A/N: Thank you for those amazing reviews! Enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: Nope. Nothing but the plot.
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The Three Broomsticks wasn't even a shadow of what it had once been. In fact, Harry was sure that he'd seen the Hog's Head with more costumers. Madame Rosmerta stared at them apprehensively as they sat down in the most secluded table in the pub, and there they quickly ate under the scrutiny of the female owner. After they had paid for the awkward dinner, the trio scurried off back into the cave using the shadows and the alleys to conceal themselves. An air of uncertainty and discomfort choked the little town, and no one blamed anyone for avoiding it. Now safely inside the cave, which had also been charmed with a Confundus, they could discuss what they were going to do in the following days.
"I say we go to Hogwarts as soon as possible," Hermione was saying, sitting Indian style in front of Harry and Ron. "When term starts, it'll be difficult to be low-key," she added.
"But will Hogwarts reopen?" Ron asked worriedly, scratching his cheek. Harry, whose elbows were resting on his knees and whose hands covered his mouth and chin, frowned slightly.
"McGonagall was quite keen in reopening it," he said through his hands. "I don't know what the rest of the teachers make of that, though, except for one, of course." His tone became icy, and Ron and Hermione shared a worried glance. What would Harry do to Snape, if he ever saw the former teacher again, would surely be a spectacle not apt for the weak of stomach.
"And what will we do there?" Ron wanted to know.
"Talk to Dumbledore's portrait; see if he knows something that could lead us to the next Horcrux," Hermione replied, and Harry nodded. Silence enveloped them for a minute after this; Hufflepuff's cup could be anywhere... How long would the hunt last? Would Voldemort come to realize that his precious bits of soul were at danger? Would they be able to destroy all the Horcruxes, before it was too late?
"What did they do with the Death Eaters?" Harry broke the silence, glancing at Ron, who sighed.
"They didn't know what to do with them. They can't send them to Azkaban, obviously, so they have them immobilized in the Ministry," he answered.
"But Voldemort will notice that they're missing! He'll send more Death Eaters to look for them!" Hermione exclaimed worriedly.
"That's what Shacklebolt is afraid of," Ron said. "They don't have many options."
"And Voldemort has spies in the Ministry," Harry said with an odd weary voice. "They need to get out of there, quick."
"Evacuate the Ministry?" Hermione asked, widening her eyes. "That's impossible... Just for two death eaters?"
"They'll be more, once Voldemort finds out," Harry said. "And the Death Eaters will tell the others that Ron took them there, and that you and I knocked them out in Grimmauld Place," he added. Hermione covered her mouth with her hand and Ron went pale. Harry stared at them, his eyes dark- hiding. "We can't stay here for long," he told them dryly.
"Where are we going to go?" Ron asked after swallowing. Harry broke eye contact at this, standing up as straight as he could with the cave's low ceiling.
"I don't know."
"Where are you going?" Hermione asked -almost in a squeak- Harry, who had walked over to the entrance leading to the tunnel.
"I'm going to mount guard," he retorted, not looking at them, and he proceeded to sit down facing the darkness of the entrance. "You two go to sleep," he added.
"Do you want me to stay with you?" Hermione questioned, crawling over to Harry.
"No," he said. Hermione stopped moving, her brow furrowing.
"But Harry, you can't stay up all night alone..." she trailed off.
"It won't be the first time, Hermione," Harry snarled, glaring at her from the corner of his eyes.
"Don't you-" Hermione started angrily, put closed her mouth when she felt Ron's hand on her shoulder. She turned around and he shook his head, nodding in direction of the wall opposite to the entrance. Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but Ron glanced at her meaningfully and pursed his lips, so Hermione decided to follow him.
"What's your problem?" Hermione hissed at Ron once they were pressed against the wall. "Don't you see what he's doing-"
"I know what he's doing," Ron hissed back. "Let him be; we'll talk to him tomorrow," he added. Hermione's frown intensified but didn't say anything at first, refusing to let Harry shut them out like he had done countless times.
"Okay, but we should take turns to guard the cave," Hermione gingerly whispered. Ron nodded.
"No problem there. Goodnight," he abruptly whispered back, lying down on the floor and rolling to his side. Hermione tilted her head sideways, glancing back and forth at Harry and Ron in a contemplative silence. She sighed and leaned against the damp wall, staring at Harry's back (which was as straight as a pin), and hugged her knees. What if Voldemort decided to attack the Ministry? What about Tonks, Lupin, and the rest of the Order? And what would they do? Where would they hide, after leaving this cave? She heard Harry whispering `Nox', and they were plunged into total darkness.
