Author's Note: I owe a HUGE apology to anyone who might have been following this story. I am so sorry I haven't updated in, what, almost three months now? I ran into some writer's block with this story, forgot about it for a while, came back to it and STILL had writer's block, then finally decided to scrap Plan A and go with Plan B. But enough excuses, on with the next chapter, which hopefully isn't too bad...
"All right, men," Robards said solemnly. "Let's prepare for phase one of our operation."
"I don't understand why we can't just break into the building and arrest all the Death Eaters," Ron grumbled under his breath to Harry.
"First of all," Harry replied, "we need to make sure we have the correct building. Then we need a reason to break in – we can't barge in there without any justification."
"So arrest without justification isn't legal but eavesdropping is?" Ron said incredulously.
Harry began to answer, but he was cut off by Robards calling, "Potter! Do you have your invisibility cloak?"
"Yes, sir," Harry said.
"Good. The rest of us will have to cast Disillusionment Charms – it's not as effective, but it's the best we can do."
Ron took out his wand and attempted the Disillusionment Charm on himself, but without success. He swore under his breath – he should be able to perform this spell effortlessly by now. "I wish Hermione was here right now. She wouldn't have any problems with this," he said to himself. He raised his voice. "Hey, Harry! Mind helping me out with this?"
"No problem," Harry said, aiming his wand at Ron. A moment later his body had seemingly vanished.
"Thanks mate," Ron said. "Let's go."
Hermione sat in the bedroom at home, trying to read. It wasn't working at all. She didn't even know what she was reading, having grabbed a book at random off of the shelf.
"Forget it," she said at last, closing the book and dropping it beside her. She was about to get up and go make herself a cup of tea when she heard a voice. A very familiar voice – but it can't be, she thought.
Hermione listened closely, and there it was again. "I wish Hermione was here right now." It was Ron's voice, and it was coming out of a drawer of his bureau.
She rushed over to the bureau and yanked open the drawer. Ron's voice repeated its statement, and she finally realized where it was coming from.
"The Deluminator," she whispered. It was calling for her. It was going to take her to Ron; just as it had brought him back to her all those years ago on the Horcrux hunt. Why hadn't she thought of this sooner?
She lifted the Deluminator out of the drawer with a trembling hand and clicked it. A pulsing, glowing blue sphere appeared and floated in front of her. It seemed to be telling her to go with it. So this was what Ron had experienced when the Deluminator had spoken with her voice.
Hermione snatched up her wand. Almost simultaneously, the ball of light flew into her chest, causing her to gasp in surprise. It filled her with warmth that seemed to flow through her blood and spread to her extremities. And she knew she was supposed to Disapparate.
So she spun on the spot, twisting away from the house and landing in an unfamiliar place miles away. It was completely empty except for some sparse trees; there were no signs of civilization. Well, what were you expecting to see? she asked herself. The Aurors would surely have some protective spells around themselves. They had to be here somewhere.
Hermione settled herself at the base of one of the trees to wait. She'd stay here as long as necessary until she saw someone. She had to know Ron was safe.
"Any luck?" Robards asked Ron and Harry as they trudged back into the tent.
"Nothing," Harry said, and Ron nodded in agreement.
"We'll have to try again tomorrow then," Robards said, but just then, another Auror came running in.
"It's them! It's the Death Eaters!" he panted. "I heard them, they mentioned the Dark Lord, and they said there were going to be moving soon!"
Robards frowned. "Did they say where they were moving to?"
"No," the Auror said. "We need to act now before it's too late!"
"Call an emergency meeting of all our men," Robards said abruptly. "Spread the word. Potter, Weasley, you go as well."
"Yes, sir," the three Aurors said. Harry and Ron exchanged glances before hurrying off in opposite directions to find their colleagues.
Hermione was beginning to grow anxious. There had been no sign of anyone, Auror or otherwise, for quite some time now. She didn't have a watch, but the sun was definitely much lower in the sky than it had been when she first arrived.
"Where are you, Ron?" she whispered. She held the Deluminator up to her ear, but it remained silent.
Suddenly, a large hand clamped over her mouth and a wand was pointed at her heart. She let out a muffled scream of terror.
"Hush!" a rough male voice commanded. Hermione instantly fell silent.
"Now, what would a woman like you be doing in a remote area such as this?" the voice continued. "Looking for someone named Ron? One of the Aurors, perhaps?"
Hermione was too startled to remain impassive. The man chuckled at her reaction. "Yes, we know they're here. We know they're after us. And if you're connected with them, then you could be very useful to us."
He dropped his wand for just a moment to slip hers out of her pocket and then aimed it back at her. "Incarcerous," he said. Ropes shot out of the end of his wand and wrapped around Hermione's body. "Mobilicorpus." Hermione whimpered as she floated up slightly into the air.
"Make any more noise and I swear, you'll be dead before you can draw your next breath," the man threatened.
Hermione closed her mouth tightly, silently cursing her idiocy. Why hadn't she told anyone she was leaving? Now no one would know she was here. No one could save her. And to make matters worse, she had foolishly put her husband and her best friend in more danger than they had already been in.