Saving your life

“We were worried,” Ron added, as she finally sat in front of them.

“I just needed some fresh air, needed to get out of here a few hours.”

“Are you keeping things from us again?” Harry asked.

“I’m not keeping anything from you, and if I did before, you know very well I can’t remember.” They looked at each other for a moment, frowning, but then turned back to her.

“The night you were attacked, we were about to leave,” said Harry.

“Leave?”

“Horcrux hunting,” Ron explained.

“But we were supposed to leave much sooner than that,” she said confused.

“Well, you asked us to wait some time and we did. By the time we decided to leave, well, you know what happened to you...”

“So, we never left?”

“No, but we think we should,” Harry answered.

“Look, we’ve got something to show you,” Ron said, before she had time to say anything. She watched him as he reached inside his pocket, and retrieved and old locket.

“Isn’t that…?” she said, frowning, as she took a closer look. “Isn’t that the locket you found in the cave, with Dumbledore?” she asked, turning to Harry, and gasped when she saw another locket, just like the one Ron was holding, in Harry’s hand.

“No, this is the fake one,” Harry said, with a smile. “That’s the real one.”

“You found one of them?” she asked, surprised.

“We did. Thanks to your potion, of course.”

“My potion?”

“Yes, the one you brewed for us. I had run out, but Ginny found a few more bottles in your bedroom. I thought I might just use them, see if I found something worthy, and I did.”

“I don’t remember any potion, what was it for?”

“Well, to be honest, I didn’t really understand the whole explanation,” he said, apologetically, “but it worked like the Mirror of Erised, only you could focus on a subject, and see what you desired, related to it.”

“Wow, I don’t remember ever reading anything like it. So how did you find the locket?”

“In a vision, I saw us cleaning up Sirius’ house, that summer we stayed there, and I saw the locket being thrown away with the other stuff. We were hoping Kreacher would have taken it, and so we went to Grimmauld place and asked him. He didn’t want to, but had to tell me the truth; thankfully, he had taken it, and was keeping it in his cupboard.”

“Have you…?”

“Yes, we destroyed it; it’s not a Horcrux anymore,” Harry answered, guessing what she had wanted to ask.

“How?”

“Well, since basilisk poison worked with the Diary, we thought we could try it again,” Ron explained.

“That’s not something easy to find.”

“Well, it is, if you talk to the right person. It wasn’t cheap, but Mundungus got us some.”

Her lips parted in surprise, and she slowly turned to Ron, her fingers moving closer to the locket, taking it from his hands to have a better look. As if she was expecting something to jump out of it and attack her, she slowly opened it, and sure enough, there was a hole on the inside, the little crystal definitely broken. It was hard to believe such a small object could have contained something so dangerous and powerful.

“We are leaving, to find the others,” said Harry.

“When?”

“Soon.”

“Probably in just a couple of days,” added Ron.

“Where will we go?” she asked, and noticed both her friends smile broadly at her.

“It’s good to know you’re still planning on joining us,” Harry explained, when she looked at him confused.

“Well, of course I am, I couldn’t very well leave the two of you alone. Merlin knows you would be back within the week, begging for my help,” she said, smirking.

“No way,” Ron retorted, feigning outrage.

“That’s right, we would be too ashamed to come back,” Harry said, and they all laughed.

“Well, if we are leaving in just a couple of days, then we should get some rest, and start packing in the morning. I’ll make a list f all the things we could need.”

“That’s our girl,” Harry laughed, and they all walked up the stairs and into their respective bedrooms.

Her bed was covered in books and clothes as she tried to decide what she needed to take with her. She had been at it since first thing that morning, Reducing things and carefully placing them in her magically expanded bag, only to take them back out and spelling them to their original size next.

She heard the door open behind her, and turned around to find Harry peering inside.

“Charlie and the twins are here; we’re playing Quidditch, do you want to join us?” he asked. “You deserve some rest,” he added, when he realized she was about to refuse.

“There are still so many things I need to do,” she complained.

“Oh, some on; we’re not leaving for another two days, there’s still plenty of time,” he said, a hopeful smile on his face he knew perfectly well she couldn’t resist.

“All right,” she finally sighed. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Without another word, he left at a run, but not a minute had passed before she heard footsteps moving closer again.

“I said I’d be there, just give me five minutes, would you?” she said, slightly irritated, but when he didn’t answer, she turned around again to face the door. It wasn’t Harry that was standing there.

“Oh, Professor, I’m sorry; I thought you were Harry,” she said, but frowned when she noticed his eyes on her bed, looking at the things spread on top of it and her half-full bag with a strange expression.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“What does it look like I’m doing? She retorted, surprising herself with her attitude, but the way he was looking at her, and at the bed, made her feel uncomfortable.

