Disclaimer: I own nothing.
"TONKS!"
Her voice sounded desperate and foreign as she scrambled frantically throughout the Burrow. A flick of her wand and her rucksack landed at her feet. Without so much of a glance, she picked it up, slinging it over her shoulders and continued to run through the house, searching for the brown eyed two year old. She knew that it would be only a matter of moments before someone popped in from her parent's home with an attempt to comfort her into some sort of calmed state of mind.
The thought made her want to attack something. She would not be calmed. She would only protect her family.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" The sound of someone else's voice scared her out of her thoughts and she had to force herself not to throw up her wand. Molly stood before her, a look of worry etched on her face that was reminiscent of the days during the war.
"Molly, where is she? Where is Calypso?" She practically cried out, reaching out and grabbing the older woman's arms.
"What's going on? She's fine. Tonks is out in the garden with-"
She let go and her frantic run through the house became a determined sprint to the garden and ignored the woman running after her. The sight of frizzy pink hair was a welcomed one as she ran through the lines of flowers in the garden. Tonks had Teddy in her arms and was looking towards the house as she had began to hear Molly's calls to Hermione.
"Hermione-"
"Where is she?"
Her questioned didn't require an answer as a second later, Calypso's head popped out from the behind Tonk's legs at the sound of her big sister's voice. The wave of relief was almost enough to cause her knees to buckle under her and she was unaware that tears were beginning to spill down her face. The little girl stared wide eyed as if she were aware that something was very wrong in that moment.
"Hermione, what's going on?" Tonks demanded, her worried glance passing between the witch in front of her and Molly who was coming out from the house.
"Calypso, come here." Hermione said, ignoring the woman once more and reaching down to grab her sister. The toddler clung to her, moving her head back only to give a sad wave to a very confused Teddy Lupin.
"I have to protect her, Tonks. I have to." Hermione told the woman, receiving a look of pity that made her unreasonably angry. Hermione placed her hand behind Calypso's head and held her close, whispering something that the older witch couldn't hear. A yell from the house distracted Tonks and she saw that Ron and Luna were running towards them in the same sort of sprint that Hermione had done earlier. She closed her eyes as a pop was heard next to her, signaling that Hermione and Calypso were gone.
There was a part of him that wanted to smile at the fact that he could always count on Hagrid to provide him with the right cage for a wild animal. Of course, he always received a speech about how every wild thing just wanted love and that the cages were simply to help calm them down at first meeting one another. Harry regarded the serpent with a cold stare, listening to it's quiet unintelligible hisses. They weren't menacing, not like the hisses he remembered Salazar's basilisk having or even the serpent that Draco had sent towards him during second year. The hisses he heard were almost like a person mumbling the things they were contemplating aloud. It made him think about the boa constrictor that he'd released from the zoo all those years ago.
"That is not a normal snake." Hagrid said plainly.
The half-giant hadn't said much when Harry showed up at his hut with a rustling bag levitated in front of him, and hadn't said anything when Harry asked him if he had a cage that could contain magical animals that could transfigure their size at will. So it surprised Harry that not only did Hagrid make such an announcement but that he did so without really looking over the snake.
"That's one of his snakes." The usually cheerful tone in his voice was gone completely and Harry looked at him thoughtfully. He wondered if the snake understood what Hagrid said for it bobbed it's head almost threateningly at the statement.
"You recognize him?" Harry asked carefully, not hiding the impressed note in his voice.
"I reckon I do. Tha' snake Neville killed…tha's his mother, ain't it?"
It wasn't so much of a question as it was an answer and Harry nodded his head slowly, unsure and unwilling to say much more on the subject of Nagini.
Hagrid bent at the waist slowly, his war tested features looking tired and darker than they had when Harry had first arrived. He watched as Hagrid stared at the snake for a long moment before righting himself and shaking his head.
"It's different, this one." Hagrid muttered. "You need ta' keep it here Harry?"
