Welcome,
This story will be a little different than my previous one. The golden trio is a bit older and the themes will also be more grown-up. There will be some romance in the dark setting that is the wizarding war. I think I have quite an original story line in mind, but the first three or four chapters will be used to set up the stage.
I hop you enjoy it, feedback is highly appreciated, on the condition that it is constructive.
Best regards, Chuckling Goose.
It was a gloomy, grey November day in rural England, Harry was sitting at the eating table looking at the sombre landscape while dark thoughts were milling around in his head. He stared at the water running down the window, the small drops combining to form bigger ones until ultimately a small stream of water trickled on the window sill. Rain had been pouring down for days from the skies onto the building that used to be an summer cabin of the Granger family, but that had over the last months been their refuge, an ultimately had become their prison.
Beyond the water drops on the window and beyond the garden that surrounded the small house, lay the fields and the woods where danger constantly lurked. Danger that was watching and looking for a way inside the house where it knew its prey was living. The werewolf pack of Fenrir Greyback was patrolling there, using their heightened senses to detect anyone trying to leave or approach. Deatheaters were circling through the skies, monitoring any activity. And Voldemort's best curse brakers were constantly at work trying to break the defences of their fort.
It is a good thing that those defences were the most impressive set of wards ever to be created on the British isles. They had learned the hard way not to rely on the fidelius charm and the expensive protection wards usually provided by the goblins, after they had been ambushed in Grimmauld place. They were still not sure who had betrayed the location of the house, but Harry guessed that the secret had just been shared amongst too many people.
After Bill and Fleur's disastrous wedding party Hermoine, Ron and Harry had stayed at the old Black manor for a few weeks at the beginning of this infernal hunt for horcruxes. One morning, while Harry was preparing breakfast, the cups on the table had started clinking on their saucers. Being only half awake, he had not immediately realised what was happening. But after a few seconds the house had started shaking as if hit by an earthquake. He had heard Hermoine yell, "the wards are under attack, get your emergency kit. We have to go!"
Harry could still feel his heartbeat increasing when he remembered the fearful minutes that had followed. With a swoop of his wand, he had spent a few moments to collect some provisions from the kitchen cupboards in a bag before making it to the large central entrance hall. The shaking of the house had increased to the point where furniture was moving around and Harry had had to keep a hand on the wall to avoid falling over. The wailing of Walburga's portrait and the bangs of Kreacher apparating around the house in an attempt to protect the ancestral Black home, completed the chaotic atmosphere.
Harry had stumbled on the stairs, finally reaching his room to get to the rucksack with his equipment and clothes. Since the wedding they had had their gear always ready in order to be able to move at a moment's notice. He quickly grabbed everything and dashed back to the hallway, where he had seen a flustered Hermoine frantically stuffing some books in her small bag, while shouting "Come on Ronald, we have to move!".
Ron had opened his door and had practically fallen inside the hallway, wearing his pyjama trousers and only one shoe. "My wand! Where is my wand? It must have fallen from my nightstand."
"Accio Ron's wand!" Harry had shouted and it had flown in his hand. Handing it over to his friend he said: "Get it together, Ron. Get your bag. Hermoine, how much time do you reckon we have?"
"Only a few moments more I am afraid. We have to be ready, while breaking the wards they will not be able to raise their own anti-apparation wards. But we should assume they will do this immediately after our wards fail. Our window to apparate out will be small." Hermoine had shouted, the rumbling noise making it impossible to communicate in a normal way. Dust that had accumulated over the last decades was raining from the ceiling.
"Let's grab Ron then and be ready!" Harry shouted back. They both made their way inside Ron's room who was collecting used socks from the floor and stuffing them in his bag. Just at that time the rumbling and shaking increased one final time, until it culminated in a loud bang. After which all the shaking stopped and it became eerily quiet.
Ron had looked up surprised "Is the attack over?". But Harry and Hermoine had not stopped, they ran towards their friend and grabbed his arms while holding their collected emergency luggage tightly. With a final loud bang, Hermoine had apparated them out of there.
