October 15, 1997
It was pouring rain and it had been for three days. The three of them had been stuck in the tent the whole time and they were all stir crazy to say the least. Hermione had to admit that she was probably the best of the bunch since she was the most used to staying inside, Ron being the worst. He was surly at the best of times and the horcrux made it worse.
Ron had been doing better for a week now. They had made a trip into a small muggle village a few days ago to get supplies since they were so far away from London and Ron had been disappointed to find that they didn't carry many of the foods that he had grown up with, only basic supplies like flour, eggs, and milk. Hermione wasn't the best when it came to cooking either, so it had fallen to Harry to cook for the three of them, something that he hadn't been too thrilled about. However, he had done so with no complaint, knowing that their survival was reliant upon it.
Of course, Ron went back to complaining full time when the food wasn't up to his mother's standards. It was just like when Hermione had been foraging and he had been taking his anger out on her. Of course, Harry took it far better than she ever did but that was beside the point. Her best friend just ignored Ron to the point where he acted like he didn't exist, which angered the redhead more.
Since they were tent-bound due to the rain, Harry and Ron had played chess for three days straight. Hermione was completely horrid at the game so she refused to put herself through the humiliation of losing to Ron since he couldn't let her lose gracefully; he had to rub it in her face for a half hour each time that her superb intellect had lost to him. Therefore, she had concentrated her efforts on researching just where the next horcrux could be. After all, they were going to have to start searching for them eventually.
Since one of the horcruxes was an artefact belonging to Slytherin, she wondered if there was a possibility of them being other artefacts belonging to the founders, considering the memories that Dumbledore had shown Harry. There had been the memory about Hufflepuff's Cup belonging to Hepzibah Smith and how she had been poisoned, the Cup disappearing after her death. Ron and Harry weren't sure what to make of the memories but she thought it was too much of a coincidence to just be a simple robbery, especially since Tom Riddle had been involved.
Hermione had been at it for hours and had made it no further than she had in the last three days. Therefore, she turned her attention on how to destroy the horcrux they had. Slytherin's locket was wearing on all of them, wearing them down and making their nerves even more frayed than they would be normally. Hermione hated who she was when she wore the locket; she turned inward and focused all her attention on the traits within herself that she hated. She berated herself for not being able to solve the problems and riddles of the horcrux hunt fast enough and told herself that Harry blamed her for them being out in the wilderness. When she was horcrux-free, she knew that it wasn't the truth, but when she was bogged down with the locket, it was hard as hell to tell herself that.
Harry took the blame for everything while he wore it. His eyes became dark and his aura darkened; it was almost as though he took on the darkness of the object he wore around his neck. He always seemed just a little closer to snapping; Hermione never feared him, per se, but she feared for Ron more than once. Harry could be downright volatile if provoked while wearing the locket. Ron, on the other hand, was just a large whiny child when he wore it. He complained about everything and nothing was ever good enough. She got so sick of listening to him bitch that she would have to cast a silencing charm around herself or end up losing her temper or bursting into tears.
Hermione was trying to figure out just what else could be used to kill the horcruxes; of course the basilisk venom would work, Harry had already demonstrated that. It was theorized that the killing curse would work but there were other studies that said that it didn't. It would have been nice if Dumbledore could have helped them out just a little bit in the killing off the horcruxes department. Then it hit her like the Hogwarts Express.
Maybe he had.
Hermione let out a squeal of excitement and jumped from her seat on the couch to go through the books next to her bed. Harry and Ron stopped playing their game to watch her, clearly interested in what had her so excited. She pulled the book she needed from the bottom of the pile, a book on the Sword of Gryffindor, the one and only artefact left from Godric Gryffindor. Harry stood and came over to where she had re-seated herself, rubbing her shoulders softly while she flipped through the pages frantically. She barely noticed his touch.
"What has you so excited, 'Mi?" he asked her, clearly interested. She flashed him an excited grin.
