Ahhhhhhh if I was Rowling life and work wouldn't get in the way of me posting chapters!

Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out there! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Thirty-nine

Short Hello's

Over an hour later Taylor could feel her strength returning. She had drunk the hot chocolate and ate some sandwiches that Mrs. Hunter had made. The conversation had been tense at times but Taylor and Hermione had tried their best to put the Hunters at ease, whether they had succeeded or not they weren't sure. They had probably just raised more questions than they answered. Still Mr. Hunter seemed to accept them.

"I'll go make you girls up a bed. Bruce you will have to sleep in Greg's room tonight. I'll put some extra towels out for you so you can have a shower if you wish." Mrs. Hunter said as she got up and headed out of the living room.

"Sure no problem Aunt Veronica," Greg's cousin said. He'd been quiet most of the time they were talking.

"That's very kind Mrs. Hunter but we can't stay." Hermione quickly protested. "We really need to get back to Ron and Harry, they'll be very worried."

"I think you had better stay here for the night. It's very dangerous to travel at night and after what happened earlier this evening…" Mr. Hunter let his sentence go unfinished but the meaning was clear that he didn't want them leaving.

"You aren't up to Apparating yet anyway Taylor, and don't look at me like that. You can still hardly stand by yourself," Greg added, he had been watching his witch closely and knew she wasn't nearly as well as she was putting on.

"I'll need to send a message to Ron and Harry to let them know we are all right." Hermione said reluctantly. She too knew that Taylor was still weak. She suspected that it was taking longer for her friend to recover because she had Apparated them here. Still though, the thought of staying away from Ron and Harry for the night was a little scary. She was worried that something might have happened to them.

"That will be fine Hermione. Just be careful you don't give out too much information about where you are, in case your message is overheard." Mr. Hunter cautioned.

"Don't worry Mr. Hunter I won't." Hermione replied as she glanced at Taylor and then rose to send her Patronus. She kept the message short, just telling the two wizards that they were fine and that they'd be home in the morning, promising to explain then.

Mrs. Hunter came back into the living room shortly afterwards and with the help of Greg, Taylor stood up to go up to the room his mother had prepared.

"Goodnight Hermione and Taylor. If there is anything you need please let us know." Mr. Hunter said as he stood up too.

"I left a couple of old shirts on the bed for you to change into if you wish. I hope you have a good night's sleep. We'll see you in the morning. Greg, I suppose you will show them to the guest bedroom?" Mrs. Hunter asked, as she smiled at the two witches kindly.

Greg nodded and supported Taylor as she walked out of the living room and down the hall. When they reached the stairs he bent and swept her up into his arms and carried her up them swiftly as Hermione hurried to keep up. He knew he had made the right decision when the witch in his arms made very little protest. He carried her down the hall and into a neat little bedroom furnished with intricately carved old-fashioned wooden furniture, and beautifully papered walls, completing the turn of the century décor. Sitting his witch on the huge old-fashioned bed Greg stood back up.

"The bathroom is right through there," He pointed to a door that stood open on the far side of the room. "My room is right down the hall. If you need anything just give a shout."

"Thank you Greg." Hermione said with a smile.

"No problem, glad that we were here to help." The Head Boy looked down at the redhead sitting on the bed, noting that she was still too pale.

"Thank you… for everything." Taylor said quietly.

The next morning awareness slowly came to Taylor. She was warm, and the bed was so comfortable.

"You know you snore, Taylor." Hermione said when she was sure Taylor was indeed awake.

Memories from last night slowly came back to Taylor, as she slid her wand from its holder and pointing it at the night stand muttered "Accio glasses" catching them as they flew towards her and pushed them onto her face.

"You know Taylor, you don't need to use magic for everything." Hermione grumbled as she got out of the bed.

"I know. I was just checking."

"Checking what?" Hermione asked sounding baffled.

"To make sure my magic was back again." Taylor said simply as she met her friend's gaze.

"Oh," Hermione whispered startled "Sorry, did you think that..."

"No. But I wanted to make sure." Taylor replied in a serious tone.

The two witches had taken advantage of the luxury of having a shower the night before, so it didn't take long for them to get up and get dressed. Transfiguring their clothes into more appropriate clothing than the dresses that they had on the night before; and warmer too. Without even discussing it they knew that they would be leaving the Hunter's house very shortly.

"Ready?" Hermione asked a few minutes later as she took a last look around the room to make sure it was neat and tidy.