The months that had followed had not been spent with hunting horcruxes, but rather with being hunted. Every apparition left a trace, that could be found and followed if you spend some time looking for it. The uncertainty of knowing how many steps their hunters were behind them, if indeed they were behind them, had made it nearly impossible to get some decent rest. The wards and repulsion spells that they were able to set up around their tent in such a short period, were never going to be able to keep a determined death eater force out for a long time. So they were constantly busy with moving in both magical and muggle ways in order to lose the pursuers, that they could only assume were hot on their tails.
The remaining time, Harry and Hermoine had been working long days and nights in order to develop a ward scheme that could protect a more permanent shelter effectively for a long time. Hermoine's superior intellect and muggle education in advanced mathematics, made her a beast when it came to arithmancy and Harry, who after a short flirt with divination in third year had switched to ancient runes, was one of the best rune carvers in Hogwarts.
The rune raster that Hermoine had developed used a complete different base for constructing the protective wards. The advantage of this was that any cursebreaker would have a hard time breaking the wards, it would be exceedingly difficult for them to understand and unravel the protection when the foundation was so unique.
However there were two major disadvantages. Firstly they had to develop every ward from scratch in this new method, which took even more calculations on Hermoine's part and some very creative rune carving from Harry. Secondly the system used at its core some bigger prime numbers, which meant that a lot of rune stones had to be made in order to protect a medium sized location. For example, carving eighty nine stones with the dementor repellent rune scheme which they had created, left them with sore fingers and took up the complete day.
Ron's job had been equally essential, although slightly more mundane. Since he could not be useful in creating wards or rune carving, he had taken over more of the housekeeping tasks. He was also making regular rounds in the area in order to detect any hostile activity. It was on one of these patrols that he had been able to confirm that they were still being chased, when he spotted two death eaters that were following their trail. By now they had become a well-oiled machine when it came to breaking up their camp, and they were once more able to give their hunters the slip.
Both Hermoine and Harry had been glad that they managed to escape at that time, for the obvious reason that they did not want to be captured. But also because it gave Ron a moment to shine. They had seen how their friend had suffered under the housekeeping tasks that were normally performed by his mother and which did not come naturally to him. The patrolling work, while very important, was also rather dull and they knew Ron had found it difficult to keep up his moral, even though he did his best not to complain. Knowing that it was his good work that had ensured their getaway, surely would give a boost to their friend that had started to feel a little left out while they were working closely together to create a permanent protection.
The little time off which they allowed themselves were taken up with quiet and calm activities. Harry and Hermoine were completely knackered and Ron was just happy to spend some time with them, particularly Hermoine. Over the last year the romantic feelings which his best friends had been slowly developing were becoming a bit more obvious. They used these small moments for some closeness, for example Hermoine would place her feet on Ron's lap while he was slowly rubbing them while she was reading a book. Harry would try to give his friends some space at these times, but living in a tent, even a magically increased one, did not make this easy.
When Hermoine had finally declared that the wards which they had developed were sufficiently safe it had been a huge relief for everyone. One more time they went through a cycle of apparition and muggle public transport, before arriving at the Granger's summer cabin. Since Hermoine's parents currently didn't even know this place existed, it was the perfect hiding place for them. It was standing rather isolated and was rather small, which made it easier to ward. Through the front door you entered into a tiny kitchen which lead directly into a large space that combined the dining room and living room that looked over a small terrace and the garden. Apart from that there was just a small bathroom and the bedroom that contained a double bed.
After arriving they quickly went through a check list which Hermoine had prepared in advance for setting up the wards. Ron and Hermoine ran around positioning the wards stones while Harry, who packed the biggest punch when it came to magical power, activated the large number of stones in the precise and tight schedule required.
In the end, after a long stressful day, they had done it, they had found a safe home to live. The first days they had been there, had been, no pun intended, magical. After an awkward discussion it was decided that Harry would sleep on the couch in the living room while Ron and Hermoine would share the double bed. Harry was trashing around quite a lot when he had his regular nightmares and he had insisted that he did not want to disturb anyone else's sleep. A slightly red-faced Ron and Hermoine ultimately agreed, but Harry observed that they were secretly both pleased that their relationship kept growing closer.
