YOUR LIFE!"

"Stop acting like my mum," Harry mumbled.

"She always does that. Have you just noticed or something?" Ron asked. "And she's right mate. That was really scary. Forget the bloody Horcrux, I can't believe you!"

"We have to defeat Voldemort," Harry said logically. "We have to get the Horcrux at any cost. Anyway, I'm alive, we have the Horcrux, and I have my arm back, everything's fine."

"No it isn't!" Hermione fumed. "Your arm is going to take days to heal, not to mention, Ron and I had to spend two hour reattaching your arm after we escaped while we were half conscious and pain ridden!"

"Well, you didn't have to do that," Harry said.

"Nrrrrrgghhh!" Hermione pulled at her hair.

"You're going to make her implode one of these days," Ron told him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why did you guys heal me? Why didn't we just go to Saint Mungo's?"

"There are Death Eaters outside."

"What? Why?"

"No idea. But with you hurt, and us outnumbered, we'll have to stay here until they leave."

"Damn. Are you sure they won't find us?"

"Hopefully not. This is a secret room."

"Do I look half as rough as you two? Wow, Ron…cool handprint on your arm!"

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?"

Hermione banged her head against her knees. "Boys."

Dear Mum and Dad,

We're all very happy! We have just completed the first step of our conquest. We haven't destroyed the evidence yet, but after all the challenges that have been provided; it should prove easy.

Harry is injured, and Ron and I had a few scrapes, but we've healed most of them up by now. Still very tired. Due to forces beyond our control, we are not yet on the move again, but we are fine, it gives us a chance to talk and relax in our present housings…Crookshanks is fine, and knows not to meow despite being cooped up, he's a very smart cat. The owls are behaving as well. I will not be able to send this letter for a while.

I am so glad we have completed the first step. Our journey has been harrowing, but we survived, and it gives me hope we'll survive our next challenges.

Ron and Harry are sarcastic and buoyant as usual…they exasperate me so much (especially Harry at this particular moment. He did something rash and thickheaded that I found quite frightening) bit I really don't know what I'd do without them.

I hope you are well and not worrying about me too much. I haven't been keeping up with the news lately, but be assured, everyone is doing all they can to stop the madness.

Well, I suppose that's all I have to say. Someday, I will describe what's going on here to you in detail. Don't worry.

All my love,

Hermione.

Every night, Hermione cast a See Through Spell to see if the Death Eaters were gone. A couple of times, footsteps walked right past them, and they sat frozen in fear. They had even decided not to destroy the Horcrux until after they got out of here, in case the destruction of it had some effect that alerted the Death Eaters.

But nobody had discovered the room, and despite these frightening circumstances they managed to make themselves comfortable.

About three days in, they were sitting around a magical fire- smokeless, traceless and controlled- and just talking. Hermione felt content, sitting with her two friends around the warmth. Once again, they were discussing what they would do after. After the war. After Voldemort. After everything. Harry seemed uncomfortable discussing this, she could tell part of him didn't think there would be an after, for him, there would only be an end. She hated that, because she still hoped, and she didn't know what she'd do if either of her boys died.

But Ron kept urging and eventually Harry got into the discussion.

"I guess I'll be an Auror or something," Harry said. "Though, I might be tired by then…of fighting…of being seen…I dunno."

"But wouldn't it be cool if all three of us were Aurors?" Ron asked. "I mean, you and Hermione would be great at it!"

Hermione knew what Ron was looking for and gave it to him. "So would you."

Ron's ears turned red, and he said, "I might get by."

"It would be sort of…well, like what we do anyway. Not much of a change. I could handle that job. But I don't really know what I want to be," Hermione said thoughtfully.

"Hard to pick when you can be anything," Ron said.

"Not a professional Quidditch player," Hermione taunted back.

"Oh, God, no!"

"Hey!"

Harry laughed.

"Harry could play for England if he wanted to. We might actually win if he was on the team."

"You too, if you just get over your inferiority complex," Harry said dryly.

"Hey! I do not have an inferiority complex. You do!"

"No way. You do."

"Uh uh…Hermione does!"

"Oh yeah, right."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione snapped, but she couldn't help joining the boys in laughter.

"Where d'you suppose we'll live?

"I dunno…I'm so used to being with you two, or in school, it would be weird living alone," Harry said, lying back.

"The three of us could get a house together…" Hermione suggested.

"Yeah!" Ron perked up. "That would be so cool! I mean, I'm just sort of used to living with you two maniacs…"

"I'd like that," Harry smiled. "I wouldn't like being alone in the house…

"And with Hermione around, everything would be neat…" Ron said dreamily.

"If you think you're going to get away with not doing any housework…"

"You did a pretty good job on Harry's room back at Number Four…

"It was a pigsty! There was FOOD under the floorboards!"

Harry was leaned back against the wall. He smiled contentedly, but his eyes had a far away sort of look…Hermione knew how she felt. The more she talked about what it would be like after the war, the more she was convinced it was never going to be won.

That night, Hermione had a dream she was walking through a misty jungle with vine-covered trees. She was looking for Harry and Ron, but she called and called and couldn't find them. Lost, desperate, she ran through the forest, calling the names of everyone she knew. Her parents, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley…but nobody answered, to any name. She even got desperate and called out for Dumbledore and remembered he was dead. After a while, she was so frantic, she didn't care and called out his name again. She also called out for Sirius…the names echoed in the forest in a haunting hollow sort of way. She ran and cried, ran and cried, but no matter what, couldn't find a way out. After a while, she realized it wasn't vines looped in intricate knots around the trees…it was ropes. Nooses, to be precise.

To the end of the Earth, I'll search for your face
For the one who laid all of our beauty to waste
Threw our hope into Hell and our children into the fire
I am the one who crawled through the wire
I am the one who crawled through the wire

There's a million sad stories on the side of the road
Strange how we all just got used to the blood
Millions of stories that'll never be told
Silent and froze in the mud
Silent and froze in the mud

I know a cold as cold as it gets
I know a darkness that's darker than cold
A wind that blows as cold as it gets
Blew out the light of my soul
Blew out the light of my soul

I dream in my sleep, I dream in my days
Of some sunny street not so far away
Where up in a window a curtain will sway
And you and I'll meet down below
You and I'll meet down below

I know a cold as cold as it gets
I fight a war, I may never see won
I live only to see you live to regret
Everything that you done
Everything that you done
Everything that you done

- Cold As It Gets By Patty Griffin