Disclaimer: Another chapter with sections directly from HPatDH (Ch. 15 'The Goblin's Revenge). JKR gets all the credit.

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The days of dazed detachment after her harrowing midnight hike turned into weeks of toiling drudgery that did nothing to distract her from constant reminders of what she had lost. Her time stuck with the horcrux were the only moments of reprieve from the anesthetic dissociation her mind had concocted to keep her going. Unrivaled and suffocating, her misery was unlike any pain she had ever felt before.

Hermione had believed she'd survived the worst thing Karma could force on her. She had fought for every single ragged breath through the macerated hole Malfoy had left in her chest when he had made his choice. But it was nothing when compared to leaving her heart buried next to a sapling oak, folded up in a stranger's jacket. She would have traded whatever the fickle being asked to be able to go back and slap herself…

Fittingly, the duckling that had followed her around Hogwarts' halls, trailing insults, had transfigured into an angry goose that hissed one constant and truthful affront.

Murderer

There was no way to justify her actions. Not wanting to be left behind wasn't on par with defensive maneuvers made in the heat of battle. Her disregard had left her more alone than ever, with no chance to fix the devastation caused. And the hours spent with the piece of Voldemort's soul around her neck was proper retribution.

She deserved being compelled to feel the otherwise avoided comeuppance. If Harry and Ron would have allowed it, she would have worn the locket until they figured out how to destroy the damn thing. Alas, they were much too chivalrous to let her enact that particular self-inflicted punishment. No matter how much she begged…

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Dumbledore had been right. The village her grandmother's inconspicuous cottage was tucked away in, had been overrun with dementors and Death Eaters. The same as every other populated location that they had chanced visiting… While Harry was positive that Voldemort's undivided attention was set on finding the unknown youth who had stolen from Gregorovitch, his minions were unyielding in their quest to capture The Boy Who Lived.

The constant reconnaissance caused them to keep to isolated areas, away from civilization and the prying eyes that came with it. They were well into October before they settled on a random riverbank in Wales and for the first time, there were signs of life outside the protective charms of their camp. A group of five (including Dean Thomas, Ted Tonks, and two goblins) had wandered near enough for the three of them to overhear their dinner conversation.

Which had inadvertently brought about good and horrific news. The latter was most distressing. Ginny, along with Luna and Neville, had attempted to steal the sword of Gryffindor from the Headmaster's office. Snape had caught the offenders and they were "cruelly punished" for their crime. The former had triggered a memory of shoving Phineas Nigellus Black's portrait into her beaded bag in a different life.

The long-dead Headmaster was not happy with his unceremonious summons or their offensive treatment of him, but he had supplied the answers that they needed. The sword could destroy horcruxes… They finally had a path forward… Sort of.

Hermione had felt a spark of something resembling hope at the minute progress. It had been so long since she had, her smile was all wrong, but she rode the high with Harry and tried to work out the next place that they should visit with enthusiasm.

Ron was not as keen to celebrate and was sullen when he finally responded to the request for his perspective from the bottom bunk, "Oh, remembered me, have you?"

"What?" Harry asked, confused by the dour expression on his best friend's face.

"You two carry on. Don't let me spoil your fun."

Harry looked to her for an explanation, but she was just as perplexed, so he turned back, "What's the problem?"

"Problem? There is no problem." Ron said, refusing to look in their direction. "Not according to you, anyway."

As if on cue, it started to rain. The droplets hit the canvas above them, setting the mood for the argument. Hermione sat there quietly, hoping if they were allowed to let off some steam, they would be able to reconcile and move on to more important matters.

"Well, you've obviously got a problem." Harry snapped. "Spit it out, will you?"

Ron sat up and glared openly at the other wizard. There was no flush of anger to his freckled cheeks, shaking hands, or loud shouts. Unlike his usual self when angry, he was calm as he sneered, "All right, I will… Don't expect me to skip up and down the tent because there's somethin' else we've gotta find. Just add it to the list of stuff you don't know."

"I don't know?" The boy nearest to her seethed. "I don't know?"

"It's not like I'm not havin' the time of my life here," Ron said. "You know, with my arm mangled and nothing to eat and freezin' my backside off every night. I just hoped after we'd been runnin' around a few weeks, we'd have achieved something."

The rain picked up outside, the perfect background to words that could never be unspoken. Hermione tried to interject but was quickly ignored, "Ron…"

"I thought you knew what you'd signed up for." Harry accused.

"Yeah, I thought I did too."

"So what part of it isn't living up to your expectations?" Clearly hurt by the vocalization of his own doubts, Harry's questions were full of sarcasm. "Did you think we'd be staying in five-star hotels? Finding a horcrux every other day? Did you think you'd be back to Mummy by Christmas?"

"We thought you knew what you were doin'!" Finally breaking under the weight of his anger, Ron stood up from his hunched position on the bed and shouted. "We thought Dumbledore had told you what to do, we thought you had a real plan!"

"Ronald!" Hermione scolded louder… Nearly shouting herself, but again, she was ignored.

"Well, sorry to let you down," Harry said evenly. "I've been straight with you from the start, I told you everything Dumbledore told me. And in case you haven't noticed, we have found one horcrux…"

"Yeah, and we're about as near gettin' rid of it as we are to findin' the rest of them. Nowhere fuckin' near, in other words!"