“Well, it looks like you are packing,” he answered coldly, “But surely you are not fool enough to even consider leaving this place.”

“I can take care of myself,” she said, reducing another book and throwing it in her bag.”

“Oh course, how could I forget?” he mocked coldly. “I’ve witness your ability to look after yourself not long ago. I do seem to remember, however, having to bring you back here, barely alive.”

“And how do I know it wasn’t you who planned the attack?” she blurted out, without thinking, and saw him stiffen at her words.

“I am loyal to the Order, as I have proved many times. And trust me, if I wanted you dead, you would be long gone by now. Will you stop that?” he almost yelled at her, yanking the bag from her fingers when he noticed she had turned back to the table to resume the packing as he spoke.

“Give it back!” she yelled, trying to get the bag from him, but his free hand wrapped around her wrist, stopping her.

There it was again, that damned tingle in her skin, and all she could think of was moving closer to the man standing in front of her. She blinked a few times, trying to clear her head, and then tried to step back, but he didn’t let go.

“It’s not only your life you are risking by leaving; you know that, don’t you?” he asked, but she couldn’t bring herself to answer. “The Dark Lord wants all of you dead,” he continued, “How long do you think it would take him to find out you are out there unprotected?” he asked. Even though he was sneering down at her, she could see concern in his eyes.

“Well, surely not long, seeing as you already know it. And why do you even care?” she said, trying to free her arm again.

“I care,” he said angrily, tightening his hold on her wrist and pulling her a little closer to him, “because if you leave, and he finds out, it will be my neck on the line for not telling him."

“A wizard like you, I’m sure you wouldn’t be in much trouble.” She couldn’t really understand why she was behaving like that; all she knew was that having him so close was making her nervous, and not necessarily in a bad way.

Ever so slowly, her body inched closer, the tingle caused by his touch was driving her crazy, and she felt her gaze darting from his eyes to his lips.

“What are you playing at?” he asked breathlessly, but didn’t move.

“I’m not,” she answered slowly.

“If they find you, they’ll kill you and your friends,” he said, in the same breathless tone he had used before. She slowly shook her head no, her lips slightly parted as she simply looked at him. She saw his gaze dart to her lips for a second, but before neither could say anything, they heard loud footsteps moving closer, and Harry’s voice calling her name.

“What’s taking you so long?” he asked, but stopped dead on his tracks when he reached the open door, shocked at finding Snape still holding her wrist, and standing too close to her; neither had moved at hearing Harry coming closer.

“What’s going on?” he asked, and only then did Snape let go of her wrist and step back. She was still too shocked at what had been about to happen to say or do much.

“Nothing,” she mumbled, taking her bag from Snape’s hand and leaving it on the bed.

“I came to give you this,” Snape told her, his hand reaching inside his pocket.

“What is it?” she asked, as she took the vial he offered.

“It’s a pain potion. Molly said you were having headaches, and asked me to brew this for you.”

“Well, if that’s all,” Harry interrupted, standing next to Hermione. “The others are waiting,” he told her, taking her hand and dragging her out of the room before she could say anything.

A light tap on the window awoke her. Looking at her watch, she saw it was almost midnight. She turned in bed and covered her head with the pillow, but as the tapping persisted, she got up with a groan and walked to the window.

As soon as the window was opened, a small, tawny owl flew inside, going past her and resting on her bed, its leg outstretched so she could take the small parcel tied to it. She stood by the window for a few moments, wondering how an owl she had never seen before had managed to fly through the wards, but then the bird hooted and batted its wings indignantly at having to wait, and she hurried to take the parcel, before Ginny would wake up.

Without wasting a moment, the bird flew back out the window, and she sat on her bed, carefully opening the package. She frowned when she saw a small stone fall from it. “What’s this?” she asked to herself, as she reached for the stone again, but the moment she touched it, it glowed, the room spinning around her, and she panicked, as she realized the stone had been a Portkey.

She fell with a loud thud in the middle of a darkened room, and looked around, eyes narrowing as she tried to see if there was anyone else. Slowly and silently, she got up, and tiptoed closer to the wall. She saw a flash of light then, just a few feet away from where she had been before, and then two figures fell to the floor, groaning loudly. She didn’t have her wand, so there wasn’t much she could do, other than wait and find out what was going on.

“Are you all right?” she heard one of the figures say, and she instantly recognized it.

“Dad?” she asked, shocked.

“Hermione?”

“Hermione, where are you, sweetie?” her mother asked, and Hermione ran forwards, hugging her tightly.

