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 11

After staring at his father's lifeless body for a long moment, Ron let go of Hermione's hand and silently moved back into the tent, leaving Hermione standing alone in shock.

Hermione looked back at Mr. Weasley for a long moment, wiping up the few tears that had fallen from her eye before taking a deep breath and following Ron back into the tent. She needed to be strong for him.

Hermione made her way into the tent to find Ron packing his bag. His face showed no emotion as he worked methodically.

"Ron..." Hermione said carefully.

"We're done here. They know we were here...the plans been compromised. We need to leave. We can't trust that our magic and charms are strong enough," Ron said, not bothering to look at Hermione.

"Ron...do you want to talk about what just happened?" Hermione asked. She would address leaving with him after as she did agree with him that they weren't exactly safe but she wanted to give him a moment to deal with his father's death.

Ron sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before shaking his head, still looking down at his bag. "There's nothing to talk about."

"Ron...your dad-" Hermione started.

Ron whipped around quickly, startlingly Hermione and causing her to jump a bit. "What about him? He's dead."

Hermione was shocked by Ron's total lack of emotion other then a small hint of anger. That was not what she would have expected. Ron had always been so close to his father, she assumed he had to be in shock if this was how he was acting. "Ron, I-"

"This is war, Hermione. People die every day. My family isn't exempt from that," Ron said simply as he moved back to packing up his things.

Hermione was scared by Ron's behavior. It showed a side of him she had never seen before. She moved to wrap her arms around him, hoping her touch would break his wall, or shock, but instead she felt him go rigid in her arms.

"Hermione...don't..." He said after a long moment and maneuvered away from her, turning to face her head on. "Don't dwell on this."

Hermione shook her head, in absolute shock and maybe even harboring a little disgust at Ron's behavior and attitude toward watching his father be murdered. "Ron...that was your dad."

Ron nodded, as if he were agreeing with her words. "Hermione, do you really think I thought I'd see him alive again? It was a bitter surprise to get to me my Mum but...I knew the odds of my entire family surviving this was next to none. I know it was my Dad but I also know there wasn't a thing I could have done to stop it. The only thing I can control is what happens to us and so that's why we need to leave...that's what I'm focused on."

Hermione remained silent as she absorbed Ron's words and he went back to packing. From a logical standpoint he was making sense but as the man she had known for half her life, the man who loved his friends and family unconditionally and would move mountains for them, like he had done by running away with her in order to keep her safe, it made no sense. This was a new version of Ron, distorted by loss and anger and it made Hermione realize that even if they did survive the war, they would never be the people they once were. They were forever changed, forever destine to be a little broken.

As she stood there, contemplating their future states, Ron broke her from her thoughts. "Hermione, we really need to pack. We need to leave."

Hermione snapped her eyes to meet Ron's and realized he was truly done talking about his father. It made her so sad to think he was so damaged that he wouldn't allow himself to feel the hurt she knew deep down he was harboring but she also wasn't going to push him further on the subject.

"If we leave...well the snake-" Hermione started.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Oh, screw the bloody snake. We will never get to it now, they knew we were here. If thet can track us at Hogwarts who is to say they can't track us our here? Our magic might not be strong enough to protect us."

Hermione realized after a long moment that Ron could very well be right. She had not anticipated them being able to detect them at Hogwarts with the Invisibility Cloak yet they had which meant she may not be ready for Voldemort's other spells and charms.

"You're right. We have to go," Hermione said, realizing abandoning the hunt of the snake was the only way to ensure their safety. At least for now anyway.

"Great. Let's get moving then-" Ron went to hand Hermione her own bag when suddenly they heard more shouting from outside causing them both to freeze for a moment.

"What was that?" Hermione's voice was unsteady.

"Dunno..." Ron threw a few more things into his bag and then took Hermione by the hand, leading her outside the tent where they saw Bellatrix leading a few Death Eaters through the forbidden forest with Draco taking up the rear.

"Move it! You heard Umbridge, there were reports of unauthorized magic on the Castle boarder!" Bellatrix barked at the group she was leading.

Hermione felt her face run pale as she was quickly putting the connection together between Bellatrix's words and their own magic. "Oh no..."

"That's about us, isn't it?" Ron looked over at Hermione but he already knew the answer.

"We need to go, now," Hermione turned back sharply on her heel and into the tent, waving her wand quickly to pack as much as she could. She knew they had mere moments before they were likely discovered.

Ron followed her in the tent and did the same, and within minutes their campsite was completely packed.

"Where to?" Ron asked as they heard Bellatrix's voice casting revealing charms only growing closer.

Hermione merely reached out and grabbed Ron's hand. She wasn't sure if she was making a mistake but there was only one place she could think of in that moment and she hoped it had already been turned over enough times that they would be safe there.

And then, the pair disapparated.

Ron looked around in confusion when he realized where Hermione had brought them. He had only been there a handful of times before, but even in its empty and ransacked state, Ron recognized Hermione's childhood home.

"Your house? Are we really safe here?" Ron asked, assuming this was clearly somewhere death eaters would look for them.

"I don't know...but I figured its been turned over enough times it's probably safe for a bit," Hermione said, immediately moved to cast protection charms once she was certain she and Ron were alone in the house.