Harry nodded his head absently for a moment, wondering what he meant about it being different.
Everyone else was out looking for Hermione and Calypso and the thought of sitting around, waiting with a snake annoyed him greatly. He had arrived at the Burrow in the aftermath of Hermione's disappearance as he'd stayed behind after she ran out of the room. He knew the moment he had said out loud what the snake had told him that Hermione would run to Calypso at any cost. He hadn't, however, expected her to quite literally vanish in thin air once she got to her little sister. The moment the words "the masked will come for them" finished coming out of his mouth, a loud and startling pop scared them all as not many could apparate in and out of the wards that the Auror's had placed over the "crime scene" that was the Granger's home. He expected that they would find her at the Burrow, frantic and unwilling to leave Calypso's side and he cursed himself for assuming as much. While he had yelled Ron and Ginny to go after her, Harry was unwilling to leave behind the only link to the mysterious "master" that left the snake as a message for them.
He silently cursed Hermione for being the voice in his head that told him not to leave the snake behind. Two years ago he would've charged after her. Then again, he thought bitterly, two years ago he thought that the war had ended.
"I need you to look after it for a while but not here. I don't know how to transport it…" Harry trailed off, knowing if anyone could illegally transport a rare and dangerous creature that it would be Hagrid. His old friend gave him a sort of knowing smile and Harry watched as the wizard pulled a wand out from the side of his belt. Hagrid had been granted the allowance of a wand after the war ended as Harry was able to clear his name of having any association with Myrtle "Moaning Myrtle" Morgan's death. He knew that Hagrid attended private lessons from the Hogwarts staff ever since.
"Hagrid, no one can know about this snake." He told his old friend calmly. While as a teenager, Harry found it rather amusing at how he could extract information from Hagrid, he understood now how dangerous it was to have a loose tongue.
"Hermione and Calypso's lives depend on it."
A rather large and rather worn duffel arrived at Hagrid's feet and he nodded as he bent down to retrieve it. The unspoken meaning behind Harry's statement was loud and clear. There would be no tolerance for putting anyone in danger because he was easily coaxed into giving information. Harry passed him a small slip of paper with the address of the safe house that everyone would be heading to. Hagrid read it carefully and watched as it disintegrated in his hand.
"You'll be alright?" Hagrid asked, placing his large hand on Harry's shoulder.
"Once this is all over, Hagrid, I will be." He told him honestly, sighing as he took his glasses off for a moment and rubbed his eyes. In the two years since the war was over, Harry had enjoyed his honest grunt work as an Auror. He and Ron worked their way up in rank honestly, choosing against public demand to be given higher standing in the ministry. While so many people doled out vows of everlasting loyalty and praised him upon sight, his co-workers and his bosses paid him with responsibility befitting someone of his experience and knowledge. He had superiors that he answered to, people he took orders by, people with whom he shared mutual respect. Somewhere in the pit of his stomach he felt a knot growing as he realized that soon again, others would rely on him for leadership that surpassed his years.
There was no way he could provide anyone with that without Hermione standing there and ordering him around.
"Get there as soon as you can. We'll all talk once we find Hermione. Hopefully there's a part of her that wants to be found, otherwise…" He trailed off, not able to complete the thought out loud. He shook his head, as if dispelling the very idea from his mind. Hagrid gave him a hopeful smile and began untying the cinch at the top of the duffel-like bag.
"Brightest witch of her age, Hermione." He said kindly.
"Yeah." Harry replied, hoping for the first time that she didn't live up to that title.
"Don't let Molly see that snake-" Harry took a glance at the snake and saw that it had been watching him the entire time.
"She'll probably kill it if she does."
Before Harry could hear Hagrid's tut of disapproval at the thought of killing the creature, he was gone.
It was starting to get late by the time Harry and Ron stopped to rest; they'd been scouring around familiar areas for hours. He knew that all of the Weasley men – save for Arthur- and Remus were out looking for the two missing Granger girls. They'd been accompanied by Luna and Ginny all afternoon before they went to the safe house.
