Chapter Nine: Stowaway

Everything was pitch black. Hermione screamed as an invisible force pushed her onto her back. She struggled as the snake approached her, constricting her tighter than ever before.

"No! Please, not again!"

She gasped for air. Once again, she felt the serpent's tongue flick her ear. She braced herself for the horrible words, the threat of her friends' death—

"I love you."

Suddenly, the snake was gone. Ron leaned back, just enough so she could see his face. Tears clouded her vision. He kissed her neck. Hermione tried to pull away, but he had her pinned to the ground, just as tight as that snake.

"Why?" she croaked. "Why are you doing this? I don't understand—"

He kissed her lips, cutting off her words. The taste of her tears mingled with the kiss.

Hermione gasped as she woke with a start. He was standing by her bed, softly nudging her shoulder. She squirmed away, knocking over her lamp, and pulled her wand out from under her pillow. Ron raised both hands as she pointed it at him.

"Easy, Herm!" he breathed, trying to keep his voice down.

Her hand shook as she spoke. "What do you want?"

"It's—it's time to go."

After a moment, she lowered her wand, avoiding eye contact. "Get out."

"Herm—"

"I need to get dressed. I'll meet you outside."

Ron nodded slowly before exiting her room. Hermione took a deep breath and climbed out of bed. She dressed in less than a minute and picked up her enchanted purse. It was heavier than she thought it would be, but light when you considered everything that was in it. She took one last look around her room before joining Harry and Ron in the backyard.

"Want me to take your bag for you?" Ron offered as she approached. Hermione sent him a sideways look before turning her attention to Harry.

"Ready?"

Harry nodded, trying to act like he hadn't noticed the way she looked at Ron. "I assume you have our first camp sight picked out?"

"Yes. It'll be easier for me to just take all three of us then to try to explain it."

"Sounds good to me," Ron said with a half smile. Again, Hermione ignored him.

Harry took Hermione's hand. Ron hesitated before putting a cautious hand on her shoulder. It was all she could do to keep herself from shrugging it off.

She closed her eyes and envisioned their destination. Just as she apparated, she felt a third hand touch her back.

Her eyes opened wide as they 'popped' into a clearing in Bakewell. She spun around.

"What the—Ginny!"

The ginger grinned. "You didn't think you could leave me behind, did you?"

"What were you thinking? You could have been splinched! Sneaking up on me mid-apparate—"

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Gin?" Harry yelled.

She calmly looked him in the eye. "Standing by the man I love."

Harry groaned and pulled at the hair on his head. Ron cleared his throat.

"Honestly, Mate, she's just going to come back if we send her away. We might as well keep her here and make sure she doesn't get herself into any more trouble."

"He's right, you know." Ginny smugly folded her arms.

Harry glared at her before sighing. "Ron, Gin, set up the tent. Hermione, help me put up protection charms."

Ginny squealed and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek, then took Hermione's bag and began searching for the tent inside. Harry immediately started whispering enchantments under his breath, circling the clearing. Hermione walked over to him.

"Are you sure about this? You always said you didn't want Ginny here."

"I always said I didn't want you or Ron here either, and look what happened." He shook his head. "Besides, Ron's right. Even if we tied her up somewhere, she'd find a way to follow us, or die trying."

"Well maybe Ron should take her somewhere and never come back," Hermione said under her breath.

Harry stopped what he was doing and turned to face her. "What's been going on between the two of you lately?"

"Nothing important," she mumbled.

"It is important, or you wouldn't be acting this way. You usually have a reason for getting mad at him—is it Genvi?"

"No, it's—it's nothing, all right? I'm always mad at him."

Harry eyed her curiously. "Really? Because, frankly, before Genvi got in the picture I thought the two of you might—"

"Never!" she blurted out, louder than she intended. Harry raised his eyebrows.

She stormed to the other side of the clearing, ignoring the stares she received from both Weasleys. She sighed internally as she pulled out her wand, holding back tears. Now that Ginny was here, she and Harry would be leaving Ron and Hermione alone often, that much was certain. The idea of being alone with him in a room again, in a tent

Taking a deep breath, she pushed it all to the back of her mind and focused on the charms.