The protected home meant that they were finally able to take a breather for a moment. With Harry baking pancakes, Hermoine reading for them from the Hobbit and Ron entertaining them with stories from the Weasley family, it had been a truly happy interlude. Alas, it only lasted a short while. Soon they started focusing again on the task at hand, finding and destroying the horcruxes. In the short period they had had at Grimmauld place, they had discovered that a locket that had been at the house, was in fact one of the horcruxes they were looking for. Kreacher had been able to track Mundungus Fletcher, who had stolen the locket from the mansion and he had revealed that he had sold it to Dolores Umbridge.
While this was a setback, at the same time it had given them purpose. They finally had something tangible to do in their mission. A bold plan to steal the Horcrux right from under Umbridge's nose in the ministry had been developed. And besides some glitches along the way they had been able to pull it off, while at the same time helping some muggleborn wizards and witches escape from the ministry.
Despite the early enthusiasm which the successful mission had generated, it soon became clear that it was both a blessing and a curse. While they were one step closer to finishing Voldemort, the impact on the general atmosphere which the presence of the horcrux had was undeniable. The person carrying the evil trinket around was often particularly grumpy and on edge. When they decided to just store it in a safe location in the house, they found out that in the morning when waking up, one of them would have had the locket clutched in his or her hands. They could only assume that they were sleepwalking and getting the horcrux, but it certainly creeped them out massively. In the end they had developed a schedule for carrying the evil locket around day and night.
After a while the fresh energy which they had received from their successful mission started to fade. They became wary from the long hours living in close proximity of each other that were mostly spent in discussing where the horcruxes could be hidden. This had only been interrupted by yet another unsuccessful research mission which they undertook for checking possible hiding locations. It also became clear that their sanctuary had been discovered and had been surrounded by enemies which gave and even higher sense of confinement. Luckily they had installed an illegal and equally highly warded floo connection through the stove in the living room in order to continue their operations. So staying in their hiding place and undertaking operations from there was still the safest option.
In the end Ron, who had been suffering the most mentally even before the period at the Potter summer house, had cracked under the pressure. Yet another discussion on the possibility that something could be hidden at Gringots had escalated into a fight between Ron and Harry. Apparently Harry was to be blamed for the lack of progress and the lack of a plan to complete their mission. Furthermore Harry had to stop 'flirting' with Hermoine, evidently the long days which the two of them had spent working on the wards while Ron had been cleaning and patrolling had resulted in jealousy that had only increased in time.
Ultimately Ron had put so much pressure on Hermoine that she also had to admit to Harry that she was disappointed in the lack of a better plan. She had expected that Harry and Dumbledore had developed more during their time together. But she also made it very clear to Ron that she still trusted Harry and that she would stand by him. This had been the final drop for the angry redhead. In a fit of rage he stormed to the stove grabbed a handful of floo powder and disappeared before anyone could stop him. Luckily he had left the horcrux, which was the most important for Harry, but Hermoine had been devastated and had retreated to her room.
This had been two days ago. Harry had seen a lot of raindrops running down the window during that time. He had not spoken with Hermoine yet. There had been a developing romance between his two friends and Ron's departure must have felt like an act of betrayal. Harry was afraid to engage in conversation with her, but would regularly enter the bedroom to leave some food or some tea on the nightstand. At these times she lay on the bed turned away from him, but the food which he had left previously was usually gone.
Being alone gave him time to reflect on his life up until that point and particularly the last months. What hurt the most was the he had to concede that Ron had a point. Dumbledore had been working for years on finding the horcruxes and they had continued this quest after his death. But even to Harry it was unclear how he could succeed where the most powerful and smart wizard of his generation had failed. The longer he thought about it, the more he considered that they should approach things differently.
The prophecy told them that Harry had a power which the Dark Lord knew not, Dumbledore had proposed that this was his ability to love. But Harry doubted this interpretation, a lot of people were born with the power to love, was he so exceptional in this aspect? The longer he considered it, the more he thought the key lay in the phrase 'the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not', what if Voldemort had unknowingly unlocked or enabled the power which Harry possessed by marking him? The longer he sat staring out the window, the more he stopped thinking about the problems from the previous months and the more he started considering the options for the future.