Disclaimer: All Characters and things associated with Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. This writing is purely for entertainment only.
Summary: Harry died in the Forbidden Forest and Ron and Hermione must find a way to finish his mission in a world where Hermione and her blood status leaves them both in incredible danger.
Chapter 9
Hermione pulled a large stack of books out of the corner of the tent she had been using as a library. The past few months the books had served to distract her or keep her from going crazy but now they served a a purpose she had missed dearly. Research.
"What are you doing?" Ron asked as he followed her into the tent after they had watched Draco go back to the castle.
"If the sword of Gryffindor is missing again that means it disappeared from Malfoy Manor..." Hermione started.
"Okay..." Ron said slowly. He hated when Hermione did this. She got so excited about a topic she would slowly piece it together in front of them expecting someone to figure it out like she had. Ron was never good at guessing where she was going with something, that had always been Harry's thing and even he had been wrong numerous times.
In that moment, as Ron watched Hermione's eyes light up with purpose as she hovered over the books, he realized just how much he missed Harry and his guess-work.
"Well...the sword presented itself to you and Harry to destroy the locket...and Scrimgeour did say the sword would present itself to a worthy Gryffindor," Hermione continued as she recalled the conversation with the former minister of magic.
Ron surprised himself. He was catching on. "So you think...if you and I were considered worthy...we could get the sword?"
"In theory...yes...I'm wondering though if, as a Gryffindor, there is a way for us to call the sword to us," Hermione said, quickly thumbing through another book at the table.
Ron smiled and moved to take a shower. He knew what it was like to be around Hermione when she was researching something and he would be lucky if she picked her head up that evening to talk to him. He didn't mind though. In a way, it was comforting; it made things feel somewhat normal again.
Ron wasn't wrong when he knew Hermione would be absorbed in the books but after several hours he finally heard her sigh and lean away from the table.
He turned his attention to her from his spot on the small bed they shared where he had been fiddling with the deluminator that Dumbledore had given him. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing...I couldn't find anything. It's like the sword has its own mind and it will just appear when it chooses," Hermione sighed again, pushing the books away from her and turning to face Ron.
"Well...we can't just hope it appears to us...so I guess that means we need a basilisk fang or two?" Ron said.
Hermione nodded. "I've still got the one left but...if we mess up, Ron...we would only get one shot with the fang..."
Ron nodded, recalling the one fang they had left. He and Hermione had taken a few from the Chamber of Secrets but they had used one of the diadem and he had dropped another one in the commotion of Harry's death, leaving them with the one Hermione had kept safe in her bag. One was not enough to make him feel confident enough to rush into Hogwarts and after Voldemort's snake.
"Maybe we should try and get some more then...there were some left down in the Chamber when we left..." Hermione continued, remembering they had not grabbed all of the fangs and now realizing that had been a stupid idea.
"You mean try and sneak back into the Chamber first and then trying to get to the astronomy tower...all while walking around hoards of people who want us dead?" Ron said sarcastically hoping she could hear how ridiculous her plan sounded out loud. There was no way they would be able to do all of that without being caught.
"We can use Harry's invisibility cloak," Hermione reminded him.
"I know but...it just takes one wrong move with that cloak on...if we are at all seen or bump into someone..." Ron responded. He could not believe he was trying to be the rational one now. It was as if their roles had been reversed.
"Well, what would you like to do then? We need to get something to kill that snake with. We're not walking away again." She said, folding her arms across her chest.
Ron sighed. "I know that. I just wanna make sure if we're going to do this that we're doing it as safe as possible."
Hermione studied Ron for a long moment, realizing his hesitancy was just because he wanted to keep her safe. He was always her protector. She realized, now looking back on all their years at Hogwarts, even when they were fighting with each other he had kept an eye out for her and now that protector complex had only been magnified over the last few months.
Hermione walked over to Ron and sat down next to him, taking his hand in hers. "We will be as safe as we can. We know that there's no guarantees here but as long as we're together, we should be fine. I trust you to watch out for me and you should do the same."