Taylor nodded and the two opened the door and made their way down the stairs quietly. Taylor noted that Greg's bedroom door was still closed. She'd like to say goodbye before she left, but she knew that they couldn't wait for him to get up.

Mrs. Hunter appeared in the doorway at the end of the hall as the two witches reached the bottom of the stairs. "I thought I heard someone. I have breakfast all ready. Dan had to go into work early this morning. He wanted to get a chance to see you again but he didn't want to wake you. He thought you needed your rest. I hope you slept well? You both look much better this morning."

"Thank you Mrs. Hunter. We both slept very well. The shower was really nice!" Taylor replied sincerely.

"What would you like for breakfast? I have some pancakes already mixed up. It will only take a few minutes to cook them. There's also bread for toast or eggs if you'd like." Mrs. Hunter talked as she led them into the large kitchen.

"We don't want to impose any more then we already have. We can eat later when we get back with Ron and Harry." Hermione said as she stopped in the doorway.

"We really need to be going Mrs. Hunter. Harry and Ron will be expecting us." Taylor added.

"Oh posh! It will only take a few minutes to eat. Besides the boys aren't up yet and Greg would never let me hear the end of it if you left before he was up. You two are early risers." Mrs. Hunter said as she bustled around her kitchen getting a jug of juice out of the refrigerator, and glasses and plates from the cupboard. "If you want to help, one of you can set the table. We only have orange juice I'm afraid. I've never been able to get used to pumpkin juice."

Taylor shrugged her shoulders. It wouldn't take long to eat and the delicious smells coming from the stove were very enticing. "It is nice to eat someone else's cooking for a change."

Mrs. Hunter chatted as she cooked, talking about the differences between living in the magical world and as a muggle. She'd found out last night that Hermione was muggle born also. She was soon sitting a large stack of pancakes on the table.

"Wow, how come our pancakes never look like that?" Taylor asked as she stabbed her fork into a couple and slid them onto her plate.

The easy talk continued as they ate, Mrs. Hunter sitting down with them to drink a cup of coffee. When they were finished the two witches carried their plates to the sink and thanked Greg's mother again for their breakfast.

Taylor was wondering if she would get to see Greg before she left when she heard someone thumping down the stairs. A moment later a very disheveled Head Boy staggered into the kitchen, his hair poking up in weird places, wearing pajama bottoms and an old t-shirt.

"Taylor! I thought I'd missed you!"

"Well you almost did. We were just about to go. We'd already be gone except your mother talked us into having something to eat first." Taylor said as a smile played at her lips. The Hufflepuff was extremely good looking this morning, in a strange homey sort of way.

"You wouldn't have left without saying goodbye would you?" Greg asked with a crooked grin.

"Not everyone has the luxury of sleeping all day." Taylor cut back but the twinkle in her eyes told the Head Boy that she was joking with him.

The two bantered back and forth for a few minutes, but Taylor knew that it was time for her to go.

"Well, we really have to go. Mrs. Hunter thank you, again, for everything. I don't know how to thank you enough." Taylor stepped forward and hugged the older woman.

"You are welcome dear. I'm so glad that you are feeling better." Mrs. Hunter turned to Hermione. "It was so nice to meet you Hermione. Please come again, though under better circumstances would be preferable."

At the door Greg halted Taylor with a hand on her arm. "I don't suppose it does any good to tell you to be careful, does it?"

Taylor smiled at the tall Hufflepuff. "Would it make you feel better if I told you that I have been careful?"

Greg rolled his eyes. "If you've been careful, I cringe to think about you not being careful. Seriously though Taylor..."

"Greg, I'll try to stay safe. That's the best I can do. I'll see you in a week or so at school, okay?" Taylor said firmly before she opened the door and with a final goodbye left with Hermione.

Harry paced back and forth restlessly in front of the tent. It had been one hell of a long night.

When he and Ron had made it back to the campsite and Hermione and his sister hadn't turned up… well it had taken a few minutes to undo the jelly-legs curse, but then when the two witches weren't back… His stomach twisted painfully again as he remembered the details once more.

He and Ron were just about to Apparate back to the restaurant to look for the two witches when a Patronus, he knew instantly that it wasn't either of the girls, but he had recognized it fairly quickly from Dumbledore's Army, especially when he heard Hunter's voice saying that Taylor and Hermione were safe. At first he'd been relieved but then Ron had pointed out that the senior Hunter had been at the restaurant, and obviously worked for the Ministry.