The moment Ron suggested that Luna go back to the safe house, she needed only to look at him to know that it was more for his benefit than anything else. It wasn't that she wasn't welcomed or trusted - she knew this to be fact – but there were some things that the three only leaned on each other for and that would not change in the near future. She'd been there when they escaped Malfoy Manor, she had been there to see the strength that pushed them through the hellish year they'd been through and she respected it. He envied the fact that Luna and Ron were so easily in sync with one another.
Ginny struggled to understand and while Harry was usually more patient than her brother on that point, he was growing increasingly annoyed. It was the constant core of their most heated arguments and while they worked through their number of other problems with relative ease, it was always there haunting them. Every time he spoke to Ron rather than her or every time he refused to talk about the terrors that still ate at him in his dreams, times of comfort that could only be attained by Hermione, it was there. So when Ron suggested that perhaps they would be better able to find Hermione if it was just the two of them, Ginny protested strongly. She was more than capable, ready to help in any way possible, ready to help with protecting them. He found he had no patience to fight her on it. How was he to tell his girlfriend that her presence threw him off his game and not in the romantic sense? How was he to tell her that she wasn't the person he needed fighting alongside him, that she wasn't the voice in his head?
He had been thankful that Ron had a much more terrible way with words and didn't care whether or not his little sister was upset with him. He was in no mood to have THAT conversation any time soon especially not now.
He cringed that perhaps the future arguing would be for nothing as they were no closer to finding Hermione than they had since they started that afternoon. Harry kicked at the dirt in the abandoned playground. It was a familiar setting and he wondered fleetingly if the fact that it was so close to Privet Drive was what was setting his mood even more off. He hadn't been this close to the house he'd grown up in since he and Hagrid flew off on Sirius' motorcycle those years ago.
"We need Hermione just so we can find Hermione." Ron grumbled, running a hand through his hair. "Do you think it's time we call the ministry?"
It was something they'd all agreed not to do, at least not yet. While the ministry was reforming, growing to be a proper government once again, within it were still rats that needed to be watched over carefully. If someone were trying to resurrect Voldemort's ways, there was no doubt that they had some sort of tie-in to at least one or two ministry officials that slipped through legal grasps at the end of the war.
"Even if we did, we'd have no leg to stand on until at least a few days – even then all we can do is file a missing persons report. If we make a fuss now – if any one is working for them, they'll know that Hermione is on her own with Calypso and they'll be in danger." Ron cursed colorfully at the logic but didn't argue.
"What are we supposed to do, Harry?" Ron grumbled. "We've been everywhere that Hermione might run to, checked hotels…I mean, what are we supposed to do? Stay here…"
Harry closed his eyes, trying to block out Ron's rambling –even with his temper and rashness in check these days, he was still Ron and that meant that sooner or later he would begin to lash out. A memory came to mind and suddenly Harry's eyes shot open.
"What did you say?" Harry asked, suddenly wishing he'd paid more attention.
"I said it's getting late and it's not like Hermione would just camp out with Calypso in the woods. I don't want to stay here-"
"We're idiots." Harry announced suddenly, feeling ridiculous for not thinking of it earlier. "That's exactly what she's doing."
Ron looked at him, confused and impatient.
"Your mum said that all she took with her was a bag. Hermione wouldn't leave off like that with just any bag, especially not with Calypso." Harry told him, going over every safe location that she'd sent them to during their hunt for horcruxes.
"She's has the tent." Ron said, catching on rather quickly.
"She definitely does and if I know Hermione, she's been preparing for something like this since her parents died." She'd done it once, Harry surmised as he thought about after the night of Bill and Fleur's wedding party. She'd surprised them both long ago with the type of preparedness that bordered on paranoia; it was her habit of always being months ahead of everyone that saved their asses more than a few times. The thought of her preparing for this alone, not letting anyone else know about it made his chest tighten and he forced himself not to dwell on it.