Hermione jumped to her feet, rushed over to the towering wizard, and demanded, "Take off the locket, Ron. Please. You wouldn't be talking like this if you had not been wearing it all day."

Harry scoffed and flung some of his vitriol at her. "Yes, he would! D'you think I haven't noticed the two of you whispering behind my back? D'you think I didn't guess you were thinking this stuff?"

Hermione's jaw dropped and she shook her head, "Harry, we weren't…"

"Don't lie!" Ron snapped in her direction while maintaining eye contact with Harry. "You said it too. You said you were disappointed. You said you thought he had a bit more to go on."

Tears sprung to her eyes and she continued to shake her head in denial. "I didn't say it like that… Harry, I swear I didn't!"

And she hadn't. Her anger in those moments of whispered frustration were always directed towards Dumbledore. Not their friend. He had left them with such a monumental task, so little to go on and they couldn't even ask anyone for help… He deserved their ire, regardless of how Harry's faith in the deceased wizard was paramount to his success.

It was apparent that the boy didn't believe her pleas, but he was distracted by Ron rolling his eyes. "So why are you still here?"

Hermione held her breath. She knew that the answer would be the difference between a quick reconciliation or a drawn-out argument that could take months to repair if their tumultuous history was anything to go off of.

"Search me."

She groaned inwardly and tried to interrupt yet again… Of course, they ignored her.

"Go home then."

"Yeah, maybe I will!" Ron yelled. He took a few menacing steps towards Harry, who did not back away even though their chests almost touched. "Didn't you hear what they said about my sister? But you don't give a rat's ass, do you? 'It's only the Forbidden Forest.' Harry I've-Faced-Worse Potter doesn't care what happens to her in there… Well, I do, all right?! Giant spiders and mental stuff!"

The vile accusation flustered Harry for a second, "I was only saying… She was with the others… They… They were with Hagrid."

"I get it, you don't care! And what about the rest of my family? 'The Weasleys don't need another kid injured.' Did you hear that part?"

"Yeah, I…"

Ron leaned down so he was directly in Harry's face. "Not bothered by what it meant, though?"

"Ron…" She pushed herself in between the two boys so they wouldn't get physical and placed a hand on his heaving chest. "I don't think it means anything new has happened. I mean really think about it- Bill's already scarred, plenty of people must have seen that George has lost an ear by now, and you are supposed to be on your deathbed with spattergroit. I'm sure that is all he meant…"

"Oh, you're sure, are you? Right then, well, I won't bother myself about them… It's all right for you two, with your parents safely out of the way…"

"My parents are dead!" Harry bellowed from behind her.

"And mine could be goin' the same way!" Ron roared, pushing her out of the way so his blistering anger was directed at the correct target.

"Then GO!" Harry screamed. "Go back to them, pretend you've gotten over your spattergroit and Mummy'll be able to feed you up and…"

Suddenly Ron went to grab his wand from his pocket and Harry retaliated. Thankfully, she had pulled her own wand from her pocket as soon as Ron's temper got the better of him and cried "Protego!"

The strength of the spell forced all three of them backward a couple of steps. An invisible barrier, with her and Harry on one side and Ron on the other, separated them. Guaranteeing they wouldn't be able to do something either would regret. The two wizards scowled, fires of hatred burning bright in both sets of eyes.

After what felt like an eternity of silence, Harry whispered threateningly. "Leave the horcrux."

Ron did as he was told and wrenched the cursed necklace over his head, threw it in a nearby chair, and turned to her. "What are you doin'?"

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Are you stayin' or what?"

"I…" His question and all of the implications that came with it echoed in her ears until her thoughts were a jumbled mess. "Yes… Yes, I'm staying… We promised that we would go with Harry… We said we would help…"

She watched as the tiny spark of hope he held was extinguished. Whatever version of a fucked up relationship that had started to be rebuilt during the last few months was demolished with her refusal. He no longer trusted her. He gave a quick bob of his head. "I get it. You choose him."

"Ron, no… Please…" Hermione cursed under her breath as he stalked out of the safety of the tent into the pouring rain. For a second her shield charm hindered her progress and she shrieked. "Come back!"

By the time she had removed the spell and was able to follow him out into the dark forest, he was gone…

She searched through the torrents of icy rainwater and gnarled trees. Screaming his name, she went farther from camp than was safe but couldn't find it in herself to care.

He wouldn't leave her…

Not like this…

The Gods couldn't possibly hate her that much…

They wouldn't take the last thing she had left…

It took longer than it should have for her to realize that he must have Disapperated as soon as he left the boundaries of her protective charms. Sobbing, she made her way back to camp and into the tent. Harry still stood where he was when she had run off. Shock at the abrupt turn to their evening was plain on his face.

Hermione didn't have it in her to comfort him. She walked over to one of the empty armchairs, collapsed onto the cushion, and brought her knees to her chest. For the first time in months, she let her tears flow without restraint. Her loud sobs joined the chorus of splattering raindrops on canvas and Harry's heavy breaths.

Eventually, she felt the warmth of blankets covering her rain-drenched body but couldn't stop her cries long enough to thank Harry for the kindness. Her mind was too caught up in the one question that there never seemed to be an answer for…

When?

When would her debt for six months of happiness ever be repaid?