"The basilisk venom killed the diary, we've already established that. How did you kill the basilisk though?" she waited for him to answer, a small smile on her face. Harry's eyebrows drew inward as he thought.
"I stabbed it up through the mouth into the brain with Gryffindor's Sword," he explained. She gave him an encouraging nod.
"Gryffindor's Sword is goblin-made so it takes in that which makes it stronger. You stabbed the basilisk through the mouth, meaning it absorbed the venom." Harry seemed to make the connection at that very moment. He pulled her from the couch and spun her around in a circle in his arms and Hermione couldn't help but to laugh, the first genuine one in days. His voice was triumphant.
"Gryffindor's Sword can kill horcruxes, that's why Dumbledore left it to me," he proclaimed. Harry set her down with a smile and Hermione was just getting ready to start researching on just where the Sword could be located when Ron's sour voice startled them both.
"Nice of you to figure it out now, Hermione. Why didn't you figure it out while we were still in school? At least then we could have gotten the Sword, now we have no idea where the fucking Sword is or how to go about getting it! Just one more fucking mystery that the great Hermione Granger hasn't figured out yet! I thought you were supposed to be smart!" Hermione felt her eyes prick with tears but she blinked them away and stepped forward to tell Ron to fuck off but she was beat to it by Harry. Since Ron was the one wearing the locket, she was surprised to see the dark look in his eyes.
All she knew is that what was about to come wasn't going to be good.
-O-
Harry had been so happy that Hermione had figured out how to destroy the horcruxes. Ron sent those good feelings spiraling in a matter of seconds with his hateful words to Hermione. He was becoming more and more protective of Hermione as the days passed and he wasn't sure why; Ron had noticed, he was sure of it. He knew that Hermione had but she had been kind enough to keep quiet of it, leaving him to deal with his problems on his own, knowing that he was embarrassed about it.
Now, to hear Ron attacking her, telling her that she should have made the connection a long time ago while they were still at school, broke something inside him. He wasn't even wearing the locket; he knew that the locket brought out his darker nature. Right now, he wanted to hurt Ron for hurting Hermione, for making her want to cry. He didn't have to look at her face to know that she was blinking back tears. He had known her for seven long years; he liked to think that he knew her better than anybody.
Harry stepped between Ron and Hermione and took a menacing step forward. With his new enormous size, he was quite intimidating. Hermione was the only one who didn't seem to think so. In fact, he found it a little humorous that when he and Ron argued, she gravitated towards him. Ron took a step back but the hateful look in his eyes remained. Harry clenched his fists so he wouldn't be tempted to clock his friend in the nose unless he really deserved it.
"You need to lay the fuck off her, mate. None of this is Hermione's fault, it isn't anybody's fault. We're doing the best we can with what we've got," he told him. Ron scoffed.
"You're right, this isn't all Hermione's fault, it's yours. You were the one meeting with Dumbledore, you should have learned more. You should have asked the right questions and we wouldn't be stuck out here in the fucking wilderness, in the cold rain for days on end, with no idea what's going on with my family. This is all your fault." Hermione threw herself in between them and put her hands on both their chests to keep them apart.
"Ron, you don't mean any of that. Harry is doing the best he can. He told us everything that Dumbledore told him," she pleaded with him desperately. Ron stepped up to her menacingly and Harry went on high alert. He grabbed Hermione by the shoulders and thrust her behind him, feeling just a twinge of guilt when she stumbled. Even though he wanted to pummel his best mate into the ground, he tried one last time to make peace before he did something that he couldn't ever take back.
"Mate, I understand how hard this is for you. I know that you're worried about your family. I'm worried for them too. We're doing the only thing we can do though and they would want us to keep safe which is exactly what we're doing. If you get caught, you're going to get sent to Azkaban. They saw right through your ghoul with spattergroit trick, they know that you're with me. The fact that your family knew nothing of our plans kept them safe. You need to be glad that we kept them safe in that aspect," he tried to reassure his friend. Ron, however, turned a sort-of puce color as he exploded.