"If she has the tent, she's set up her wards around it. If Voldemort himself couldn't breach them at his peak, I'm sure we won't be able to Harry. I'm a fine Auror but she's just about the scariest witch I've ever met." Ron told him, sounding both proud and annoyed at the same time.
"I think I know where she'd go…" Harry told him, he stopped as Ron suddenly began searching his pockets before pulling out a familiar silver tube.
He watched as Ron began pulling light from the lamp posts with the deluminator.
"Just in case." Ron told him, earning a nod in return.
Without another word, Harry grabbed Ron's arm and disappeared without so much as a pop.
The Forest of Dean looked beautiful even as it was no longer decorated in untouched layers of snow and ice. Harry noted that it seemed nosier, attributing that fact that the summertime welcomed the creatures that hibernated during the winter to roam free. They blinked madly for a few moments and muttered a charm to help them see better in the dark without the use of a lumos. While it wasn't anywhere near ideal, it was enough to get them around without stumbling or Merlin forbid, meet up with a hungry animal without knowing it.
"Do you know the counter charm to the wards?" Ron asked quietly, his wand gripped tightly in his hand.
"Do you?" Harry challenged quietly, not hiding the fact that he was equally intimidated by being in a dark forest alone.
"Shite." Ron muttered, earning a nod of agreement from Harry.
We should listen more, he determined mentally.
After a few moments of aimless wandering, Ron very quietly pulled the deluminator from his pocket, thinking of finding Hermione and Calypso as he released the ball of light into the air. The ball whizzed around him for a moment before leading them through the woods slowly. They followed for what felt like an hour or so when they came to a clearing of sorts.
The ball stopped ahead of them and by the time the arrived next to it, Harry could feel the hum of familiar magic in the air. The ball of light fizzled and Ron was careful to slip it back into the Deluminator before it completely died out. Harry stretched out his hand in front of him and was able to feel the barrier as he passed through it. He released an sigh of relief as he did so and the tug at his chest that had been bothering him nearly disappeared. She hadn't warded them out, she wasn't kicking them out of the picture. Ron seemed to relax at the realization as well but said nothing about it.
Harry wondered if her wards would have allowed Ginny and Luna in as he and Ron stepped pass the barrier completely.
The clearing presented itself properly now that they'd passed through what felt like a sort of familiar bubble. At the center of the clearing was the tent they'd lived in for a year, looking as muggle and plain as ever as they made their way towards it. Harry was certain that Hermione was aware of their presence and although he didn't want to startle her or the toddler with her, he wasn't ready to let her apparate away.
Ron signaled for him to go in first as they stood outside the flap of the tent. They seemed to have a silent conversation about what to do next when a voice from inside the tent startled them.
"Will the both of you just come inside?"
Ron gave Harry a roll of the eyes before ducking in and Harry after him.
The tent looked quite different than he remembered. Hermione seemed to have done quite the job at making it more homely than it once was. She had added much more comfy looking bed and bunks, even the family style table looked more inviting than it had. There was a sense that it was a completely different camp than what it had been years earlier and he could see Calypso sleeping soundly on the small bed where Hermione sat next to.
He could see that her face was still a bit puffy from crying and the way she fidgeted nervously made her seem younger, almost as if she were afraid she'd answered wrongly to a question in class.
"I know I shouldn't have done all of this. I just…" She trailed off, looking over at the very cozy looking toddler.
"We were safe in this tent, Harry. We were safe and the only time we ever got hurt was when we left." Hermione told him, trying to keep her voice as soft as possible. She reminded Ron of an animal that was unsure whether to flee or fight.
"You can't just…" Ron stopped himself short and Harry knew that the only reason he didn't argue with Hermione was that he had no way to argue her conclusion to stay. Ron shook his head and quite easily climbed atop his old bunk bed. They watched as he bounced a few times on it before tossing his jacket and shoes off and laying back on the bunk.
