One year later...
It was certainly no picnic in the park, but it could have been much worse. In fact, it really should have been much worse! thought Hermione fervently. Besides the fact that they were on the run while being hunted like animals, this time with her two favorite men was actually kind of…nice…in its own weird way. She had a feeling that it would have been much different, however, if Ron had come with them on the Horcrux hunt instead of Sirius. However, Sirius had suggested that it would look too suspicious if all three of the friends had gone missing at the same time. However, Harry couldn't stay behind because it was his mission and he was Voldemort's main target. Hermione couldn't stay either because she would have been in too much danger due to her blood status and the simple fact that it was now common knowledge that she was Harry's girlfriend.
Therefore, it had to be Ron. Ron would stay behind from the hunt and go back to Hogwarts at the start of term to help protect Ginny and Lavender (who had been his girlfriend for the past year), as well as the rest of their friends. His other job was to complain loudly to anyone who would listen that Harry was a backstabbing git who had deserted him in order to run off to diddle his girlfriend in comfortable safety somewhere other than Britain. Hopefully, that would throw the scent off for a while. To make this claim more believable, he also allowed Sirius to place a small selective memory charm on him - so that he wouldn't remember any of the details of their plans – just in case. Afterwards, all that he could tell anyone who asked was that his former friends had taken off after the wedding without even saying goodbye. Harry and Hermione felt guilty for leaving him behind, but everyone understood that it needed to be done.
Hermione was grateful for her adoptive brother's skill with memory charms because he had also helped to save her parents with them. Even though she was estranged from her mother and father, she knew that they would still be in danger from Voldemort and his followers. Therefore, at the beginning of the summer holidays, right before they went to collect Harry from the Dursleys, Sirius went with Hermione to Obliviate William and Jean Granger and sent them to Australia with a new identity and a new set of memories. Even though it hurt for her to know that she would never be able to reconcile with her parents, at least she didn't have to worry that they would be hurt or killed because of her. Plus, she knew as Sirius held her as she cried afterwards, that she would always have a family with him and Harry.
Now, however, she was living in a tent in the Forest of Dean with her brother, her boyfriend, and often Dobby the house elf, as well. Winky had decided to stay at Grimmauld Place full-time, along with Crookshanks and Hedwig, in order to keep it ready for their return and also to protect it against any Death Eaters that might try to infiltrate it now that it was no longer truly secret-kept. House elf magic was a very strong and completely underestimated type of power. Therefore, they were confident in Winky's abilities to keep herself safe first and foremost – and their home, as well – if at all possible. Also, through her bond with Hermione, Winky always knew where the witch was if she needed her or one of the men in times of trouble…or if they needed her. For that reason, it was Dobby's suggestion that he bond himself to Harry in order to provide him with that same level of extra protection, as well. Dobby loved his freedom, but he loved his Harry Potter more. Plus, Dobby wanted his favorite wizard to live and beat the "very bad wizard." Therefore, Harry was forced to concede – even though he promised to give Dobby lots of new knitted socks as soon as all of this was over!
Consequently, even though they were still technically camping, having a bonded house elf stay with them voluntarily meant that their large magical tent was always clean and cozy (even though it stilled smelled faintly of cats), that there was good cooked food to eat (especially with the fresh meat from Padfoot's hunting), and that their humble abode was protected with much stronger wards than Sirius, Harry, or Hermione could have erected either separately or together.
Speaking of together, Hermione still blushed a little when she thought of the activities that went on in the silence-charmed private bedroom in the back of the tent that she and Harry shared – while Sirius and Dobby slept in the bunks in the front room of the tent. That had all started back at the Burrow. Since she knew what they were about to set out to do, and was not sure about what would happen to either of them in the future, Hermione made arrangements for Ron to sleep elsewhere on the night of Harry's seventeenth birthday. She had then proceeded to surprise her boyfriend with what he still called "The Best Birthday Gift Ever!" - even though they had repeated the experience many times since then. During the wedding ceremony the next day, while Bill and Fleur were both saying "I Do," Harry finally whispered those three special little words to Hermione, who joyously returned the sentiment! Sirius, who was not-so-secretly thrilled for his Pup and Kitten, even liked to joke about the smile of pure happiness that Harry still held on his face – even as they ran away from the attack on the wedding reception later that same day!
Hermione reflected that even the Horcrux hunt was also going better than they expected it would. Since Dobby and Winky had been the ones to clear Grimmauld Place of all of the dark objects, they knew exactly where the Slytherin locket was located. They were able to give it to Sirius, who was grateful to finally find out exactly what had happened to his brother since Dobby had heard the story from Kreacher.
They had some long periods of inactivity and waiting, as well. To help fill in some of this less-than-exciting time, Sirius continued to guide them in the process of becoming animagi. They had started working on it over the last few days of the summer holidays the previous year and had continued throughout the rest of the school year – often receiving lessons from Sirius through the mirror – as well as the face-to-face sessions over the Christmas holidays. Hermione, always the best transfiguration student, had already achieved her first transformation. To Sirius's delight, he could honestly call her his Not-So-Little Lioness now! He was especially proud because he also knew that it would be a good form for hunting and fighting (something that Hermione found was much easier with the lion's psyche than it was with her own personality) and even for defense against Death Eaters - if it came to that. After all, lions were made to be killing machines. Plus, it was a good form in which to play with Padfoot – especially since it became really boring to sit in the tent all of the time. However, after about a month of watching his girlfriend and his godfather hunt and play together in their animal forms, Harry finally transformed himself. Sirius wasn't really surprised when Harry shook out his big tawny mane and let out a deafening roar as he playfully chased his lioness around the clearing. Sirius sighed and thought, not for the first time, how proud James and Lily would have been of their son...and of the girl that he had chosen to love. Then his mind drifted and he reminded himself to have a talk with the Big Cat about taking precautions during situations that might result in cubs. Accidental matings and pregnancies were not common in animagi forms, but they weren't exactly unheard of either!