"You understand how I feel? You're worried for them too? That's fucking rich, Harry, coming from you. You don't understand a fucking thing about how I feel. You know why, Harry?" Ron waited only a second before continuing, not even long enough for Harry to answer if he wanted to. "I'll tell you why. Your family is dead. Your mum and dad are dead, Harry, because of you. Sirius is dead because of you. Your whole fucking family is dead so you have no idea what the fuck it feels like to not know if they're alive or not. You don't get to act like you know." Ron was panting by the time he was done. Harry wanted to be angry but he wasn't. Every word Ron spoke was true. His whole family was dead and they were dead because of him.
Harry stepped back and bowed his head just a little, conceding to Ron. However, he didn't realize that Hermione was going to fly past him and shove Ron as hard as she could. He stumbled back a few steps but stayed upright. His eyes snapped to the tiny girl before him but before he could react, she was yelling.
"How dare you, Ronald?! Harry wasn't to blame for his parents or Sirius dying, I can't believe that you would even think that. You need to take that horcrux off right now, that why you're saying these horrid things right now," she commanded him. He sneered at her and took a step forward.
"Of course, here you are defending him, just like always. It's no wonder that Ginny doesn't like you. You're so far up Harry's arse, how is she supposed to have a real relationship with him? You're going to ruin any chance of happiness he has with Ginny or any other girl out there because you just can't leave him the fuck alone. I guess you just could never see that I fancied you, I was never rich or famous enough." Harry let out a growl that he just couldn't help. Ron took another step towards Hermione but he was done. He couldn't deal with Ron and his drama and he wasn't going to stand for him making Hermione feel like shite either.
"Give me the horcrux and get the fuck out. I don't care where the fuck you go but don't come back," Harry told him. Ron gave him a dumbfounded look for just a second before the rage passed over his features. He reached up and yanked on the chain that held the horcrux before he threw it at Harry's face. He caught it easily and tucked it into his pocket while he continued to stare at his best mate.
"It's time for you to get your shite and leave," he told him again. Ron backed off angrily and started to throw all his things into a duffel bag as quickly as he could. He could hear Hermione sniffling next to him but he didn't acknowledge her. He figured that it would make things worse and he didn't want that. He would comfort her after Ron was gone. Her voice was soft, breaking through his train of thought.
"Do you want me to get your things from my bag?" she asked Ron. Ron just glared at her.
"No, I want you to keep them. That way while I'm gone, you can stare at my things and wonder how I am, wonder if I've been caught, if I'm suffering in Azkaban, wonder if I'm dead. I think that's a good punishment for you, Hermione." Harry heard a quiet sob from the girl he considered family and he finally moved close enough to wrap an arm around her shoulders.
"Get the fuck out, Ron." Ron didn't bother to look at him. He stepped forward and grabbed Hermione's wrist and pulled her to him, wrapping an arm around her waist so he could kiss her soundly on the mouth. Harry felt something inside him roar in fury and he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. Before he could react, however, Hermione shoved herself away from him, wiping her mouth angrily. Ron just grinned impishly at her.
"You could come with me, Hermione. Without the horcrux, I'd treat you better," he promised. Hermione shook her head incredulously.
"Ron, I can't leave. Even if I never touch Harry again or watch him with Ginny every night, I swore that I would help him with the horcruxes. You did too and you're being such an arse. This is too important than just one person," she told him. His face turned ugly and he shoved her out of the way, sending her crashing to the floor. She let out a cry of pain and Harry couldn't hold it back any longer.
