CHAPTER 26
WHERE ARE THEY?
"What I don't understand is why they haven't come down to eat. It's already lunch and they were practicing all day yesterday." Hermione said as she and Ron sat down for lunch the next day.
"Maybe they knocked each other out cold." Ron suggested.
"Don't even think that, how could you even think that, Harry has the healing power of his."
"I know but if he is knocked out, how does he know to heal himself." Ron said.
"It's not a conscious power," Hermione argued, "He healed his eyesight and didn't even know it."
"True, I wish that we could get in that room just so we know that they are there."
"Does the Marauder Map's show that Room?" Hermione asked.
"Don't know, never checked before. We can see after lunch."
After lunch Hermione and Ron went up to the Gryffindor common Room, at the portrait of the Pink Lady they saw none other then Draco Malfoy.
"You haven't seen Aeryn around have you?" he asked.
"No, we suspect she and Harry are practicing again. We were just going to check the Marauder's Map." Hermione replied.
"I'll wait here." He replied. Ron and Hermione went up to the Boys Dormitory. Ron immediately went for Harry's trunk where he kept the map. Hermione sat on the bed facing the end.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to not good. The Room is not on here." Ron said, "Mischief managed." Hermione turned her head to look out the window when something caught her eye. There were two envelopes slightly under Harry's pillow.
"Ron!"
"What?"
Hermione quickly snatched the envelope that had her name on it. She read quickly taking in every word.
Hermione,
I've been wondering how long it would take you to find this letter. By now you are probably wondering where I am, but I'm not going to tell you. Aeryn and I have come to a decision to end this war once and for all or at least die trying. I know this is hard to understand but this is something that I must do.
I fell I must apologize to you, you have been asking if we have found anything in the black book that belonged to Salazar Slytherin and the truth is that we did. We didn't tell you because you would either stop us from completing our crazy plan, or come with us which comes with the risk that you or Ron could get hurt or possibly killed. I don't know what I would do if I let you get hurt again. You mean so much to me.
There is one thing you can do to help us, if you could, tell no one we are gone until you absolutely have to, that way we will be long gone and no one will be able to follow us. Please do that for me. I will be back, and when I do you make sure you yell at me from doing this, you make me promise never to do something like this ever again.
I love you lots
Harry
"Oh God!" Hermione exclaimed.
"What is it?" Ron asked closing Harry's trunk.
"He's gone." Hermione handed Ron's letter to him without looking up, she just keep reading the letter over and over again. Ron read his letter.
"I can't believe it. Why would they do this?" Ron asked after reading his letter.
"I think we should go straight to Dumbledore, maybe we can stop them." Hermione got up and went for the door.
"I think we should help them in any way that we can." Ron said, "Besides you know about the prophesy; only Harry can defeat You-Know-Who."
"We could have gone with him; he could at least have the gut to talk to us in the first place." Hermione spat angrily.
"Look, I'm just as angry at him as you are maybe more." Hermione gave him a look, "Ok, maybe you're mad at him more then I am. But I do understand why he did this."
"I understand too. But it's not about that. Harry need to learn that he doesn't have to protect everyone, some people can take care of themselves." Hermione paused to think things over in her head. "The longest we can go to not tell anyone is tomorrow. After they don't show up for class the teachers are going to get worried." She sighed, "what about Malfoy?"
"What about Malfoy?"
"Look you might not like him, but Aeryn means a lot to him. I can tell. But I don't know what his reaction to this will be. He might go straight to Dumbledore, or worse Snape."
"Then we won't tell him until we have to," Ron concluded.
They both went downstairs and through the portrait to find Malfoy sitting on the floor against the wall, with a letter in his hand. "I would follow her to the ends of the Earth if she asked me to." Malfoy said quietly breaking the silence.
"I know." Hermione simply replied.
"But I don't know if I can do this pretend that I'm not worried to death not knowing whether she will keep her promise that she'll come back."
"I know."
"How are you not angry with this?" Malfoy asked waving the letter around.
"Oh trust me, I furious over this. And don't doubt that they won't hear the end of it when they come back."
"So are we going to keep quiet about this?" Malfoy asked.
"Let's just say we won't be upfront with information. We will keep it as quiet as possible." Ron stated.
"We can even ask Dumbledore when he finds out, to say that they went in hiding. It's better if Voldemort thinks they are hiding then to be forewarned that they are going after him" Hermione suggested.
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A/N: Well here is an update already. I don't know when exactly I am going to update again, I have to write it. In the next chap we will see what the twins are up to LOL!!
And someone asked if `Slayer' was the sequel to this, and it's not. "Slayer" is totally not related to this story in anyway!!