Ron couldn't argue against her logic; he wasn't sure if anywhere was really safe anymore and so he followed Hermione's lead, helping with the spells.

Once the house was secure, Hermione made her way up the stairs to her old room. Like the rest of the house it was empty, her parents having moved everything out when she wiped their memories, and like the rest of the house, the death eaters had damaged anything they could when they ransacked the place. The blinds were barely attached to the window which held cracked glass and the lightbulb in the ceiling was broken.

Hermione sighed, fighting back tears as memories of her once neat and clean room came flooding back to her, memories of her family, memories she knew she would never get the chance to recreate.

Hermione was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't hear Ron come up behind her and so she jumped when his hands made their way to her shoulders.

"Sorry," Ron said softly.

"It's fine..." Hermione said as she wiped one small tear from her eye.

"Hard being back here?" Ron asked her.

"A little..." Hermione said softly and then then turned her attention from her old room to Ron. "We should probably sleep downstairs...best to keep all of our things in one area and close...in case we need to leave quickly."

"Are you worried our charms won't hold up?" Ron asked.

Hermione sighed and shrugged. "I'm not sure. I suppose I am just concerned that if they could track us through the castle and knew we had cast charms in the Forbidden Forest then who is to say they can't track us outside of there. I mean...did we open our magic up to them?"

Ron thought about Hermione's words for a long moment and then snorted, shaking his head though Hermione could tell he was uneasy now. "That's not possible."

"I don't know, Ron. I didn't think half the things that have happened could have been true...but here we are," Hermione said, shaking her head as thoughts of everything that had happened since Harry had died flashed through her head.

Ron seemed to understand her thoughts and after a long moment he gently wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Let's go downstairs and get settled."

Hermione just nodded, folding her head into his shoulder and closing her eyes for a long moment, allowing the warmth of Ron to engulf her and give her a small moment of peace.

It had been a few days since Ron and Hermione had arrived at the Granger's old home and they had finally grown into a comfortable routine, similar to the one they had in the tent. No one had come to chase them down which was making them both feel more comfortable in their charms and protections. However, neither could lift the uneasy feeling that it was only a matter of time before that changed.

Even in the comfort of their protection spells both Hermione and Ron could see the Muggle World around them starting to change. The sun was hardly out, the newspapers staking up on their front steps pointed to increases in crimes, deaths, and missing people, all things the papers couldn't explain, but things Hermione and Ron knew were tied to the rise of Voldemort. It was only a matter of time before the Muggle world fell to him as well.

As Ron stared out the window at the rain falling, crushing the dead flowers outside the Granger house he sighed, looking back into the kitchen where Hermione was hunched over the Muggle newspaper, eating half a sandwich.

"Anything interesting in the paper?" Ron asked.

Hermione glanced up at Ron, sadness dancing in her eyes as she twisted her lip. "A building collapsed in North London...twenty-seven Muggles were killed."

"Death Eaters?" Ron assumed.

"I'd assume. They say they couldn't find any reasons for a structural fail," Hermione explained, putting the paper down and moving toward Ron and taking a seat in front of him, between his legs on the floor.

Without a word, Ron wrapped his arms around Hermione and she leaned her back into his broad chest. The two sat in silence for a long moment.

Finally, Ron sighed and kissed Hermione's shoulder before leaning his chin on it. "Maybe we should just leave. It just feels like things are getting worse here."

Hermione turned her head a bit so she could see Ron. "And go where?"

"Leave the country? It's gotta be better outside of Britain," Ron said, though even he didn't fully believe his own words.

Hermione sighed. "Even if it is, that will only last so long. Its only a matter of time before Voldemort is everywhere if he isn't already."

"So what do we do? Just stay here?"

"As opposed to just continuing to run? I'm so tired of running, Ron, and eventually we will run out of places to go."

"So then you just want to stay put like sitting ducks," Ron deducted.

Again, Hermione sighed, curling up in his arms and closing her eyes for a long moment. "I just want to spend as much time with you as I can."

Ron did not respond but instead just gently kissed her head, allowing the room to fall to silence. He could read between Hermione's words and to him it sounded like she was quietly giving up and part of him didn't disagree with her. It felt like it was only a matter of time before they were captured. After seeing Hogwarts he could not see a future where Voldemort was defeated and so he too was beginning to think he should just soak up the time he had with Hermione before it was taken away from him.

It was the middle of the night when Ron and Hermione were woken up by a loud noise outside the Granger's home. Both shot straight up in bed, their wands quickly in their hands.

"What was that?" Ron glanced around the dark living room.

Another noise coming from the back of the house shifted the couples attention to that direction.

Ron and Hermione were on their feet now, ready to duel their way out of whatever situation they found themselves in.

"We should leave," Hermione whispered, reaching for Ron's hand to apparate. She knew they would be leaving nearly all their supplies behind but their safety and freedom was more important.

Ron nodded, moving to grab Hermione's hand but he never got the chance.

Another noise and then a few spells blasting off from wands on both sides of Hermione and Ron nearly took the two out.

Ron found himself blasted backwards, his head connecting with the mantle of the fireplace. The last thing he remembered was Hermione screaming for him, a look of pure terror on her face as two large fogures grabbed her, and then everything went black.