Again, another chapter that I had to break into two parts. Whew these chapters were long in this book.

Also, this will be my last time sliding in a heads up on a missing Romione moment. I'd rather let y'all be surprised lol

On with the fic.

Chapter 200: The Fall of Hogwarts

August moved on rather quickly, as the weather grew hotter, though we were not permitted to enjoy it. I would have given anything to be back at The Burrow, sunbathing at our pond, Hermione stretched out beside me taking it in.

I wondered if my family was trying to salvage their summer. I thought about how business was with the twins. If Bill and Fleur had settled into their new home. I know they had to be distraught with how their wedding had been crashed.

Charlie had probably made his way back to Romania with his dragons. Or maybe he stayed behind to help protect Mum and Dad. Not that they really needed it. Mum was no one to challenge when it came to magic, and Dad was malicious with a wand himself when he needed to be.

And poor Ginny. She had to go back to Hogwarts soon. She had no one there to protect her, not that she greatly needed it or anything, but still. She would face everything by herself, and I hoped that no one would treat her harshly because of her being a Weasley. Merlin Malfoy and his lot would try to have a go at her. But, then again, if he remembered that Bat-Bogey Hex, he would steer clear away from my sister.

It seemed to be more than simply just muggles outside of the place. Death Eaters were still camping out, staring at the spot that should have been between eleven and thirteen. They were dressed in either their dark cloaks, or some sort of Wizard clothing. It had started to not be the same ones on a daily basis, but there were always a pair. The muggles would sometimes stop and stare a little themselves at whomever was watching for something to materialize in front of them, giving odd looks and whispers at their clothing.

The three of us would sometimes watch them watching us. It was comical really. One would occasionally think they got a glimpse of something and get all excited, only to pull back in disappointment realizing it was just a fly or something.

Gits.

Truth be told, on occasion, Harry would apparate right outside of the door, in hopes to get out and gather food or news. Today was a news day. The day that under normal circumstances, would start our final year at Hogwarts.

On the first day of September there were more people lurking in the square than ever before. Half a dozen men in long cloaks stood silent and watchful, gazing as ever at houses eleven and thirteen. It was starting to unnerve me, as Harry had indeed gone out that day.

Hermione and I had taken to the kitchen, looking over maps and notes that we had been making of various things.

"I've got news, and you won't like it." said Harry, coming into the kitchen.

The kitchen was almost unrecognizable. Every surface was now gleaming with cleanliness. Copper pots and pans had been burnished to a rosy glow, the wooden tabletop gleamed, the goblets and plates already laid for dinner glistened against the fire, on which a cauldron was simmering.

Ever since the day Harry had given Kreacher the locket, he had been cheerful. Accommodating. Hell, he was even being a bit nicer to Hermione.

house-elf who now came hurrying toward Harry, dressed in a snowy-white towel, his ear hair as clean and fluffy as cotton wool, Regulus's locket bouncing on his thin chest.

"Shoes off, if you please, Master Harry, and hands washed before dinner," croaked Kreacher, who had been in the kitchen with us preparing dinner. He walked up to Harry, seizing the Invisibility Cloak and slouching off to hang it on a hook on the wall, beside a number of old-fashioned robes that had been freshly laundered.

He has washed our bloody clothes, for Merlin's sake. Hell, he was even wearing a spanking clean pillowcase.

"What's happened?" I asked apprehensively. Harry came up to us, throwing down the newspaper on top of their scattered parchment.

A large picture of a familiar, hook-nosed, slimy, greasy black-haired git stared up at us beneath a headline that read:

SEVERUS SNAPE CONFIRMED AS HOGWARTS HEADMASTER

"No!" said Hermione and I loudly at the same time.

Hermione snatched up the newspaper and began to read the article out loud.

"Severus Snape, long-standing Potions master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft And Wizardry, was today appointed headmaster in the most important of several staffing changes at the ancient school. Following the resignation of the previous Muggle Studies teacher, Alecto Carrow will take over the post while her brother, Amycus, fills the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

This was not good. Totally not good. The school was gonna be ran by fucking Death Eaters. The students had no chance.