"You did a good job with this one, even made it longer for me you clever girl." Ron praised, stretching out his toes for good measure. Hermione found herself grinning at him appreciatively through tears that leaked from her eyes and he winked at her before fluffing up his pillow and looking away from her.
As she wiped away the wetness on her face, she turned to see Harry standing in the middle of the tent looking pensive. He pulled out a chain from his neck and ran his thumb over the small silver pendant clockwise for a few moments before slipping it back into his shirt. Neither Ron nor Hermione moved at the feel of their own personal tokens warming for a moment as Hermione knew it was Harry letting all of the order know that they'd found her.
"I'm not going back." She told him, as sternly as she could muster.
It was unnerving that he hadn't spoken a word since he'd stepped into the tent. She found that she wasn't used to the silent man in front of her and bit her tongue only because he wasn't trying to convince her to return to civilization with them. Harry eyed her carefully and the two shared a long look between them before a noise from Ron disturbed them.
"Hermione…"
She turned and smiled at Ron, summoning her bag wandlessly.
"I'm much more prepared this time, Ronald. I can have us set up to eat in no time." She told him in an obviously overly excited tone, choosing to ignore Harry's silence for the time being.
Ron watched Hermione and then Harry, smiling only when Hermione turned to look at him. She began setting about the tent, talking to Ron about what she was making and how he would love it. It was almost as if she were trying to convince herself that it was more like an extended camping trip than fleeing out of fear. As her back was turned to both of them, Ron stared down Harry who seemed lost in his own world for the time being.
Ron knew himself to be a simple man. The love he had for his girlfriend was perhaps only rivaled by the connection between the two currently quiet adults that stood before him. The war killed most of his insecurity demons and he trusted in his strengths rather than dwelling on his weaknesses, something that perhaps only death, war and growing up can do to one so young. It was because of his self awareness that he knew it wouldn't be him to bring Hermione back with them.
It would come down to Harry, as it always had.
Harry, on the other hand, continued to sit in silence. How was he supposed to tell her to come back with them? How was he to ask her to put herself in danger once again? A part of him, a strong part that he was struggling with, that felt oddly at home in the redone tent. There was something about it that made him feel safe and not as suffocated as he originally thought.
Hermione and Ron jabbed playfully at one another and Harry was thankful that Ron knew just how to get her worked up for it kept her from looking like she was about to cry. He kept quiet, declining when Hermione tried to hand him a bowl of what she'd made. She looked clearly put out about it and Harry ignored Ron's semi-glare that was quite blatantly asking "what are you playing at?"
"I'm going to keep watch." Harry announced, not bothering to look up as he turned and walked out of the tent.
He would have been a rich man if he bet on how quickly Hermione would come after him. He'd barely been able to transfigure a cushy chair out of a random pile of leaves when the tent flap was torn open and Hermione stepped out with an annoyed look that she intended to set on her best friend. She looked younger than she was, her hair surprisingly frizzy compared to how tamed she usually had it and the glare she wore was definitely familiar to the man who sat watching her.
"You have nothing to say?" She snapped, sounding more annoyed than angry.
Harry crossed his arms in front him and gave her a feigned look of innocence.
"Harry James Potter." Hermione told him warningly.
He nodded in return, earning a strangled yell back.
"Harry, say something! A bloody snake told you that death eaters are coming back and they're coming back for me and Calypso! It wasn't just some attack, they killed my parents to get to her – BECAUSE OF ME! I ran away from everyone and I'm going to stay out here for as long as it takes. I'm- I'm- I'm going to do this Harry and there is nothing you can say that can stop me. She deserves to be safe." She had said it all as quickly as she could and was glaring that Harry hadn't broke at all.
"We can go all over the country. I'm smart enough." She began again, seeing that he was still unaffected.
"I can send us all the way to Australia! I did it once and I can do it again. Frankly, I should've just let my parents stay there. They were safe there. They were safe and I brought them back here. I orphaned my sister, Harry. I killed them and if I don't get Calypso out of here, I'm going to end up killing her too."