Ron and Harry had quite a row over what they should do. Ron was all for going in search of Hermione and Taylor, but as Harry had pointed out, they had no idea where to start searching. Taylor had never given any hint where Greg Hunter lived, so they had no idea where to start searching. For all they knew Hunter had turned their two witches over to the Ministry, and they were now either at the Ministry of Magic being interrogated or had already been handed over to Voldemort. It was a very chilling thought. In the end Harry had convinced Ron to have a little faith in the Hufflepuff that Taylor had taken a liking to. Plus it was just too dangerous to start Apparating around to random places in hopes of spotting Hermione and Taylor.

A short respite from their worry had come when Hermione's Patronus had appeared telling them in her own voice that they were okay, but wouldn't see them until morning.

As the light from the Patronus faded Harry and Ron were left to wonder at the message. There was no doubt that it had been from their bushy-haired friend but what did she mean by they were fine? Had Taylor been hurt more seriously then they had thought? Was that why the two girls weren't returning that night or was it something else?

Neither wizard had been able to sleep. Mostly they had paced the night away, too worried to sit still for long. They had even given up talking after exhausting their ideas of what might have happened by midnight.

The sun was just about to rise above the tree line when a pop alerted the two wizards that someone had just Apparated nearby. Pulling their wands, they waited inside the wards around the tent. Caution winning over their desire to see if it was Hermione and Taylor returning, they didn't have long to wait as the two witches stepped out from behind a tree.

"Only the pink toad is yellow." Hermione said as she walked towards where their tent was hidden behind the wards she had set up.

"Only when the sky turns green." Ron cried as he stepped outside the wards and rushed towards Hermione, crushing her against him the second he reached her. "Oh 'Mione… you're all right."

Harry also rushed toward his sister and hugged her, relief swamping him. "Taylor, are you all right? What happened?"

"Maybe we should go inside and we will tell you." Taylor cautioned, but she was relieved to see that her brother and Ron were both all right too.

Once inside the tent, Taylor quickly made a fire in the cook stove and put water on for tea and porridge, aware that the boys had probably not eaten yet, as Hermione began to explain what had happened.

"Why did you end up at Hunter's when you Apparated away from the restaurant?" Harry demanded after just a few minutes.

Taylor sighed she knew this was going to be hard to explain to her brother. She began by telling him that it was summoning a horcrux that caused her to feel so weak and drain her magic. A short discussion followed as to why that was so and what it could mean. Then she explained that as she started to Apparate that her only thought had been to go someplace safe, and she had ended up at Greg's.

"What happened to you Hermione?" Harry asked concerned, his last recollection was that it had been Hermione carrying his sister.

Taylor didn't intend for anyone to question her friend's inaction and she added quickly "I beat Hermione to it. I saw the Death Eater there in the alleyway and panicked. Good thing she was thinking fast because if she hadn't stopped her Apparation, we'd have splinched ourselves horribly." Taylor met Hermione's eyes and could see the warring emotions of thankfulness and self-disgust. Taylor smiled gently at the witch trying to tell her without words that she didn't blame her.

Taylor finished telling the story as the two boys ate the last of the porridge. They asked a few more questions, but it was obvious that both were grateful that it hadn't been something much worse.

Hermione asked about the necklace and Harry showed it to her from where he had it hidden. Taylor performed her revealing spell once more to prove that it was a horcrux, and the four spent the next while talking about it.

When it was nearly noon they began preparing for their next move and discussing where that would be. They changed their code words and before Taylor removed their wards they decided on a new emergency Apparation point in case they were split up. It was all done automatically now. A precaution they took everyday before they moved. Gathering around Hermione she pulled the invisibility cloak over them, Taylor vanished the wards as Hermione spun them to their next campsite.

The tight bands had barely left them when it was apparent that they were in trouble.

Not twenty paces away from the tiny clearing to which they had Apparated, was a group of people, several of whom were Death Eaters.

Hermione gasped, and started to turn to Apparate them away, but it was too late. They were just too close to the group of wizards who had easily heard the four friends pop into the clearing.

Stunners flew toward them and before they could complete the turn Ron was hit, causing the complicated motion to wobble, overbalancing and the other three to fall to the ground. The invisibility cloak caught on someone's foot and was pulled off them.

Harry and Taylor immediately had their wands out and started firing off spells that they had learned from their months of lessons with Shacklebolt. The two siblings knew, without saying it, that they had to get to cover.

