Hermione froze- in love? Like actual love? - Something in his eyes made sure she didn't mistake his statement for something platonic, it was much more than that. What do I say? I don't love him- do I? I don't think I do- this is too confusing!

When she didn't say anything he placed a fake smile on his face and ran his fingers through his hair, not daring to look her in the eye. "We should probably get ready to leave." Hermione suddenly snapped out of her daze to stare at him oddly for a moment before nodding and extracting some clothes from her beaded bag, before dumping the bag on his bed. Harry let the blanket pool around his waist as he sat fully upright, his earlier morning 'surprise' having disappeared. He knew he shouldn't watch, but he couldn't help it, she had a towel wrapped around her whilst she wiggled out of her night clothes, almost tripping over herself in the process. He watched her bend over to pull her underwear on, those disappearing under the towel with her jeans that came next.

Harry turned away and tore his shorts off rather haphazardly sensing her eyes on him he quickly pulled his pants on and buckled up his belt. He turned to face her and she looked at him with confusion in her eyes- of course she's confused, you dropped a bombshell on her-what did you expect?- he sighed and pulled a shirt over his head, followed by a jumper as he tugged some hiking boots on. They were in England again and Harry would be relieved at the familiarity if it weren't for the pain in his chest at the sight of her confusion and conflicting emotions.

She watched as he hastily dressed and then strode from the tent, obviously waiting for her. Hermione finished changing and whispered a spell as she exited, the tent vanishing into her bag. Harry waited for her to move in the right direction and once she did, he immediately took off at a swift pace, but not one she was incapable of maintaining, at least to start with.

As mid day approached Hermione wondered whether she should stop him to eat- and rest my feet!- or merely follow blindly. He paused for a second and Hermione was able to catch up to him, he being about ten feet ahead of her. He pulled out a sandwich the house elves had made them, and she did the same, but rather than stop to eat he trudged on along the treacherous ground, the loose rocks beneath her feet and the slowly increasing incline of the hill they were on making it impossible for her to eat, once noted she stowed her food in her bag, despite her stomachs growling protests.

The hill- more like a bloody mountain- mere minutes later was at such a steep incline that Hermione was almost on all fours, trying to maintain her balance whilst grabbing a hold of roots and small trees to pull herself up the hill which was covered with a light frosting of snow.

Harry felt with each step a tiny miniscule part of his pain seep away, to be replaced by anger which made him want to move faster, his body needing the release. He was glad when he made it to the top of the hill, but frowned when he felt a slight patter of rain begin to fall as he looked ahead at the hills before him, with little to no shelter in sight. He began his descent, his body leaning back to stop himself from falling face first, dodging a dead tree as he jogged down the hill, jogging the only way to stop the desire his body seemed to have to fall over.

He sighed, wiping sweat from his brow and began climbing the next hill, one thing on his mind. Why was she silent? That wasn't like Hermione at all. She usually would have said something, most likely reject him, but saying nothing was worse than rejection, he was stuck not knowing, which was surely worse than anything she could have done otherwise.

Hermione reached the top of the first hill and almost cried out in anguish as she saw the surrounding hills and the fact that Harry was almost at the top of the next one. She ran down the hill, only falling over twice and grazing her hands and tearing her jeans on her way up the next one, tears unbeknown to her falling down her face, as her body felt pain and fatigue but her mind knew nothing of it.

She saw, what looked like a township up ahead, the one she had been aiming for- one more hill to go- she thought happily, Harry already on the way down the last one. Hermione skidded down the hill she was on and fell into a shrub, feeling thorns cut into her soft flesh. Why didn't I camp more as a child? She ran to the next hill, stepping into a stream which had large chunks of ice slowly making their way up. She cursed quietly, the cold water seeping into her already numb feet. She began her almost crawl once more up the hill, the black dirt staining her once blue jeans and creeping into her pink flesh wounds.

She reached the top of the hill and couldn't see him anywhere. Hermione began to panic, thinking the worst- have the death eaters captured him! Is he hurt? Is he a live?- she was distracted, a bad combination with a girl who was not accustomed to running up and down unstable surfaces. Looking into the darkened clump of trees ahead of her she saw nothing, including the root she tripped over, her ankle making an odd noise in the process. Hermione swallowed tears as she saw Harry appear, pulling up the zipper to his pants. Hermione stood gingerly and when he glanced at her he began walking toward the inn he knew was through the trees.

By the time she reached him he was already paying the wizened old man and grabbing the room key, a room far away from the road, with a window facing out toward it. He walked through the door and immediately collapsed on the bed in exhaustion hearing the rain begin to pound on the roof.

Maybe I shouldn't have walked so fast- we made good time- better than she calculated- now.. Hermione-wait where is she. He pushed himself up and turned seeing her now dripping body in the doorway, her right side slanted oddly, as if she was favouring that side rather than her left, the ankle of which bent at an odd angle. She looked awful, the rain had smeared the dirt over her face and bloody scratches were plentiful over her body. Shit!

He moved toward her but she raised her hand, not wanting him near her. "Go away Harry Potter." She whispered and walked to the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. She flicked on the light and stared at herself in the mirror. Okay, much worse than I thought. Hermione began to peel off her ruined clothing, gently pulling off her left shoe, feeling the tenderness of her ankle. Said ankle was swelling unimaginably, it was red, black and blue, an odd assortment under any other circumstances. She turned the shower on and quickly placed a cleansing spell on the floor before sitting down, her legs not wanting to support her weight any longer.

Stupid Harry had to go and be a git just because I didn't know what to say. I mean its not every day your best friend tells you he's in love with you is it? She began washing the dirt off of her skin and grimaced when she touched the scratches and grazes. Hermione didn't bother healing herself yet, preferring to clean herself first. She pulled on some very baggy track pants and a tank top, the better to heal herself and walked out of the bath room, immediately sitting on the bed, besides a startled Harry Potter.