Her yelling began to simmer down and Harry watched her as she seemed to be talking more to herself than to him towards the end.
"Did I kill my parents, Hermione?" Harry asked quietly, standing up. Her head snapped up quickly and her eyes were wide as she shook her head fervently.
"Don't be ridiculous, Harry. You were a baby. You-" She stammered as he walked up to her slowly.
"I existed and they died because of it, you can say it. Say I murdered them. In fact, I murdered Sirius too. Say I murdered Sirius. If I hadn't been there, Cedric Diggory would be alive right now. I murdered him too." He said it so seriously that Hermione gasped.
"They were killed because-"
"Because I existed."
"THAT'S COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!"
"By your logic, it's not."
"I didn't mean that! Horrible, evil and despicable beings killed them. You couldn't control their agendas any more than you can control the weather!" She yelled, balling her fists in and out as if she were about to attack something. He had made his point rather well and she didn't want to accept it. She was shaking as Harry pointed his wand at her.
"If I were to petrify you right now, you would watch as they went into the tent and take her. If they send out snatchers in the woods to wait for you, how far will you get with a scared toddler in your arms?"
She was still shaking but not once thought of reaching for her wand.
"Horrible, evil and despicable beings killed our parents." He told her, lowering his wand and placing it up his sleeve.
"But you, Hermione, you have a piece of them to save. I would do anything to have that, to have any sort of…" He trailed off and he could see that while she was still shaking, it was more from keeping herself from crying for what felt like the millionth time.
"If the roles were reversed, you wouldn't let me do-" He was cut off as she launched herself at herself at him, wrapping her arms around his so tightly that he couldn't speak. After a momentary shock, Harry wrapped his arms around her waist and held her with the same ferocity. It was almost becoming an instant calm when she held him this way and while he knew it should be the last thing from his mind: he would never hold her like this in front of Ginny.
"I panicked and she was so scared that I just ran in and took her…I scared her." She told him, her voice hoarse. "I can't do this without you and Ron."
"You're not. We're right here." He told her gently, earning an even tighter squeeze from her. He found himself burying his face in the curve of her neck, feeling as if he needed the comfort almost as equally as she did. Hermione never left him and he didn't realize how scared he was that they wouldn't find her until that moment.
She let go of him slowly and Harry found himself squeezing her tighter for a moment before releasing her from his grip.
"Can we just stay here-"
"Grow old?" Harry asked, hating the ache he felt in his chest as those words seemed to have a much different meaning so suddenly. Hermione blinked at him for a moment, almost as if she weren't sure how to process what he'd said, before smiling at him and kissing him on the cheek.
"For the night? Calypso is still sleeping and I'm not ready to face everyone just yet." She told him, her face going red as she thought about how everyone would be looking at her for the stunt she pulled. Harry shrugged his shoulders, nodding in agreement.
"I'm not sure if you can pull Ron away from Luna, but I'll stay." He told her, earning a look of gratitude. Hermione made to turn back to the tent when Harry grabbed her wrist to stop her causing her to look at him with eyebrows raised in confusion.
"I meant it before when I said I was going to make sure she stayed with you. Ron and I can't help you if you disappear like this, I mean, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be able to tie our own shoelaces if you were gone."
"You found me in less than twenty four hours-" She argued.
"You wanted us to find you." Harry told her, releasing her wrist.
"I won't run away again." Hermione promised, watching as he seemed to visibly relax at her words. The two walked back into the tent to see Ron looking guilty as he gorged on Hermione's dinner.
"Have we made up then? Is she coming back with us?" Ron asked, giving Hermione a grin as she filled of their bowls once more. She rolled her eyes at him before tousling his hair lightly, almost lovingly, as her way of answering him.