" 'I welcome the opportunity to uphold our finest Wizarding traditions and values–'

"Like committing murder and cutting off people's ears, I suppose! Snape, headmaster! Snape in Dumbledore's study – Merlin's pants!" she shrieked, making both Harry and I jump. She leapt up from the table and hurtled from the room, shouting as she went, "I'll be back in a minute!"

"'Merlin's pants'?" I repeated, chuckling. Even her attempt at cursing was adorable. "She must be upset."

I pulled the newspaper toward me and continued reading the article.

"The other teachers won't stand for this, McGonagall and Flitwick and Sprout all know the truth, they know how Dumbledore died. They won't accept Snape as headmaster. And who are these Carrows?"

"Fucking Death Eaters," said Harry. "There are pictures of them inside. They were at the top of the tower when Snape killed Dumbledore, so it's all friends together. And I can't see that the other teachers have got any choice but to stay. If the Ministry and Voldemort are behind Snape it'll be a choice between staying and teaching, or a nice few years in Azkaban, and that's if they're lucky. I reckon they'll stay to try and protect the students."

Kreacher came bustling to the table with a large caldron in his hands, and ladled out soup into pristine bowls, whistling between his teeth as he did so. It was weird sometimes, him being so cheerful. But hey, we have been having decent meals for weeks now, so I was not complaining in the least.

"Thanks, Kreacher," said Harry, flipping over the Prophet so as not to have to look at Snape's face. "Well, at least we know exactly where Snape is now."

I spooned some of the soup in my mouth. Merlin's beard but that was good.

"There are still a load of Death Eaters watching this house," said Harry, "more than usual. It's like they're hoping we'll march out carrying our school trunks and head off for the Hogwarts Express."

I took a quick glance at my watch. Something I had been doing periodically all day. "I've been thinking about that all day. It left nearly six hours ago. Weird, not being on it, isn't it?"

I couldn't help but long for school in a way. If it wasn't infiltrated by Death Eaters, that was. Still, I had gotten used to departing with Hermione and Harry off to Hogwarts, riding the Hogwarts Express, getting goodies off the trolley, and talking about what we were looking forward to. Minus the dementors of course from third year.

"They nearly saw me coming back in just now," Harry said, "I landed badly on the top step, and the Cloak slipped."

"I do that every time. Don't tell Hermione." I said with a smirk. Speaking of which, she had came back looking worn out.

"Oh, here she is," I said, looking her up and down. "And what in the name of Merlin's most baggy Fronts was that about?"

"I remembered this," Hermione panted, ignoring my banter. She was carrying a large, framed picture, which she now lowered to the floor before seizing her small, beaded bag from the kitchen sideboard. Opening it, she proceeded to force the painting inside and despite the fact that it was patently too large to fit inside the tiny bag, within a few seconds it had vanished, like so much ease, into the bag's capacious depths.

"Phineas Nigellus," Hermione explained as she threw the bag onto the kitchen table.

"Sorry?" I asked,

"Snape could send Phineas Nigellus to look inside this house for him," Hermione explained to me as she sat back down. "But let him try it now, all Phineas Nigellus will be able to see is the inside of my handbag."

"Good thinking!" I said, looking at her in admiration. She was so brilliant. Harry and I would have never thought of that, us dunderheads.

"Thank you," smiled Hermione with a blush, pulling her soup toward her. "So, Harry, what else happened today?"

"Nothing," said Harry. "Watched the Ministry entrance for seven hours. No sign of her. Saw your dad though, Ron. He looks fine."

I was happy to hear that Dad looked well off at least. The Burrow never left my mind, and sometimes I wished I could hop in for a spell, just to have some moments with them and reassure them that we were okay.

"Dad always told us most Ministry people use the Floo Network to get to work, "I said after taking another spoonful of soup. "That's why we haven't seen Umbridge, she'd never walk, she'd think she's too fucking important."

"Language, Ronald." harped Hermione. 'And what about that funny old witch and that little wizard in the navy robes?"

"Oh yeah, the bloke from Magical Maintenance," I said nonchalantly.

"How do you know he works for Magical Maintenance?" Hermione asked

"Dad said everyone from Magical Maintenance wears navy blue robes."

"But you never told us that!" she exclaimed.

Hermione dropped her spoon and pulled toward her notes and maps that we had been examining when Harry had entered the kitchen.

"There's nothing in here about navy blue robes, nothing!" she said, flipping through the pages.