The Chosen One lunged forward and drew back his fist, hitting his best mate right in the nose. Blood exploded everywhere, spraying them both. Ron rallied quickly, his fist catching Harry in the side of the head; it was hard enough to make him see spotty for just a few moments. Harry retaliated by ramming Ron in the stomach with his shoulder, taking him to the ground so he could start pummeling him over and over wherever he could land a punch. It only lasted a minute or so before Hermione got a hold of his arm and pulled him off Ron backwards; both of them were panting and they were both bleeding. Ron was sneering at Harry and Harry was glaring right back. Hermione had tears down her cheeks, clearly upset with the whole situation. Finally, she broke the silence and Harry felt terrible that she had to do it.
"I'm going to heal you, Ron, but then you need to go." Ron pushed himself to his feet and grabbed his bag. There was a brief moment where Harry was sure that he saw remorse there and he almost called out to his best mate, telling him to stop and beg him to work things out. Ron didn't say a word to him, however. He looked to Hermione and gave her a sad smile.
"I thought I loved you. I can see that it was one-sided but that isn't your fault. I've been a prick. Don't give him your heart, Hermione, he's still in love with Gin. I've seen them together. He can't keep his hands off her. I just don't want you to get hurt. Keep each other safe."
With that, Ron was gone.
The crack of apparition told the truth, that Ron wasn't coming back. He had well and truly left the wards and he wasn't going to be able to find his way back. Harry felt a rush of guilt; he had ran his best mate off because he had told him some harsh truths and he hadn't liked how he had talked to Hermione, a girl that was well and truly capable of taking care of herself.
However, what hurt the most was the fact that Ron had managed to turn Hermione from him in just one parting comment. What sucked more than anything was that it was true. The last time Ron had seen him and Ginny together, he hadn't been able to keep his hands off of her; however, things had changed. He no longer thought of Ginny like that. His emotions in regards to her had cooled though he had no explanations as to why.
Ron had made it sound as though Hermione had fancied him; if that was true, she would never give him the time of day now that she thought he was still pining after Ginny. It wouldn't matter what he told her. Not to mention, she had seen herself the lust between himself and Ginny. It made him sick now to think about; he couldn't imagine watching Hermione and Ron perform oral sex while he was in the same room. He probably would have murdered Ron. He briefly wondered if that was part of the reason why Ron had been such a cocksucker these last few months; he had seen Harry and Hermione growing closer when he had been in love with her the whole time.
Harry moved closer to Hermione and wrapped an arm around her shoulders but she pulled away just a little. Harry sighed as he turned her so he could stare into her eyes. They were only a little wet, just enough to make them shine even brighter. Her shoulders were slumped and she looked defeated.
"Are you alright, 'Mi?" he asked. She nodded, clearly not wanting to speak. He put a finger under her chin and pulled up to force her to meet his gaze.
"Don't listen to a word he said, 'Mi. I told you before we even left that I broke it off with Gin. You aren't breaking anything up between her and I." She nodded at him but still didn't say anything. He wasn't sure if he should push it or just let it go, showing her that it was her that was taking the largest part in his heart, that it was her that had held it for as long as he could remember, really.
Knowing that he didn't like to be pushed when he was upset, he let her go and bid her to go change into her pajamas. It was long past nightfall and since there were now only two of them, there was no sense in them keeping watch. Neither one of them would get enough sleep if they did that. Therefore, he was going to set a spell that he had learned from a book in the Black library that was on the darker side of grey, using some of his blood, that would alert them if someone crossed their wards.
Harry hurried to set the spell while she changed. It took him only a few minutes, drawing a few runes in his blood on the ward line. He was just coming back in when Hermione emerged from the bathroom with her pajamas on, her teeth brushed and hair combed. She puttered around the kitchen while Harry went to the bathroom to change and perform his nightly ablutions, emerging only a few minutes later. She glanced at him nervously, finally voicing her concerns.
"Are we not keeping watch anymore?" she asked. He shook his head.
"No, if we did, we wouldn't get any sleep. I read about a spell in the Black library and set it on the perimeter. It's blood magic but it'll keep us safe. Besides, we could both use a full nights sleep." She gave him a concerned look but said nothing. She eyed the smaller bed that Ron had used and he was quick to veto that.