Hermione winced inwardly at this, but didn't move. She didn't like this, no, she didn't. What could happen to them in the darkness? What could they find, if they turned on a light again? Hermione suddenly realized that she was scared. Not scared of the darkness itself, of course, but... Oh, what had they done? Why had they allowed Ron to take the Death Eaters to the Ministry? Sirius's old house would be blown to pieces, and Voldemort would send his minions and henchman to look for Harry, to look for her Harry, and for Ron. She didn't care if she died protecting them, but what would become of her if Harry died? Of course, she'd be a wreck if Ron died, too, but Harry... She couldn't live without him- She'd have no purpose in her life.
Hermione wanted to go over to the entrance and touch Harry to make sure that he was breathing; she wanted him to hug her, so she could find comfort in his warmness, but she didn't dare let him know how she was feeling. Harry had bigger things on his plate now. Her grip around her knees tightened, and she hid her face there. The darkness and silence that surrounded them suddenly became so very real, almost metaphoric; she wanted to scream, but instead felt warm tears sliding down her cheeks.
When had she started crying? And why was she crying, for Merlin's sake? It was just darkness... As long as she could hear Harry and Ron breathing, nothing else mattered.
As Hermione desperately tried to calm down and fall asleep, Harry tensely gripped his wand. He was painfully aware of Hermione's agitated breathing, as well as her mounting discomfort, and he couldn't understand why. He could faintly hear Ron's calm breathing, indicating that he had fallen asleep, but Harry could hear Hermione's as clearly as though she was sitting right next to him. Since that night when they first kissed, he found himself incapable of not being aware of her presence, whatever the situation may be. Why? Had it always been this way, and he had not realized? No, not in this way. There was something... Harry frowned in the darkness. Could it be love? It had to be. Was this what Dumbledore had been trying to explain to him? Surely. But to be felt so strongly? And what about those moments of sudden clarity, a sort of guidance in tough situations?
Harry didn't want to depend on her so much- she was a target, she would always remain a target, and all because of him. Why hadn't he stopped her when she decided to go with him on the hunt? Why hadn't he just left the stupid party without telling anyone? Because she'd turn the world upside down to find you, a small voice in the back of his head replied. Harry smiled shortly. But it shouldn't be that way. They're both in danger because of me, and they shouldn't be. Harry knew that he had hurt Hermione by snapping at her like he had done, but he had needed to be alone, and to think... To get past his sudden fear and insecurity. Hermione needed to be safe. For his sanity, she needed to be safe, and she'd never be safe if she was with him... Harry frowned sorrowfully and thanked that no one could see his face at that exact moment. He wanted to go where Hermione was and embrace her, but he didn't move.
Eventually the night ended and the sun rose, as it always did. Hermione had fallen into an uneasy sleep at some point, and Harry had dozed off once, but when the dim morning light greeted them, both set of tired red eyes met each other while Ron snored quietly in the background. Hermione yawned and crawled over to where Harry was sitting, staring at her with an impassive face.
"Hey," she whispered, kissing him softly.
"Hey." Harry whispered back, looking down.
"Harry..."
"Slept well?" he quickly asked. Hermione frowned slightly.
"No. You?"
"No."
"What's wrong?" Hermione pressed. Harry's lips tensed, but didn't say anything, and she patiently waited for him to speak.
"We can't... We can't be together, Hermione," Harry finally mumbled, looking up at her slowly.
"What?"
"You heard me," Harry whispered, once again breaking eye contact. "It's too dangerous..." he trailed off. Hermione crossed her arms at this, pursing her lips.
"Well, it's not like I didn't see this coming," she retorted.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, please. You still don't get it, do you?" Hermione told him. "We being a couple doesn't make any difference! Voldemort already knows what you mean to me, and what I mean to you. The fact that I'm your girlfriend now is irrelevant to him," she explained. Harry shook his head, but before he could speak, Hermione interrupted him. "And even if it does matter, I don't care. This was my choice, and I don't regret it."
"But-" Harry was cut off when something brown and small flew into the cave, buzzing over their heads, making Hermione shriek and Harry to stand up so quickly that he hit his head on the stone ceiling.
"What? What?!" Ron's sleepy exclamation could be heard. "Is that Pig?" he added in disbelief. Harry, rubbing his head, looked up to see, indeed, a small owl flying in circles above them. The owl hooted and flew towards Harry like a rocket, colliding against his chest.
"Does he have a letter?" Hermione cautiously asked, embarrassed by the way she had screamed, while Ron scrambled towards them. Harry was currently holding the small owl while trying to untie the scrap of parchment tied to its leg.
"Why do Scops have to be so neurotic?" Ron grunted as Harry finally managed to retrieve the letter, hastily opening it and reading it.
"What?" Hermione anxiously asked, biting her lower lip. Harry frowned as he passed her the letter.