"Well, does it really matter?" I asked.

Wrong question.

"Ron, it all matters! If we're going to get into the Ministry and not give ourselves away when they're bound to be on the lookout for intruders, every little detail matters!" harped Hermione, sounding oddly like Mum."We've been over and over this, I mean, what's the point of all these reconnaissance trips if you aren't even bothering to tell us –"

"Blimey, Hermione, I forget one little thing – " I interrupted, getting annoyed.

"You do realize, don't you, that there's probably no more dangerous place in the whole world for us to be right now than the Ministry of –"

"I think we should do it tomorrow," said Harry, more than likely wanting to stop the blow up that was going to happen.

Hermione stopped dead, her jaw hanging. I almost choked on my soup. Was he fucking mental?

"Tomorrow?" repeated Hermione. "You aren't serious, Harry?"

"I am," said Harry. "I don't think we're going to be much better prepared than we are now even if we skulk around the Ministry entrance for another month. The longer we put it off, the farther away that locket could be. There's already a good chance Umbridge has chucked it away; the thing doesn't open."

"Unless," I began, "she's found a way of opening it and she's now possessed."

"Wouldn't make any difference to her, she was so evil in the first place," Harry scoffed.

Hermione was biting her lip, deep in thought.

"We know everything important," Harry went on, addressing Hermione. "We know they've stopped Apparition in and out of the Ministry. We know only the most senior Ministry members are allowed to connect their homes to the Floo Network now, because Ron heard those two Unspeakables complaining about it. And we know roughly where Umbridge's office is, because of what you heard the bearded bloke saying to his mate –"

"'I'll be up on level one, Dolores wants to see me,'" Hermione recited immediately.

"Exactly," said Harry. "And we know you get in using those funny coins, or tokens, or whatever they are, because I saw that witch borrowing one from her friend – "

"But we haven't got any!" said Hermione in a panic

"If the plan works, we will have," Harry continued calmly.

"I don't know, Harry, I don't know … There are an awful lot of things that could go wrong, so much relies on chance.." said Hermione, cautiously. She did have a point, however, I was starting to think that striking tomorrow could be a good thing. But her point outweighed my confidence and I was, to be honest, afraid.

"That'll be true even if we spend another three months preparing," said Harry. "It's Time to act."

We had been taking turns doing surveillance of the Ministry entrance under Harry's Invisibility Cloak for a while. Risky business, but we had no choice if we were going to retrieve the locket from ol toad face.

We had tailed Ministry workers on their way in, eavesdropped on their conversations, and learned by careful observation which of them could be relied upon to appear, alone, at the same time every day. Occasionally there had been a chance to sneak a Daily Prophet out of somebody's briefcase. Slowly we had built up the sketchy maps and notes now stacked in front of Hermione.

"All right," I said hesitantly, "let's say we go for it tomorrow … I think it should just be me and Harry."

"Oh, don't start that again!" sighed Hermione. "I thought we'd settled this."

"It's one thing hanging around the entrances under the Cloak, but this is different, Hermione," I said, jabbing a finger at a copy of the Daily Prophet dated ten days previously. "You're on the list of Muggle-borns who didn't present themselves for interrogation!"

"And you're supposed to be dying of spattergroit at the Burrow! If anyone shouldn't go, it's Harry, he's got a ten-thousand-Galleon price on his head – "

"Fine, I'll stay here," said Harry. "Let me know if you ever defeat Voldemort,won't you?"

We couldn't help but laugh, but as we were, Harry winced and moved his hand over his scar on his forehead. Hermione's eyes narrowed, and he tried to make it look as if he was pushing his hair out of his eyes.

Slick git. Not that slick though.

"Well, if all three of us go we'll have to Disapparate separately," I said. "We can't all fit under the Cloak anymore."

Suddenly, Harry stood up with a start. At once, Kreacher hurried forward.

"Master has not finished his soup, would master prefer the savory stew, or else the treacle tart to which Master is so partial?"

"Thanks, Kreacher, but I'll be back in a minute – er – bathroom."

And with that, Harry left the room in a hurry, leaving Hermione glaring at the door.

"You know what happened, right?" she said to me.

"Course I do," I said, tidying up the parchment so nothing would get on it. "I thought they had stopped"

"I thought so too," she said, coming to help me.