Ron smiled at their intertwined fingers. "I do trust you. I just don't want anything to happen to you."
"It won't. You won't let it." She assured him.
Ron nodded after a long moment. "Well, when do you think we should go? I think it would make more sense at night...less likely to run into someone."
Hermione nodded in agreement. "Yes, I suspect that's true. The sorting ceremony is tomorrow as well. We should probably get in there before that starts."
"Then will leave once it gets dark out." Ron decided.
She nodded again, also looking down at their fingers. She ran her hand over Ron's thumb and pointer. Both were badly scarred, and she wondered if either of them would be able to move on from the war even if they won. They lost so much and they carried both physical and mental scars that she did not think would ever fully resolve.
After a long moment, she looked up at Ron. "I really think we're going to be be able to do this, Ron. I don't think You-Know-Who is as strong as he wants us to believe he is."
"Why do you say that?" He asked.
"Well...Draco today... it was obvious he was disturbed by what Bellatrix did, otherwise he wouldn't have buried that boy. He can't be the only one on their side that feels that way." Hermione recalled.
Ron snorted at her comment. "Draco is a prat. He's probably just afraid of her and he should be. Bellatrix is insane. He's always been a little snake in the grass...and I don't think that the Malfoy's are looked at the same way they once were. Did you see what their home had turned into when we were captured? They've lost all respect among the death eaters and he's probably just scared."
Hermione could not disagree with Ron. Even she had noticed how awful the entire Malfoy family had looked when they had been captured. But she had also seen that Draco had not identified Harry at the Manor when he had a chance. Sure, he gladly allowed her to get tortured but she chalked it up to him being cruel and his hate for what her bloodline was. She did not think Draco was a saint, nor had many redeeming qualities, but she had to say there was something boiling under the surface that caused Draco to try and save Harry. Even if it was for purely selfish reasons, she had to deduce that he was not completely in Voldemort's corner.
"Well, even if it's only driven by fear, if some in those ranks are not completely committed to this war anymore then there's a chance for us to win. There's a chance for us to do what Harry had tried to." She reasoned.
"I just wouldn't put a lot of stock into Draco's actions. It's a nice thought but I think you're giving him too much credit." Ron said.
By the time nightfall came, Ron was completely on edge. He had gone back and forth in his head weighing all the risks of going to the castle and what he would do if they got caught. He had resolved that he would kill anyone who touched Hermione. It wasn't even a question in his head anymore.
"Ready to go?" Hermione took a deep, nervous breath, as she folded Harry's invisibility cloak over her arms.
"I don't know if I'll ever be ready but...we should probably go." Ron said with a sigh, still half hoping Hermione would change her mind about the entire thing.
But Hermione instead nodded and took Ron's hand, leading him out of the tent and putting the cloak over the two of them before exiting the charmed encampment.
Ron was nervous as he held Hermione's hand firmly under the cloak. They moved carefully up to the gates of Hogwarts, which were surprisingly not as heavily guarded as they would have imagined. There were two death eaters on the side of the main doors but the doors stood wide opened and neither seemed interested in their actual jobs making it easier for Hermione and Ron to move into the castle.
When they entered the castle, they were both taken back by its condition. The empty halls were littered with damaged stone, broken glass, and scattered papers. The stench of blood and filth hit them both at once and Hermione felt she may need to hold her breath to continue on.
"This is awful," Hermione muttered, sad to see the school she had loved so deeply in such a condition.
"Let's just keep going," Ron said with clear focus. He did not want to take in their surrounding, he wanted to get to the chamber and get the fangs.
As they moved further down the halls and passed the great hall, they were suddenly hit with the sound of moans and cries. Looking into the great hall, they saw the once beautiful room now lined with cages, prisoners on top of one another while some of the more injured lay chained together on the floor. So many faces they recognized. It was a sight that nearly moved Hermione to tears.
Ron didn't bother looking, afraid he would see his parents or Charlie or Percy; afraid he would see them and not be able to help them.