Snuffles gave one to you. I have the other. Contact me as soon as you get this.
Nothing else. Hermione raised her eyebrow and passed the note over to Ron, who sported the same face as she did. "Who is it from?" he asked. Hermione shrugged.
"It's Lupin," Harry announced, reading the note again. "He knew we called Sirius that, too. Besides, I recognize the handwriting," he told them. The owl hooted once last time and flew out of the cave as quickly as he had flew in, leaving them alone again.
"But what did Sirius give you?" Hermione wanted to know.
"I don't..." Harry trailed off, running his fingers through his hair. What had his godfather given him, that Lupin could `have the other one'? Ron and Hermione stared at him in silence as his thoughts traveled to Sirius's presents: the firebolt, the knife, the DADA books... Was he forgetting something...? He saw himself staring at something broken at the bottom of his school trunk. "The two way mirror!" he exclaimed.
"The what?" Ron asked, as Harry dipped his hand in his pocket to retrieve his shrunken trunk from it.
"The two way mirror Sirius gave me," Harry explained as he examined what looked to be his trunk. "I just have to say the name of the person who has the other one and I'll see him or her," he explained as carefully placed the small box on the floor and pointed his wand at it, muttering the spell to return it to its original size.
"Why do you carry that around?" Ron questioned, referring to the school trunk, as Harry opened it and started rummaging through his possessions.
"Well, he couldn't leave it in the Dursley household, don't you think?" Hermione said with an unmistakable disgusted face, probably remembering Harry's childhood.
"Right. How did that go?" Ron wanted to know as Harry grunted and threw some books out of the trunk.
"Wonderful; we had tea and everything," Harry's muffled voice was heard. Ron laughed. "Hermione screamed a lot."
"I did not!" she argued when Ron's laughter became stronger. "I just... Told them that they should've treated Harry better."
"And that's why the next door neighbor came to ask my uncle if they needed to call the police," Harry replied as he stood up, triumphant, holding the mirror. Hermione smiled.
"Shut up and give me that," she ordered, hitting Harry on the arm as she examined the mirror critically. "When did Sirius give you this?"
"Fifth year," Harry answered. Hermione raised her eyebrows, wanting to ask him why hadn't he used this to communicate with Sirius, but it would be like throwing salt on an open wound. She merely nodded and handed it back to Harry, who stared at it with something that resembled guiltiness combined with sadness. He shook his head and opened his mouth to say Lupin's name...
"How do we know it's really him?" Ron asked. "It could be a Death Eater or something," he added at Harry's and Hermione's looks.
"We can't shut the world out," Hermione said quietly.
"But he's right," Harry said. "I have an idea." And with that he walked towards the tunnel of the cave, Ron and Hermione behind him.
"I can't see anything," Ron complained as he stepped on Hermione's foot.
"That's the idea," Hermione snapped, rubbing her sore foot. "This way Lupin will only hear Harry's voice, but won't be able to see where we are." Ron didn't reply to that; too busy wondering how Harry and Hermione managed to act as though they could read each other's mind. He remembered being jealous of the way they just looked at each other and knew how the other was feeling, or what he or she was planning... He never had that connection with Hermione.
"Remus Lupin," Harry's clear voice reached Ron's ears, breaking his train of thought. They all leaned over the mirror, apprehensively waiting for Lupin to answer. The mirror's surface blurred for a couple of seconds, and then they could clearly see Lupin's worried semblance, and behind him, what looked to be a library or a living room.
"Harry? Harry, is that you? I can't see you," Lupin said.
"Yes, I'm Harry," he replied. "Professor, I'm sorry about this, but you'll have to prove to me that it's really you."
"I'm glad you're taking precautions; ask me anything." he was speaking quickly, urgently.
"In your fifth year, what did my father liked doing, out in the grounds and near the lake?" Lupin smiled.
"Sometimes he played with a snitch he had stolen. And he liked to ruffle his hair, depending on Lily being nearby or not, and hexing Snivellus." Harry smiled back and paid no heed to Hermione's and Ron's perplexed glances. "Well, Harry, now that we know it's me... Are you alright? Are Ron and Hermione with you?"
"Why?" Harry suspiciously asked. Lupin sighed.
"Molly's going spare," he started, "but that's not our main concern. I don't want any of you to come remotely near Grimmauld Place, you hear me?" Lupin's features became stern at this.
"Why?" Harry repeated with a frown, but he knew why Lupin was giving them this warning.
"The Death Eaters escaped from the Ministry," Lupin said with a heavy voice, and Hermione gasped. "We believe that the spies in the Ministry helped them." The trio shared a silence after this scrap of information. "Harry, please be careful of who you three talk to, and try to blend in, okay? If you ever need to contact me, or the Order, use this mirror. Don't return to the Ministry, either."