“Are you ok, honey?”

“I missed you so much,” she said, and then, as her eyes adjusted to the dark, she looked up at her parents. “How did you get here?”

“Your friend did it. With that teacup over there,” she said, pointing at the cup lying on the floor, close to the little stone that had taken her there.

“My friend?”

“Oh, that’s right, he said you didn’t remember. What happened to you? Are you all right?” her father asked, worriedly.

“I’m fine, it wasn’t serious. I’ve been looking for you two for days, I was so worried.”

“Didn’t he tell you where we were?”

“Who?”

“Well, I don’t know who he is, and he always wears that mask when he visits,” her mother explained.

“But what happened? Why did you move?”

“Well, one night…” her mother started, but her father interrupted.

“Maybe we shouldn’t be telling her this; he asked us not to.”

“What? No, please, you have to tell me what you know,” she begged.

“But he said you’d be safer.”

“Please, I’m tired of people keeping things from me, because they think they know what’s best for me. I need to know.”

“You just showed up one night at home, with him, and you both dragged us out of the house. You said someone was there for us,” her mother said, before her husband could interrupt her.

“They attacked you?” she asked, shocked.

“Yes,” she answered, and told her a few other details of that night. “Then you took us somewhere else, and told us we couldn’t go back home. We spent the night there, and in the morning, you gave us one of those transporting thingies and it took us to another house, which is where we are living now.”

“Where?”

“We don’t know, we can’t go out, but he left a house elf to help us, and he visits often, to make sure we have everything we need.”

“And you don’t know who he is?” she asked them, but they shook their heads.

“I told you he always wears that mask, and we never heard his name.”

“Is there anything you can tell me about him? Anything at all?”

“Well, he is tall, and rather quiet,” her mother answered.

She was about to ask something else, but a strange glow coming from the floor distracted her. As she looked around, she noticed the cup was shining orange, and her stone blue.

“That means we only have ten more minutes,” his father said, and hugged her. “You can come with us,” he said, hopefully.

“You know I can’t, dad. But I’m glad to know you are safe.”

“Take care of yourself, honey,” her mother said, as she hugged her too.

“You too. I’m sure this will all be over soon, and we’ll be together at home again.”

“When will we see you again?”

“Soon, I promise. I’ll talk to my friend, see what we can do,” she answered.

“I think it’s time,” her father said, as both the cup and the stone glowed brighter.

“I’ll miss you,” she said, hugging them both again.

“We’ll miss you too, sweet heart. Make sure you stay out of trouble,” her father said, making her laugh slightly.

The three of them reached for the Portkeys, and just as she felt the tug in her belly, she smiled at them, and muttered, “I love you.”

As soon as her feet hit solid ground again, she took the coin Draco had given her, and tapped it with her wand, asking him to meet her right away. Concentrating hard on the cabin he had taken her the last time, she closed her eyes and Apparated there. She had been pacing around for almost half an hour, thinking about what her parents had told her, before he Apparated there.

“This better be important, love. Do you know what time it is?” Draco said, as he walked through the door to the cabin, but before he had time to say anything else, she launched herself at him, hugging him tightly.

“You saved my parents, thank you,” she muttered by his ear, so distracted she didn’t even notice him stiffen slightly at her words, as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“My pleasure, love,” he said noncommittally.

“You don’t know how much they mean to me,” she said, her arms still tightly around him.

“I do know how important family can be,” he answered, and she pulled back.

“Your family.”

“What about them?”

“They are still with Voldemort,” she said, and he cringed at hearing the name.

“They are,” he answered simply.

“If you came to the Order, maybe they could help them out. Your mother at least,” she said, and noticed a change in his expression. He seemed surprised at her words, touched, but it was gone in an instant.

“I can’t take the risk,” he answered, barely above a whisper. “If he suspected I was…” he trailed off, and took a deep breath. “He would kill them, and then kill me as well.”

“It doesn’t have to be like this,” she said softly, surprised at seeing emotion in his usually cold eyes.

“I have to go, or they will notice I’m gone,” he said, turning around and leaving right away, not giving her a chance to respond.

***

“What did the girl want?” the cold voice asked, as soon as he Apparated back.

“Nothing important; the stupid mudblood just couldn’t sleep, and wanted to ask me about the weeks she’s forgotten, about our ‘meetings’,” he answered.

“And what did you tell her?”

“Exactly what you told me to,” he retorted, just as coldly.

“This will have to go faster; I need to know where they are keeping him.”

“If I push too much, she’ll know something is wrong.”

“Then make sure you distract her, so she won’t notice,” the voice said. “Go inside now, your mother was looking for you.”