"Harry!" she called, "We'll freeze if we stay our here much longer!"

"Just a moment, 'Mione, I've found better stones over here!" he called back.

Resigning herself to a few minutes more of bitter cold in search of stones for a fire pit, Hermione stood up, and stepped lightly over snow-covered grass until she reached him.

"What've you got, then?"

"Look, Hermione, they shine." Harry whispered, in apparent awe.

"Never seen the inside of a geode before, I take it." She said, crouching down next to him.

"Nah, Padma told me about them, like the use of amethyst in love potions, but I've never seen one up close. It's so pretty, 'Mione, I hate to use it."

"No harm, Harry, we'll make a lovely thing out of it, won't we?" she assured him. "Just imagine how it'll look with fire dancing over it."

"Yeah." Came his response. "I suppose."

A while later, when Harry and Hermione had finally constructed their fireplace, they sat just inside the door of their tent. It was cold outside, and neither had any interest in catching hypothermia for the sake of roast rabbit.

"What d'you think- eat, and leave just after?"

"I can't think of a reason to stay any longer." An awkward sort of pause followed Hermione's insistence, for Ron had yet to return.

"You've still got the rabbit under a stasis charm, haven't you?"

"Yeah, no worries, 'Mione."

"Right, no worries." She said, rubbing her temples. "No worries."

It was a while deciding where to go, but Hermione resolved, in the end, to take them to a Cliffside she had once known. When they had left, very finally, the two had taken with them the precious geode that Harry had so taken a liking to.

"I didn't want to leave it." Said Harry. "I think I've grown attached."

"It's alright, Harry, it wouldn't have been appreciated by anyone but the bugs if you had left it there, by the bank."

Taking it from him, and slipping the rock into her beaded bag, Hermione resolved to fashion it into some sort of keepsake for him, or perhaps keep it with her until the day came that Harry had a mantle upon which she could set it.
She did hope to make it that far.

Seated in the tent together, researching the sword of Gryffindor, the two kept quiet. So quiet, in fact, that the slightest rustle from outside could be heard clear as day. It would later prove to be of immense luck that they studied in such silence.

Turning his head ever so slightly in Hermione's direction, Harry caught her eye. When she looked as though she might ask what was going on, he held a finger up to his lips in a gesture for silence.

Discretely, then, Harry pointed his finger to the flap of the tent.

It had moved.

There was no wind today, and surely the wind did not make a crunching noise, anyhow. Their stalker was not well practiced, and today, he would be caught.

Together, they stood, casting dillusionment charms upon themselves as they went. Harry to the flap, and Hermione to the gap on the other side of the tent.
It had been ripped during their flight from the wedding, and Hermione had left it, just pressed together with magic, so it might serve as an escape route, should they need one.

Gently opening it up, she performed a modified version of levicorpus on herself, and walked a few inches above the ground.

Harry, on the other side of the tent, opted for a less stealthy approach, running straight out as soon as he felt Hermione leave the space.

"Come and get me, you sneak!" He shouted.

Hearing nothing, he yelled again- "Come on out, dearie, don't you hide!"

This time, Harry heard a sudden noise behind him, and was nearly knocked on his face as their adversary rushed him.

Lunging forward, Harry got their man around the neck, and held tight, waiting for Hermione's inevitable body bind curse.

Sure enough, a firm "petrificus totalus!" was heard, and Hermione rematerialized before them.

Letting go, Harry said "Thanks, Hermione. He's a strong one, that's for sure. Fought me pretty hard."

"Who is he?"

"I dunno." Said Harry.

Turning him over, they saw the face of a dirty, ragged man. His clothes were tattered, and he wore purple over one eye.

"Looks like he was on the run." Said Hermione.

"Like us?"

"Yeah, I think so. He must have been starving, look how skinny he is. I don't think he wanted to hurt us, Harry, I think he was hungry."

Out here, already, we see the effects of war. Will we ever escape?

Seeing the disheveled state of their attacker, Harry softened a bit. One might say that he felt a pang in his chest for Remus, who wore similar robes.

"Alright, we apparate him to the nearest hospital, then? With a bit of money?"

"No, whoever he was running from will find him."

"You're not suggesting we keep him?"

"No, don't be silly, Harry, I just think we should take him to a church. Churches don't ask for social security numbers, and they certainly don't call your family. I think he'll be safe at the cathedral in Godric's Hollow."

"We're going to Godric's Hollow?"

"It would appear that way, yes." She said, closing her eyes, and placing a magical bind on the man's body.