Chapter 9 - Appearance and Metal (Prompts)

.

"This is mental."

"Most things that we do are mental," Hermione said as she sighed tiredly and waved her wand to shine more light in the darkened forest. "Does this area seem familiar to you?"

Harry shook his head in the negative as he continued to walk through the thick brush of the forest. They had been at this for quite some time. He limbs were starting to ache, and the lumos spell that alit his and Hermione's wands were starting to smart his eyes. Vaguely he recalled that he hadn't rested for over two days. He was close to collapsing then and there in the middle of the Forbidden Forest.

Hermione stopped in another new clearing and turned to face him. "Try again."

With a despondent sigh, Harry lifted his wand for what felt like the thirtieth time. "Accio Resurrection Stone." Almost immediately, a whooshing sound accompanied by a black, flying rock that came rushing towards him. Harry caught it easily in the dim light, thanks to his Seeker reflexes.

"Finally," Hermione sighed happily as she made her way closer to him. "I was close to giving up."

Harry held the stone in his hand, the need to turn the object three times overwhelming him. He could see them again, if he wanted to. His mother, father, Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore. He could see them all. Wasn't that a nice thought?

"You can't, Harry," Hermione said gently, her tone betraying the fact that she knew what he was thinking.

Harry pressed his fingers against the stone, almost in an effort to stop himself from flipping it. "I know."

Hermione watched him for a bit, before she started moving about the clearing in search for a proper place to hide it. She finally stopped near a large tree, kneeling down between the roots. "I think we should hide it here."

Harry followed her and got on his knees right next to her, still reluctant to hand over the stone. The last time he dropped it, it had been on a whim; a moments decision based on the fact that he didn't want Voldemort to get the stone. But now Voldemort was gone, and he had rolled the stone twice within the palm of his hand.

With gentle fingers, Hermione took the stone from him. Surprisingly, he didn't fight her. "I'm sorry, Harry. But you know that if you saw them, you wouldn't want them to leave."

Harry stared at the stone as it was covered by delicate fingers. Hermione smiled sadly at him, which only made the impulse to state how wrong she was that much stronger. Only he knew that she wasn't wrong; the thought of which annoyed him. Did she always have to be so bloody right all the time?

"Do you have the Snitch with you?"

The question surprised him, even as he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out the golden ball. "Yeah. What do you need it for?"

"You saw how easy it is to get this stone. We need something to hinder the Accio spell. And what's better than metal? The stone won't be able to escape if it's completely encased in an object that no one knows it's encased in."

The logic behind her statement made sense, but Harry couldn't fight the feeling of unfairness that was building within him. He gave up the stone; did he have to give up the one thing Dumbledore left him? The one thing that had kept his sanity in check during all those months sleeping in a tent?"

"I understand if you don't want to."

"No. It's fine." There was no real reason to hold on to it; his mind knew that. But that didn't mean that it was difficult to part with.

"I just feel that it's fitting. Dumbledore obviously intended the stone to be hidden by the first snitch you ever caught. I think it's...poetic."

Hearing his mentor's name being mentioned wasn't easy. Especially since he knew that the Snitch had completed its duty. Reluctantly, Harry handed her the Snitch. "You always know what to say."

"I always know what to say to you," Hermione re-iterated as she took the Snitch from him. "Oh, um... you should..."

"Right." Taking the Snitch back, he placed it against his lips and whispered the words that opened the metal ball a day ago. How true those words were then, and how false, now. Just as the Snitch opened, Hermione took it from him and placed the stone inside. Closing the Snitch, she pointed her wand at it. "What are you doing?"

The Snitch morphed into an ordinary rock, one that matched the countless others that littered the forest clearing. "I'm changing its appearance. A Snitch lying around would only attract attention. This way, we can ensure that no one would see it." Taking the now transfigured Snitch, Hermione then buried it under a large root of the tree they were currently under. "A few protective charms, and we're good to go," she mumbled before she started spouting out a litany of spells that Harry had only vaguely heard of.

Once their jobs were completed, they stood up.

"Let's just hope that Ron doesn't find this tomorrow, shall we?"

Harry simply nodded as he took Hermione's hand in his and prepared to Apparate them back to the Burrow. He had already studied the surroundings where the Snitch was buried. Just in case, he told himself.

.