"I don't want you to sleep in the other bed, 'Mi. It's October and it's cold outside. We share body heat and I like knowing that you're next to me. I know that you're safe because I can reach out and touch you. It would make me nervous if I didn't know you were safe next to me," he pleaded with her. He could see that his words affected her but he wasn't sure how. It looked like there was a battle going on inside her and she had no choice but to agree with him.
"Alright, Harry. I'll sleep in the big bed but on my side. I know what you're saying about Ginny but I know how she feels about you. It doesn't feel right to me to be this close to you when my friend still thinks there something between you. It makes me feel like a shitty friend. I feel like I'm putting you in a shitty position with Ginny." Harry wanted to scream at her that she was being ridiculous, that Ginny didn't fucking matter any more, but he wasn't going to. Hermione was truly trying to be a good person and she didn't want to feel like a homewrecker. Therefore, he smiled at her and nodded.
"That's fine, 'Mi. I'll try to stay on my side if that makes you feel better. However, you're awfully warm, it's hard sometimes." He cracked a smile since he knew that it would likely make her smile. He wasn't disappointed and she flipped him off with a smile as she crawled under the blankets on her side of the bed. Harry doused the lights and crawled in on his side.
He waited patiently for a half hour before he finally heard her soft and even breaths from her side of the bed; it was literally sixty seconds later that she rolled his way and he opened his arms to her. This had been happening for six weeks now; they would take turns rolling to the other when they fell asleep. Harry pulled her into his side and made sure that she was tucked up against him as tightly as he could manage. He turned his head so he could rest his cheek against her head, taking in the scent of her shampoo as he let his eyes fall closed.
As much as the events of the evening had fucking sucked, this was as close to heaven as he had been in a long time.
-O-
Ron knew that there were likely people watching the ward line of the Burrow so he made sure to apparate directly into the house; it was the only way to make sure that he wasn't seen. Only a blood Weasley could manage that. Of course, he scared the life out of his mother, the only person home when he arrived. Her eyes about popped out of her head when she saw him.
However, he didn't receive the warm welcome that he had hoped to.
Ron had been hoping to hear about the family, hoped to hear that everyone was safe and that they were all complying with the rules set forth by the Ministry since he was the only one wanted at the moment. Of course, they were all suspected as Order members but none of them were confirmed. In fact, he was the one bringing danger to his family just by being there. It was stupid of him to come but he had to know if they were safe or not.
His mother, however, had not been pleased to see him at all. She had shrieked with rage at seeing him, told him what an imbecile he was for leaving his friends, and how he was going to ruin absolutely everything that she had planned. Of course, Ron had no idea just what the fuck she was talking about. She was ranting about a potion that he was supposed to administer and it took him several minutes to remember that he had promised her that he would give Hermione her contraceptive potion at the end of October. When he realized that this was what had her all bent out of shape, he had given her an awful glare and told her that Hermione would be just fine without her bloody contraceptive potion until she met up with him again. It was at this moment that Ron learned that his mother was far more conniving than he ever gave her credit for.
"Contraceptive potion? What are you talking about? I've never given that girl a contraceptive potion in her life. You were supposed to give her a suppression potion." his mum had burst out at him. Ron just stared at her dumbly for almost a full minute before finally speaking.
"Suppression potion for what?" His mother smacked him in the back of the head hard enough to make him yowl in indignation.
"Use the brains that my considerable genes gave you, Ronald. What hierarchy are you?" she questioned him. Ron frowned as he answered.
"I'm a beta, I've known since I turned seventeen. What does that have to do with anything?" She smacked him again.