They moved further down the hall and noticed that more and more classrooms had seemed to be turned into holding cells for prisoners. For a brief moment Hermione wondered where the students were learning if no classrooms were available but then she quickly remembered Hogwarts was no longer a place of learning.
They reached the Chamber rather easily and pulled the invisibility cloak off once they were inside. The Chamber was wide opened but they both assumed it was because they had been there months earlier retrieving the fangs.
Ron quickly moved to the skeleton of the basilisk but stopped short before he reached it.
Instantly, Hermione knew something was wrong. "What is it?"
"The fangs...they're gone," Ron said, his voice indicating his disbelief at his own words.
"What?" Hermione rushed forward only to find that the basilisk remains were missing all of the fangs. Instantly, reality hit Hermione. "We need to go..."
"What?" Ron turned to look at her, confusion on his face.
"We need to get out of here. Someone knew to come down here and take the fangs...which means someone knew we came down here..." Hermione said. "No one besides You-Know-Who himself could have known that the fangs could kill Horcruxes which means this could be a trap," Hermione explained, looking around nervously.
"You think they expected us to come back?" Ron deducted.
"Well, they expect someone to come back and certainly leave empty handed," Hermione said.
After a brief moment, Ron nodded, tossing the invisibility cloak on them both and leading them out of the Chamber of Secrets and back the way they came from.
Again, the pair moved cautiously as they retraced their steps back out of the castle. They were near the front door when they both stopped suddenly at the sight ahead of them.
Near the main doors of the Great Hall stood Draco with his parents, Theodore Nott with his father, and Gregory Goyle and his family. Cho Chang was also there, a golden collar-like structure around her neck as Goyle yanked on a small chain to force Cho to move in any direction he wanted.
Cho looked like a shadow of herself. Her eyes were sunken into her head and her arms were purple with bruises. At one point in the Malfoy, Nott, and Goyle conversation, Goyle yanked at Cho, pulling her close to him and licking her cheek before laughing and tossing her on her back toward the floor, putting one foot on her back to keep her from getting up.
Hermione felt her blood run cold at the sight, really seeing what her fate could have been had Ron not convinced her to leave the battle months earlier. She wrapped her fingers into his and he gave her hand a strong squeeze, indicating he was thinking the same as her.
"Let's get out of here," Ron said in a low voice so only Hermione could hear him.
Hermione nodded and the pair continued on and were nearing the main doors of the Castle when Ron stopped short, seeming frozen in place. Hermione, who was behind him, peered over his shoulder to see why he had stopped only to see Umbridge poking her finger at McGonagall.
McGonagall looked like she had aged decades over the months since Ron and Hermione had last seen her, looking more frail than ever before. Yet there was something in the way she stood and held her head high to Umbridge that still seemed to command respect.
"The Dark Lord wants you to make sure all the Gryffindors are accounted for tonight for tomorrow's sorting ceremony. If even one is missing it will be your head, Minerva," Umbridge said.
"My house will be there, I assure you, Dolores..." McGonagall countered.
Umbridge's lips pursed at the usage of her first name.
"Go get the final head count we can expect for tomorrow morning now and I'll send someone to get that number from you," Umbridge ordered.
McGonagall merely walked straight past Umbridge and made her way toward the Gryffindor Tower.
Watching the interaction stirred something in Hermione. She hated Umbridge so much and respected McGonagall so much that she felt the need to follow McGonagall, if for no other reason than to hear how her former professor was handling everything.
"Follow McGonagall," Hermione whispered.
"What??" Ron turned to face her, his whisper mixed with pure shock. "No...we need to get out of here."
"We need to talk to McGonagall. She has been here the most and she is the head of Gryffindor House...she may be able to help us find the Sword of Gryffindor," Hermione reasoned.
Ron sighed after a long moment, realizing Hermione was probably right. "Yeah, alright..."
And with that agreement, the pair moved with the invisibility cloak on and toward the Gryffindor Common Room.