People never understood the relationship between the three of them as they were all so different. They didn't understand how someone so hardworking and knowledge seeking could at one time think herself in love with the redhead who seemed to love food and quidditch more than life itself. They didn't understand how she could possibly stand to watch Harry act on his instincts when she based nearly all of her choices on logic. How could Ron understand what it was like to live in the muggle world and be magical at the same time? Or for Harry to feel comfortable in house busting at the seams with family when he'd had no real memory of having one of his own?
There were just some things that a near death experience with a troll could do for your friendship.
Harry seemed to be lost in those thoughts for a moment before he realized that Hermione and Ron were having a laugh at how long they could stare at him in silence before he noticed.
"Shove off." He joked, throwing pieces of bread at their heads.
The three ate in comfortable silence and Ron clapped Harry on the shoulder in silent praise as Hermione checked up on Calypso.
"Cheers." Ron told him, grinning as Harry smirked in return.
When Hermione returned, she returned with a bag that neither Ron nor Harry remembered seeing before. She set it down on the table gently and the two wizards shared a worried glance as she placed both hands inside it. They watched as she began pulling book after book out of the bag, sometimes shaking her head and mumbling to herself as she placed a few back into the tiny bag. By the time she finally stopped, both men were sure that they were looking at fifteen raggedy tomes that would be the death of them.
"We'll start with these and move on from there. I suggest you take precautions as some of these are rather illegal." She told them in a no nonsense sort of tone. Ron's jaw dropped as he swore one of the books hissed at him before Hermione tapped it with her wand warningly.
"What exactly are we looking for, Hermione?" Harry asked, sharing the same look of displeasure as his redheaded friend.
"Well, we know that Voldemort sympathizers are involved as they're still donning the deatheather's masks. We need to find out of resurrection through broken horcruxes can be attained. We also need to find out what sort of snake Nagini and her…child…is, so that we can figure out more about their masters..."
"Can't we just ask the snake?" Ron asked blandly, looking over the books with mild disgust.
"Yes but we can't assume it will tell us the truth, besides I'm sure it's long gone by now." She told him, moving about the books looking for ink and parchment in the red beaded bag that they were familiar with.
"Actually, it's with Hagrid at the safehouse." Harry told her proudly. Hermione stopped herself for a moment and gave Harry a smile.
"That's brilliant, Harry." Harry nudged Ron playfully.
"But you still need to read these." She finished, not bothering to his face drop or Ron nudging him in turn.
"Hermione, don't you think we should just relax a little. You RAN AWAY today and tomorrow we can-" Ron tried to reason with her, stopping as she tossed two bottles of ink at the both of them.
"No. I've been- I've been going about this all wrong. I tried to take care of Calypso the way my mom and dad would have and I tried running away without thinking things through. I need to do this my way, not the way I think everyone else would do it. I can't get my parents back but I can make sure that Calypso stays safe. The only way we can start is by figuring out who they are by what we know and the only way we can do that is by these books." She had a certain fire in her eyes that neither of her friends had seen since the day her parent's were murdered.
Ron groaned as she handed him a particularly old and large looking book.
"Why can't you be normal for at least one day?" Ron grumbled, ducking to the side just as she sent a jinx his way. She shot a questioning glance at Harry who nodded in return, begrudgingly accepting the book that she handed him. He would take a determined and slightly crazed Hermione over panicky and falling apart Hermione any day.
"She's back." Ron grumbled, waving away the dust that flew into his face as he opened the book.
Hermione looked over her shoulder to where the sleeping girl lay and smiled to herself before turning back and narrowing her eyes at Ron.
"Yes and you'd better take proper notes, Ronald Weasley." She admonished.
Harry hid his grin as he opened up his own book.
She was back.
Author's Note: WHEW! I did it! I think I finally figured out how I want to write Calypso Granger and I hope I've done it properly for those that have been waiting for this update. I have some big ideas for my upcoming chapters, not only here but in my other stories as well. Please enjoy and review! I really want to hear what you all think. =) Thank you!