Once the camp was set up and secure, the four of them gathered around the fire. Ginny snuggled up close to Harry on one end, while Ron and Hermione sat on the other. Hermione kept as much distance between Ron and herself as possible and was relieved when he didn't attempt to move closer.

"All right, Hermione," Harry said once they were all settled. "What's our first move?"

Hermione pulled out one of her many notebooks from her bag. "We've been thinking about this the wrong way—we've been trying to figure out what the horcruxes are instead of where they are. If we can pinpoint their locations, it'll be easy enough to figure out what the horcrux is."

"Okay, so where would they be?" Ginny said.

"Well, Voldemort seems to have placed his horcruxes in places that have been important to him in his life. We know Nagini's always with him, so we just need to find locations for Hufflepuff's cup and Ravenclaw's diadem."

"And where R.A.B. hid the locket," Harry interrupted.

Hermione nodded. "I still have no idea who he is and where it might be, but I do have some ideas about Voldemort's hiding places. The only place he ever really felt at home was Hogwarts, right?"

"He did try to teach there," Ron mused out loud. Hermione didn't turn to look at him.

"One of the two is probably hidden somewhere in the castle," she continued, "possibly in the Room of Requirement."

"Getting into Hogwarts isn't going to be easy," Harry said with a small groan.

"Which is why I think we should go for that one last."

"So where else should we look first?" asked Ginny.

"The only other place I could come up with was the orphanage," Hermione said, shifting through her notes. "But unfortunately for us, it was demolished several years before Voldemort lost his power."

Ginny thought for a minute. "What about Godric's Hollow?"

Everyone turned to see Harry's reaction. He slowly shook his head. "He would have had to move it. I don't think there would have been any chance of him being able to get one in before he tried to kill me, and I don't think he would move something he already had protected to a place I would probably visit."

"But you haven't visited it, have you?" said Ron.

Harry shook his head again. "I haven't wanted to," he said quietly.

"It's possible he guessed you wouldn't want to," Hermione said tentatively. "He's been inside your mind, and he knows the way you think. He knows it would be—painful—for you to see where your parents died, and he might have picked it for that very reason."

"Maybe," he said doubtfully. "I guess it doesn't hurt to check."

There was a moment of silence before Ron spoke up. "There could be one at Gringotts. It is the most secure place in the magical world, after all."

"You really think that he would trust goblins with part of his soul?" Hermione snapped.

Ron shrugged innocently, ignoring her rudeness. "It was just a thought."

"We should check there too," Harry said.

"But breaking into Gringotts—"

"Is impossible, Hermione, yeah, I know. But most people would say that surviving the killing curse is, too."

"Well, we won't rule it out, but I still think Godric's Hollow is a better bet," she said, closing her notebook.

Ron stood. "So when should we head out?"

"We'll take a couple days to prepare, then try to get in unnoticed," Harry said, standing as well. "For now, I think we should all get some rest."

"I'll keep first watch," Hermione volunteered, staying put.

Harry and Ginny quickly disappeared into the tent. Ron lingered for a moment. Hermione turned her back to him and opened up a book.

He sighed. "Can we please just talk?"

"I'm not interested in what you have to say, Ronald."

"Hermione, I don't—!"

"Look," she snapped, cutting him off as she stood to face him. "The only reason I'm even still here is because of Harry, and because we're in the middle of a war. I'm not interested in talking to you—ever. When we're trying to figure things out, obviously we both have to be there, but unless all four of us are together, stay away from me."

Hermione couldn't quite read the expression on his face. After what seemed like an eternity of staring each other down, he nodded.

"All right. If that's what you want."

Slowly, he turned and entered the tent. Hermione sat back down, her anger dissipating into deep, deep sadness.


A/N: I updated! Woohoo! :) I'm really feeling this story right now, so you can probably expect another update soon! Looking forward to your reviews!