"Hermione?" he asked when she didn't acknowledge him, instead she went about whispered healing spells over herself. She reached into her bag and pulled out a mirror, pointing her wand carefully to her face to heal a nasty abrasion which was present. Once complete she looked at her limp ankle, thinking it was merely twisted she placed an anti swelling charm on it, smiling to herself when it began to heal.

She turned to Harry's guilty face and sighed heavily. It was around five in the afternoon, a whole two hours before she expected to arrive. "I'm sorry." She whispered and watched him gape at her.

"Why?"

"For not saying anything, I didn't know what to say to you, I still don't, don't pressure me." she said mutely and Harry nodded his head bowed. "And please save your apologies, I already know you were being a complete git and acting like a spoilt little brat who didn't get the toy he wanted for Christmas." She spat and he cringed, wondering if she intentionally referred to herself as a toy.

"Hermione Jean Granger. I am going to apologize-" he froze when a crack sounded, which was not lightning.

"Oh no, the wards! I forgot!" she exclaimed as the lights flickered and died.

"Grab your things quickly." he whispered and Hermione did so, wand aloft, wide eyes staring in all directions. "Your name was the trigger… not mine. They want you." he whispered and Hermione gasped. "I need you to leave, run… I will find you wherever you go, just run… go!" he yelled as the door began to move.

"I can't… I must protect you…" Hermione argued and was met with fierce emerald green eyes.

"no." he said plainly as the door flew off of its hinges and hit the wall next to Harry. "STUPEFY!" he yelled as a green light shot past his left shoulder. A list of spells swirled from his mouth in quick succession as Hermione fired shields around him. Hermione pushed him to the ground when a slicing curse she couldn't block was sent through the air, the edge of it grazing her thigh, warm scarlet pouring from the clean cut. Hermione grasped a hold of him and they disappeared appearing infront of an broken down house, then they jumped again, to the middle of woods they had been at about four months ago, then jumped again, and again, so many times Harry lost count. Hermione collapsed onto the ground and Harry looked on in awe at the woman before him, rain pouring down upon her.

"This is one of the places I went to as a child. We can get inside… as long as no ones here… which is likely." Hermione began running towards a small run down shack, past its prime by at least ten years, dust and grime adorning its once white washed walls.

Harry followed as Hermione whispered a spell and the padlock clicked and she was granted access. She began murmuring, it was almost as if she was singing quietly and Harry smiled at the thought. Colours begun sprouting from her wand- that's new- he thought watching in amazement. She looked up and sighed before falling to the floor in an exhausted heap.

Harry saw one door in the entire one roomed house, leading obviously to a bathroom. White cloth covered most of the furniture, which included a very small childs bed and a large queen sized. A small kitchenette was off to the side a lounge infront of a blackened fireplace. Dust rose underneath each footfall as he rushed towards her fallen body.

Picking her up he walked toward the bed and pulled the sheet off, murmured a cleaning spell and placed her underneath the covers. Just as he drew the blanket over her he noticed the blood seeping from her thigh. Tearing her pant leg he grimaced at the torn pale skin. He pushed the torn fabric into her leg and whispered a reviving spell to force Hermione to wake up. "Hermione! What do I do?" he whispered and she grimaced grasping a hold of his wand hand, making a circular motion and whispering "Vulnera Sanentur."

Nothing happened as her hand slipped away, blood seeping onto the bed. Hands shaking Harry made the circular motion and whispered the spell, watching the wound heal quickly, Hermione groaning in unconsciousness.

Harry stroked her wet forehead tenderly, heart rate declining rapidly in relief. "I love you so much… and I'm going to wait for you." He whispered to her sleeping form and watched her shift in what he assumed to be sleep.

Wait for me? Wait for me to do what? Say that I love him… well of course I do… I mean… in the name of Merlin… I am in love with him. Her eyes flickered open and she watched him jump in shock. "Harry-"

She entered his office and smiled at the many muggle trinkets lying around the cluttered and what appeared to be unorganised office. Obviously no one had cleared away his things yet and Hermione was glad. She sat in his seat behind his desk and felt tears form in her eyes when she thought of the man who had been the closest thing she had to a father for so many years. Now he was gone. More and more people were dying. Dying before her, she should have died years ago, actually six years ago.

She placed the key in the only locked draw of the old mahogany desk and turned it, hearing the click as it opened. She pulled the draw open and saw a small file at the base.

It was slim, the cover stained. Hermione opened it and gasped, tears streaming down her face. He would have been about four or five at the time, only a few years ago now. He had his fathers hair, except for the colour, the honey brown being hers of course. Looking closely she saw emerald green eyes looking blankly up at her from the muggle photograph-wait muggle- meaning he was moved and from the look of these papers, it was only a short time after he turned five years old. It was a record book, his name was printed, just his first name, Derek. He had his smile and glasses, her nose and light pattering of freckles. She smiled, definitely Harry's. She ran a finger down her son's face and felt more tears escape her eyes as she openly wept in joy or loss she was not sure. But she knew one thing. She was one step closer to finding him, and finally crossing off the only thing left on Harry's list. 'Find our boy.'

A/N

Thanks to my frequent reviewers it means a lot

And don't worry, I will definitely finish this story, but I hope you are all in for a very long one, I don't think it's about to end any time soon.

Anyway, updates are only close due to the fact I am on holidays. When they are over, tragically, updates will be sparse again and for that im very sorry

Thanks anyway and of course I do not own harry potter :P haha

Oh and btw, if you have any questions don't be afraid to review and ask me? Or advice? That would be interesting.