"Look," I started, "Sorry for...my lack of information. I honestly let it slip my mind." Which was true. But she was right. It was a very important piece of information. Something that we could have used.

Hermione shrugged, continuing to roll up parchment. "I can't be ridiculously cross with you. It has been tense around here. I've been worried about things toi and forgetting even the simplest of things."

"Yeah well...still" I said, taking my final bite of soup. " What do you reckon? Should we say something? Should we ask? You know how he gets"

"I know. But if he keeps letting him in, Voldemort will - Ronald, please!"

I had jumped so hard that I had knocked the spoon into her forehead. I couldn't help but chuckle, but I quickly gathered up a handkerchief, wiping the soup circle from off her forehead.

"Such a clumsy boy," she said, allowing me to.

We finished our food, thinking Kreacher in the process. We were about to wash our dishes, but Kreacher insisted we leave them there for him to clean. I didn't want to do it anyways, and would usually go for this ploy, despite Hermione catching on and glaring at me for it.

"Shall we look for Harry then?" she asked.

"He's probably in Sirius's room," I responded. After a while, we had made our way out of the sitting room, and started residing in the bedrooms in the house. Harry had taken over Sirius's childhood room of course, while Hermione and I had taken over the room that Harry and I had shared during our first stay at the house. Sometimes we would sleep in separate beds. Other times we would sleep together. It usually occurred when one of us was having a nightmare.

We made our way up the many staircases until we got to Sirius's room. As we did, we heard what sounded like whining coming from the bathroom we had passed by. Hermione went to open the door, but it was locked. Weird.

"Harry?" She said, knocked softly at first. No answer. We looked at each other worriedly. Had something happened?

Hermione started to pound loudly at the door."Harry? Open up."

Suddenly, we heard a yellow from inside, causing us to go frantic and Hermione to beat harder. "HARRY! HARRY!" she yelled, hoping the git would open the door.

Sure enough, he did, but not after unlocking the deadbolt, flinging the door open so fast, that Hermione had toppled inside at once, regained her balance, and looked around suspiciously.

I was right behind her, looking unnerved as he pointed his wand into the corners of the chilly bathroom.

"What were you doing?" asked Hermione sternly.

"What d'you think I was doing?" asked Harry, sounding like he was caught red handed.

"You were yelling your head off!" I said in alarm.

"Oh yeah … I must've dozed off or – "

"Harry, please don't insult our intelligence," said Hermione, taking deep breaths. "We know your scar hurt downstairs, and you're white as a sheet."

Harry sat down on the edge of the bathtub, looking defeated.

"Fine. I've just seen Voldemort murdering a woman. By now he's probably killed her whole family. And he didn't need to. It was Cedric all over again, they were just there… "

"Harry, you aren't supposed to let this happen anymore!" Hermione cried, her voice echoing through the bathroom. "Dumbledore wanted you to use Occlumency! He thought the connection was dangerous – Voldemort can use it, Harry! What good is it to watch him kill and torture, how can it help?"

"Because it means I know what he's doing," said Harry.

"So you're not even going to try to shut him out?"

"Hermione, I can't. You know I'm lousy at Occlumency. I never got the hang of it."

"Oh come off it, you never really tried!" she said hotly. "I don't get it, Harry – do you like having this special connection or relationship or what – whatever – "

Harry gave her the most angriest look I had ever seen him give a person that wasn't one of us. Hermione shook, looking almost fearful. I braced myself. I was not going to let him have a go at her again, despite how he was feeling.

"Like it?" he said quietly. "Would you like it?"

"I – no – I'm sorry, Harry. I just didn't mean – " stuttered Hermione.

"I hate it, I hate the fact that he can get inside me, that I have to watch him when he's most dangerous. But I'm going to use it."

"Dumbledore –"

"Forget Dumbledore. This is my choice, nobody else's. I want to know why he's after Gregorovitch."

"Who?" she asked, still a bit unnerved.

"He's a foreign wandmaker," said Harry. "He made Krum's wand and Krum reckons he's brilliant."

"But according to you," I said with a huff. Fuck Krum.

"Voldemort's got Ollivander locked up somewhere. If he's already got a wandmaker, what does he need another one for?" I asked.