"I was called to Hogwarts when Hermione turned seventeen. She went into heat and went to Madam Pomfrey because she didn't understand what was happening to her, she didn't understand what the heat in her loins was. She's an omega and since she I was close to her, I was called in to help explain. Poppy agreed to give her a suppression potion through the school year to suppress her heat cycles so she could function until she found her alpha or until the summer. Regardless, when summer came, the potion was to stop. However, I kept making it. I obliviated her when she came to the Burrow for Bill and Fleur's wedding, fed her another suppression potion under the Imperius Curse since I had learned who her alpha was. I couldn't allow her to mate with Harry. Ginny and I fed Harry lust potions so he would continue to see her and you were to continue to give her her potion throughout the war. Your sister was going to get him to bed her and get her with child so he would wed her. Yes, he would eventually die but his heir gain his fortune. Imagine, Ron, the Potter and Black fortune together puts the Malfoy fortune to shame. It would be in Ginny's hands. We would never want again."
Ron really looked at his mother and he could see a maniacal gleam in her eyes. She was well and truly crazed. While he could get behind having a fortune bigger than Malfoys at his fingertips, it also meant letting his sister continue to rape his best mate and then kill him off. Everyone knew that if an alpha was kept from his omega for too long, he would eventually die. While an alpha was the most powerful of the hierarchy, they drew their power from their omega, the lowest hierarchy. Most people would assume that being on the bottom of totem pole would be the least desired place in society but that wasn't true. It was fact that the omega had to obey their alpha in all things they commanded, but it was also fact that alphas put their omegas before themselves and would die to protect them, loving them far more than they loved themselves or anyone else in their lives. Being an omega was coveted in their world.
Standing back, everything made sense now. Hermione was Harry's omega and Harry was her alpha. Harry had always had a soft spot for Hermione and he had always made sure that she was protected first and foremost. Back in the Department of Mysteries when she had been injured, he had been fucked up for weeks because she had almost been killed. He had been far more fucked up over her injuries than Sirius' death. Hermione had always done as Harry had asked, even if she hadn't liked it. The Department of Mysteries was once again a perfect example. She knew that it was a trap but she had gone anyways.
Ron wondered how he had been drafted into this and hadn't realized just what his mum and Ginny had had planned. He had genuinely believed that his mum was dosing Hermione with contraceptive potion so if she was ever raped she wouldn't be saddled with a child. She had pushed for Ron to go after Hermione, knowing full well that she would never love him as he deserved, as he wanted. She wanted him to just serve a purpose, to keep Hermione out of the way, so Ginny could snag Harry and kill him off after he knocked her off.
Frankly, it all made him sick.
However, it was clear that none of his objections would be heard and his mother wasn't likely to see reason. That much was fact. Therefore, he was going to have to do the one thing that he swore he wasn't going to do when he left the pair somewhere in the Forest of Dean. He was going to have to return and warn them. There was no way that he could allow him mum and Ginny to do this to them; not only would it kill Harry, it would break Hermione's heart. Omegas that didn't end up with their alphas, while it didn't outright kill them like it did the alphas, often died of heartbreak. Even though Ron had acted an arsehole, he did still love Hermione and he wouldn't allow that to happen to her. He moved to put an arm around his mother's shoulders and gave her a reassuring smile.
"I'm pretty sure that I know where they were heading next. I can head them off and get her next dose to her before she goes into heat. Stop worrying, mum. You'll have that fortune, I swear." He felt extremely dirty for saying it but knew that he had no other choice. His mum beamed at him and patted his head.
"Let me get you a warm meal. You can head out in the morning. You have a couple weeks to find them and get the potion down her. You can leave right after breakfast." He gave her a smile and a nod.
He had to warn them but he had no idea where they were headed. However, he knew that he had no intentions of finding them before the beginning of November. According to his mum, that was when Hermione would go into heat next and Harry wouldn't be able to resist it. It would be the easiest way to take them out of his mum's plans but they still needed to know what they were up against. If they could mate through her heat, they would be safe from Ginny and her meddling. However, they still needed to be warned. He would work on trying to find them and tell them what they were; he would bet all his savings they had no idea what they were since the hierarchy was something that nobody in their world talked about.
For once, Ron Weasley was going to get to educate his friends on something in their world. If he could find them.