Hermione chooses Harry
Just as Ron turned to leave the tent Hermione hit him with a full body bind. He landed face down with a solid thump. She stormed over to him yelling at Harry to PACK! He was frozen, waiting to see what she was going to do with Ron. She waved her wand and he flipped over, "Sorry Ronald, but you just ran out of chances. OBLIVIATE."
Harry took one step forward but then she continued. "Horcruxes are a candy Dumbledore liked to eat. Harry and I have left England and are getting married in Sweden next week. STUPIFY!" She canceled the full body bind and rummaged through his pockets. Finally she pulled out Dumbledore's put-er-outer and tossed it towards her bed.
She then levitated him out of the tent and into the forest.
Harry wasn't sure how to react to this. Hermione was very mad but was grateful she had finally returned to being decisive. He had greatly missed the girl that continually took action to help and support him.
He started packing their supplies for another move. Hermione returned very shortly and though muttering continually she helped him rapidly pack. Two minutes before a still stunned Ron was to wake in the forest Hermione hugged Harry and apparated them to Cornwall.
They were on the outskirts of a large muggle town, she took his hand and walked casually onto the main street. They went into a restaurant and ate their first filling meal in weeks. Hermione paid with cash and then took them over to the grocers where they stocked up on food for the tent.
Through it all Harry went with the flow, he wanted answers but with so many muggles around he didn't want to cause her to yell or cry. He wasn't sure which way she was going to go at this point. He wanted to know about them going to Sweden to get married, was that just a ruse to confuse those hunting them?
Three hours after Ron decided to abandon them they were once again hidden in the tent under the most devious wards Hermione could devise. Harry was storing their new food supplies while Hermione went straight to her bed and closed the curtain.
She came out just as he finished, she had changed her clothes and looked much better, gone was the wild hair that she had ignored for a week at a time. He could still see the dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep but she looked - good.
She came over to him and pulled him to the couch. "I know you have a lot of questions, listen to me first though." At his nod she continued. "I lost my temper but what has Ron been doing to help us? Not just on this hunt, for the last three years all he has done is whine and complain, oh and eat enough food in one meal to feed the two of us for a full day! Do you know all of that tea he has been making for us was laced with love potion? Mine was tied to him and yours to Ginny, no wonder you have been watching her on that map all the time. I've been countering both mine and yours with an antidote, we should drink a purgative though to make sure."
"Love potion? " He had latched onto that as the critical point she was making. He could agree with the rest on an intellectual level. Why did he even come with us?
"Amorentetia, but in a very weak mixture, just enough to keep us interested in the person it was keyed to." He just stared at her, eyes wide, she pressed on with what she knew he didn't want to hear. "We were under a much stronger dosage all of last year."
She sat there silently watching him and waiting for the question she knew would come next. Finally he choked out , "Why?"
"I can only guess. I think Dumbledore wanted you tied to a known light, pure-blood family. That would explain Ginny's fascination of you since before she met you. I was the wild card, the one thing they hadn't predicted. Who would guess that the 'Boy-Who-Lived' would choose the school bookworm as his confidant? They needed to remove my influence on you to get you to do things the way they wanted."
"HUH?"
"Harry, back in fifth year you chose me over Cho Chang, several times. We were on the verge of starting a romantic relationship. After all we have been through you trust me, only me, to have your back and your best interest at heart. They couldn't allow such a strong influence to guide you. So when I arrived at the Burrow they started dosing me with love potion and confundus. It took me over a year to overcome what they have been doing to me!"
That got Harry angry and he stood. She grabbed his hand and pulled him back onto the couch. "I'm all better now, I don't think I have any permanent brain damage but it was close there for a while. You have been my anchor, the one thing I knew I couldn't be separated from, even through all of my muddled confusion."
He took several deep calming breaths and then asked, "Who was behind all of this? Dumbledore? Molly?"
She nodded, "I think so, maybe a couple others. Molly told Ginny and I she used a love potion to get Arthur to notice her, I bet she is still dosing him which would explain his strange behavior."
Harry lay back and began to sob uncontrollably. "My life has been nothing but the plotting of others?"
She shifted to the other end of the couch to hold him tightly while he cried out his frustration. "I'm here Harry. Together we'll get out of all this."
"Why… why should I keep fighting for a society that just wants to use me?"
"It's the right thing to do but, if you want to run, I'm with you. I have sworn to help you, whether that's getting you lunch or killing Tom Riddle, I don't care."