"Maybe he agrees with Krum. Maybe he thinks Gregorovitch is better, or else he thinks Gregorovitch will be able to explain what my wand did when he was chasing me, because Ollivander didn't know."

Harry turned away from us. Hermione and I exchanged skeptical looks. This felt like Draco Malfoy all over again.

Although...Harry was right the whole time.

"Harry, you keep talking about what your wand did," said Hermione, "but you made it happen! Why are you so determined not to take responsibility for your own power?"

"Because I know it wasn't me! And so does Voldemort, Hermione! We both know what really happened!"

They glared at each other. Hard. Reminded me of when Percy and the twins would have a row and they were seriously angry with each other. I couldn't let that happen.

"Drop it," I advised her. "It's up to him. And if we're going to the Ministry tomorrow, don't you reckon we should go over the plan?"

Hermione looked flabbergasted at me. However, she didn't say a word to challenge. Harry didn't either, and nodded slightly at my suggestion. Yes things were tense, however, we had a bloody job to do, and that came first.

We returned to the basement kitchen, where Kreacher served us all stew and treacle tart, Harry's favorite. This seemed to lift his spirits, though only a little.

After dinner, we took out the parchments or maps and notes, looking them over until even Harry and I had . We devised what we felt like was a foolproof plan.

Soon, it was well into the night. Harry excused himself, told us goodnight, and retired to Sirius room, leaving Hermione and I to put the parchment back neatly into her pouch.

Hermione and I went and got ready for bed, each sharing the bathroom across from our room to shower and brush our teeth. I climbed into bed, not exactly tired at the moment after I had changed into my pajamas. Hermione came in a little while later, and instead of getting into her own bed, she stuck her change of clothes into her pouch and came over to mine.

I scooted over and lifted up the sheet, letting her climb into bed with me. Her freshly showered and motioned body felt soft and secure against mine.

I turned to her, bringing her closer to me in an embrace. She smelled like a warm piece of vanilla pound cake, and the randiness in me wanted to take a bite out of her.

"Ron?" she said in alarm quiet voice, playing with the front of my shirt"

"Yeah, Mione?"

"Tell me tomorrow is going to go as planned," she said in a scared, hushed tone. "Tell me that we are going to do everything by plan in under 10 minutes and retrieve the locket. Tell me, Ron."

I sighed, bringing her even closer to me. Normally I would make a joke, or repeat her exact words to me. However, I couldn't bring myself to. Something felt off. As if me even being optimistic about the situation was wrong.

"I can't," I answered back, quietly. "I can't tell you that, Hermione. I don't have a clue that it will, you know? I wish I could. I wish I could go on about how this was going to be the easiest thing we've ever done in our lives. But in reality? It's gonna be one of the hardest, you know?"

Hermione nodded, rubbing my short stubble on my chin. "Thanks, Ron. Thanks for telling me what I needed to hear rather than what I wanted to hear."

I smiled at her, enjoying her caress. "Do you like the feel?"

"Surprisingly, yes." She said, blushing. "I've noticed that you had stopped shaving and hadn't trimmed your hair"

"Been thinking about how maybe I could pass off as Bill, you know?" I said, closing my eyes and bit at her touch. "A just in case disguise as it will. Out of all of my siblings, Mum and Dad always said I looked like Bill the most. Maybe I could get away with it if I'm ever caught, yeah?"

"What about me? What if I'm ever caught?" she asked, looking longingly into my eyes.

"I won't let a bloody thing happen to you, Hermione," I said, giving her a chance for her to scold me for my language as per usual. When it didn't come, I continued. Guess she was going to let me have this one.

"I'll protect you. I'll protect the lot of us. We know plenty of spells, have discussed many escape plans, and we can apparate without being traced. We are going to be able to do this, love. I mean it"

She nodded. A nod that made me feel like she wasn't so sure. I couldn't even get mad. I wasn't too sure of things my damn self. Anything could go wrong. Anything could happen. I just knew that I wouldn't let those things happen to Harry and Hermione. They meant so much to me.

Especially her.

I couldn't help myself. I leaned in and placed a soft and gentle kiss on her lips. As I went to pull away, she began to kiss me back, moving her hands to hold my face in place. We stayed like that for what seemed like hours. When in reality, it was but a few short seconds.

"When this is over, yeah?" I asked her, fingers tracing her face.

"Yeah. When this is over."