The group of wizards had scattered for cover, giving Harry and Taylor the moment it took to scramble behind a fallen log taking Ron and Hermione with them. Taylor's wand flew as she charmed the log into a shield and Harry took stock of the situation.

Ron was stunned and completely unaware at the moment. Hermione had her wand out but it was shaking terribly, though she did manage to fire off a spell or two. For the moment they had some cover, but Harry knew it wouldn't be long before the Death Eaters split up and came at them from both sides. They had recognized him right off, for he had heard his name called out from a couple of them.

"We need to get out of here!" Hermione cried.

"I'm working on it!" Harry growled as he looked around desperately. The forest was too sparse to afford them cover. The only good thing was a very steep hill directly behind them, and what looked to be a deep wash to their left. They couldn't risk standing up to Apparate, they'd be totally exposed.

"Harry take Ron and Hermione and get into the wash, it will offer you some cover. I'll keep them busy while you get out of here!" Taylor said quickly as she sent several curses and a jinx towards the group on the left.

Hermione cried "No!" as Harry shook his head.

"Don't be stupid Harry! I can't lift Ron. He's bigger then you! Hermione can Apparate the three of you away. Besides I'm the better duelist." Taylor growled.

"I'm not leaving you." Harry snarled as he also sent off a curse and several jinxes.

Hermione charmed several rocks to fly at the group on the right.

"Think Potter! Voldemort wants you! If he gets you, we will all die anyway!" Taylor argued as she hit a wizard trying to sneak up on their right with a stunner.

Harry met Taylor's angry hazel eyes. He knew she was right but he couldn't leave his sister behind. Looking past her he saw another wizard trying to get to their flank, he dropped the man as he tried to duck out from behind a tree.

"We're going to lose here! There is no other option! If I have to curse you Potter, so help me you are leaving here!" Taylor snarled as she stunned someone trying to get to the wash on their left. Hermione's stunner hit him too, making sure that he wouldn't be getting up for awhile.

"We go together!" Harry growled stubbornly.

"So help me Potter, if we get out of this I am going to jinx your ass into next month!" Taylor muttered as she met her brother's stubborn green eyes for a second between jinxes. They had to move now, or none of them would get out of there.

Harry seemed to know when Taylor stopped arguing with him and agreed. "I'll get Ron. You two cover me until I get to the wash. Then I'll cover you."

Taylor rolled right and Hermione left as they opened up with everything they had. It was only seconds before she heard her brother's yell and springing to her feet she raced with Hermione towards the wash.

Leaping Taylor dove into the wash, rolling and landing in the freezing trickle of water there. Harry's cry had her scrambling to her feet.

A Death Eater had rounded the turn in the wash and had fired a spell at her brother. Without thinking Taylor reacted, jumping in front of her brother, her wand sliced the air as her pendant burnt. The Death Eater crumpled to the ground.

"Harry!" Taylor wheeled to see her brother fighting to stay upright. Pointing her wand at Ron she levitated him to her brother and summoning Hermione's handbag with the Horcruxes and Dark Magic books in it she magically stuck it to Harry so he wouldn't lose it. "Go!"

"Hermione!" Harry protested weakly.

"I'll get her, now go!" Taylor ordered as she saw her friend laying on the ground at the top of the wash, obviously stunned. To Taylor's great relief her brother grabbed Ron and started his turn, just as more Death Eaters rounded the turn.

Taylor's wand was a blur as she threw a shield charm at her brother and fired spell after spell at the Death Eaters as she ran. She could barely hear the pop of Harry leaving amid the barrage of spells being fired at her, but she knew her brother was gone.

The Death Eaters had taken cover behind whatever they could find but they knew there would be no escape for the two witches.

Taylor was able to make it to Hermione, but there was no cover there, and it was only a matter of time before they were able to smash through her shield charm and stun her too.

A/N Dum, dum, dum, daaaaaaa... (evil laugh!) another cliff hanger! but don't worry I AM going to update again very soon... maybe even later today! Poor Taylor and Hermione just got out of one mess and are in another! Let me know what you think! I love seeing Alerts and Favorites but Reviews truly make my day! They will even make me post chapters faster! ;)

Thank you for reading and to those who have added this story to their Alerts and Favorites! Thank you to my wonderful bata barbc! Without her great help this story just wouldn't be posted! Well until next time, cytpotter.