A/N: I AM SO SO SO SO SO SORRY ABOUT THE DELAY. I was taking an exam and then went on a very extended vacation. I hope you are all still enjoying this story! Please read and review!
After a few deep breaths, Hermione was able to regain her composure. She turned toward Harry, who was standing by her side. "We have to think about what to do. He won't be able to move for a few days. Kreacher needs someplace safe." Hermione said, her mind racing. Suddenly she let out a little yelp of fear, and Harry's eyes widened.
"The Weasley's! The Death Eaters know Ron is with us now, they are going to go after them." At her words, Harry moaned. She was right.
"What do we do? Can we send a talking patronus to them?" Harry asked.
"I don't know." She frowned. "After the wedding, Mr. Weasley said not to reply because the family was being watched. I don't want to send one if they are in more trouble." She replied. She was thinking fast. The wheels in her head were churning and Harry bit his lip in thought as well.
"Lupin. We have to send one to Lupin. Or maybe Bill and Fluer? Someone needs to be warned!" Harry said, heart racing. He was worried about Ginny. If the Death Eaters knew Ron was with them, it was only a matter of time before they went after Ginny.
"I don't know!" Hermione said again, voice a little higher. "What if we get someone into trouble?"
"It's a risk we are going to have to take, isn't it? They have to know now! It doesn't matter if they are being watched now that they know Ron's with us! It's Christmas holidays. Ginny will be home, which is good. They can all go into hiding together" He finished.
Hermione nodded. He was right. It wouldn't matter that the Weasley's were being watched now that the Death Eaters knew Ron was with them. They would go after them anyway.
Hermione cast the spell. expecto patronum. The otter burst from the tip of her wand, ran a circle around her and Harry before returning in front of her. "They know Ron is with us. Please be careful. We are all safe." She whispered and sent the otter on its way.
"Who did you send it too?" Harry asked.
"Mr. Weasley. You are right. It doesn't matter now if they are being watched." Hermione sighed. There is so much more she would have liked to say to them.
"We should send Kreacher to Bill and Fluer. He can't come with us. He knows too much, and we need to make sure that he is with people we can trust. The death eaters will surely torture him if they find him." Hermione offered this solution to Harry.
Harry nodded. She was right. She was always right. They couldn't bring Kreacher with them. He didn't fully understand and could become an accidental liability. They couldn't send him back to Grimmauld Place, he would be tortured there.
"Hermione, how do you think he found us?" Harry asked. It was the question that had been on his mind ever since calming down from his initial panic over Ron's well being.
Hermione frowned and bit her lower lip. "Elven magic is different than our magic. Its limitations are different than what we are familiar with. I imagine that Kreacher has a bond to you, because you are his master. The bond allows him to appear by your side when you summon him, no matter where you are. I'm not sure why Ron was able to command Kreacher to take him to you. It's likely that Kreacher did it on his own accord. Kreacher might be able to sense that it was something you wanted. " She shrugged a bit. "I'm not really sure. There are very few books on elven magic, I was researching them when I was preparing for S.P.E.W. Most wizards think understanding it is beneath them." She said that last sentence with an angry tone.
Harry, however, smiled. S.P.E.W. How long had it been since he thought of that? Just picturing Ron's face when Hermione would shake the collecting tin under their classmates' noses was enough to bring him to hysterics.
Before long, both Hermione and Harry were cracking up. The stress of Ron's departure, the state of his return, and the giddiness that he was actually back, caused the two friends to break into uncontrollable laughter.
After a few minutes, during which Harry actually lay on the forest floor clutching his side, the two finally got their laughter under control. Then, quickly as the laughter and joy had come, it had vanished. They lapsed into silence.
"He lost so much blood." Hermione said, her voice cracking a bit. "We need to get some real food. He is too weak. If we keep living off soggy mushrooms, he is not going to recover his strength. He could die. I'm going to appearate to the nearest muggle town and do some basic grocery shopping. I'll take muggle money, and we'll do some simple disguises. It should be pretty easy for me to blend in. After all, I am muggle born."
"Are you sure?" Harry said, nervous for his friend. "I can go."
"No, I'll do it. I'm not nearly as recognizable as you" Hermione said. Her voice stopped cracking and now sounded determined. She glanced at the tent, where Ron was sleeping inside, and this seemed to strengthen her resolve. Harry knew she was scared to go off alone. But this was Ron's well being that was on the line. As scared as she was, she would do it for Ron.
She pointed her wand at herself. Seconds later, her hair was not a bushy mane of brown hair, but straight and a dark black. He recognized the shade of black; it was the same as his. Her eyes were not the welcoming brown Harry was used too, but a shade of blue he also knew so well. Her eyes were the exact shade of blue as Ron's.
"Oh merlin." Harry whispered. It was so strange. He felt as though he was looking at a hybrid of himself and his two best friends, as other features of Hermione where still there.
"Keep him safe. I'll send a patronus if anything goes wrong" Hermione whispered, before turning on her heels, walking outside the protective charms, and disappearing with a CRACK.
With nothing else to do, Harry returned to the tent to check on Ron. As soon as he walked back into the tent, he knew Hermione did the right thing. Ron was a mess, to say the least. He was still covered in blood, and where his skin was clear of blood and grime, it was a ghostly shade of white.
Harry sat by his side and placed his hand on Ron's forehead. Ron's skin was cold and clammy to the touch. Harry noticed beads of sweat around Ron's brow.
Harry grabbed a towel and filled up a bowl with water using the aguamenti charm. He began wiping the blood off Ron's arms. He knew that Ron would probably prefer Hermione to this task, but Harry felt the need to help Ron as well as he could. Plus, he was sparing Hermione the site of Ron covered in blood.
With that last though, Harry laughed bitterly. As if Hermione would ever get the image of Ron appearing, bound broken and bloodied, out of her head. As if he ever would either.
Harry then Ron was breathing very rapidly. He was getting nervous about his friend's health now. He had assumed that Ron was out of the woods, when he awoke for that short time, but now Harry doubted it. Ron hadn't responded all to the cool water on his body, and his skin remained cool, clammy, and extremely pale. Fear gripped Harry's heart as he began to wonder if Ron was sleeping, or if he was unconscious.
You could go into shock from blood loss. Harry remembered Hermione yelling at the twins about it when they had tested their nosebleed nougat on an unsuspecting 2nd year.
Harry was really nervous now. He needed Hermione to come back, and quick. He didn't know what to do for shock or blood loss. He knew that Madame Pompfry had to give Katie Bell a blood replenishing potion in 5th year, but it was beyond Harry's knowledge of how to make one.
"Hang in their Ron." Harry whispered, and brought the towel to Ron's head, were he began wiping the blood from his face.