"We won't," Harry replied tensely. "You should get out of there too."
"We can't have a massive evacuation or let the spies take hold of what we're doing; it would be a massacre. We're trying." Lupin let out a long sigh. "I have to go now, Harry. Be careful." and with that Lupin's face became blurred and the mirror didn't reflect anything but the darkness of the tunnel.
"We have to get out of here," Ron stated, breaking the silence.
"Let's wait until tomorrow," Hermione suggested in a whisper. "If the Death Eaters are on the loose, it's guaranteed that they'll be looking for us- We can't apparate directly to Hogwarts, and we have to warn someone that we're going there," she added. They both turned to look at Harry, waiting for him to tell them what to do.
"I don't know," he finally mumbled. "I don't know where we could hide." He suddenly felt so tired...
"I'll reinforce the Confundus," Hermione said bracingly. "Let's stay put here, and something will come to us. It always does."
"I'll go with you," Ron retorted. Harry didn't object to that, and slowly turned around to return
to the cave while putting the mirror in his pocket. Where could they go? What if they went to Hogwarts and the Death
Eaters decided to attack the place? Harry sat down on the floor and closed his eyes, sighing. He was so deep in thought
that he didn't notice Ron sitting down next to him in silence. Hermione placed all of
Harry's belongings in his trunk again and shrunk it in silence. Once the work was done, she went over to her best
friends and sat next to Harry. He smiled at her and pocketed his trunk. Hermione rested her head on Harry's
shoulder, closing her eyes, wondering what could she tell Harry to make him feel better, but nothing came to her.
"Harry, you should get some sleep," she finally whispered, lifting her head.
"How do you expect me to?" Harry snarled.
"I know," she said barely above a whisper. "But you need your strength. Ron and I will mount guard." Ron nodded at this, smiling bravely.
"But you didn't sleep last night either," Harry argued.
"I'll be alright... I'll sleep later. Please, Harry... We'll think of something." She begged, touching his arm. Harry opened his mouth to complain when Ron interrupted him.
"It'll do us no good if you're so tired that you can't pronounce a Stupefy," he said. Harry closed his mouth and after a moment's hesitation smiled weakly.
"Thank you," he told them quietly, lowering his face. Hermione smiled widely and kissed his forehead, crawling over to the entrance next to Ron. Within the next ten minutes, Harry had fallen asleep. Hermione bit her lower lip as she glanced at him sleeping. It reminded her of the nightmare she had had last night: Harry had died, and she had found his body in the middle of the battle field while flashes of green light shot from everywhere around her.
"You can sleep if you want to," Ron muttered. "You look terrible."
"Why thank you," Hermione retorted with a smile. "I can hold on a little bit longer." Ron nodded. They were in silence for a few minutes, and then... "Ron, can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Last time you fought with Harry, it took you like two weeks or more to forgive him... What made you apologize so fast to us?" Hermione wanted to know. Ron examined his wand as he shrugged.
"The slap was a good start," he begun. "I just... I realized... Well... I did realize that we were at War, you know, and that Harry... well..." Ron stuttered, blushing.
"That Harry may not have that much time left?" Hermione completed in a shaky whisper. Ron agreed with his head.
"I do believe that he'll kick Voldemort's sorry ass, but... he could also die while doing so." his voice was so low that Hermione could barely catch the words.
"I know."
"But he won't be alone," he added.
"Words fail me," Hermione whispered, starting to smile. "Have I just heard you talking maturely?"
"You have little faith in me."
"Can anyone blame me?"
"Shut up and go sleep with Harry."
And for the first time in a while, Hermione actually complied with what Ron had told her to do.
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It felt as though she had just slept a second when she felt someone shaking her, but the cave was again pitch black, so she supposed she had slept throughout the day? Harry's hands were around her waist, cradling her close to him, but she had little time to ponder on that.
"Hermione, Harry, wake up!" Ron was whispering over and over again, still shaking them. He sounded close to tears.
"Waz th'matter?" Hermione mumbled. She felt Harry stirring beside her.
"Wake up, wake up!" Ron urged again.
"Wha' is it?" Harry groggily asked. Hermione heard Ron swallowing.
"There are voices," he started. "Voices outside the cave," he added in a terrified whisper.
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A/N: I hope you liked it... And that you'll leave me a review! On other note, I can't tell when I'll be updating again; I'm writing chapter nine and it's becoming very difficult, so I hope you'll be patient with me? I'm going on a rough time in my life, too, and I'm sure that if I rush it, I'll end up writing a chapter where everyone dies or something equally angsty- I'll try my best to finish soon, though. Thanks for reading!
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