The second night in the tent with Ron after his accident had been a monument to masochism. Ron had done nothing but moan because of the splinching, and even though Harry could understand, he was totally over it all. Even Hermione was becoming more and more uninterested in helping him.
‘Ron, I know you don’t feel good yet, but we don’t have anything else to help you. And no, there is no more food, so don’t ask.’ Hermione gave her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend a look when he started to whine.
Ron pouted and groaned some more, splinching himself had been such an awful thing! Even though it was just a bit of skin and flesh along his forearm, it was really sore! It had bled and everything! Why had he thought going with Harry would be a good thing? As soon as he could, he was going back home where he could be warm and fed and healed by his mom. He’d just have to convince Hermione to go with him, she didn’t need to stay here without him. People would eventually find out and his girlfriend wasn’t going to be talked about!
Harry just sighed as he watched Ron. He wondered how long it would be before Ron took off. Being hurt was bad, but not having food was going to push him out. Ron was not going to be happy, however, when he figured out that Hermione wouldn’t go with him. That promised to be a fit of epic proportions.
The two of them had a lot of long conversations before leaving Hogwarts, most of which they had not shared with anyone else. They had made contingency plans, stored a lot of things they just knew they were going to need, moved accounts with the help of the dverger, and now they just needed to get rid of Ron. It was cynical, but it was absolutely true, Ron was a hinderance, he needed to be gone so that they could move onto the next stage of the search.
Harry grinned to himself, who knew that the dverger could be so handy and agreeable. Nobody had ever told him how to go about talking to them, so he’d been totally floored by how agreeable they were. Of course, the fact that he could point them to some of the darkest items in the magical world and let them go all war on them kind of made him well liked.
The dverger had bent over backward in helping him and Hermione. Finding out she wasn’t ‘just’ a Muggleborn witch had been a shock, but it had been helpful in moving them along in the war. Wouldn’t everyone be surprised to have all the Horcruxes destroyed, well, once they got ahold of Voldy’s stupid snake again. The dwarves currently had a tracker on her and a bounty on Fenris which would weed out the worst of Voldy’s followers.
‘Hermione, isn’t there something to eat? I’m really hungry and I still hurt so bad!’ Ron whined and clutched at his bandages. He tried to squeeze a few tears out, but he was starting to feel like that wasn’t much sympathy here for him.
‘No, we don’t! Don’t ask again, Ron! You’ve already eaten everything we had for the next week!’ Hermione glared at him, she was furious that he’d gotten into their supplies and eaten almost all of the food. And he hadn’t even apologized, he just whined that he needed extra food to heal and they weren’t the ones that had been hurt.
Ron just shrugged petulantly. ‘You could go and get more food. It’s not like either of you are doing anything at the moment.’
Both Harry and Hermione looked at him in disbelief.
‘I can’t believe you said that, Ron! Just where are we supposed to go and get the food? The corner grocery?’ Hermione was done, and got up, moving away from him. ‘You know what, you go find your own food. I don’t feel the need to share anything we get with you anymore.’
Ron looked at her, totally amazed that she would talk to him that way. ‘But… but I’m injured! How do you expect me to go get anything?’
Hermione shrugged. ‘I don’t care. You can do what you want. You usually do. As long as it benefits you, you don’t care.’
Harry just watched the two of them, waiting for Ron to go ‘poor little me’ at him, although there was nothing ‘little’ about him.
‘Harry, did you hear what she’s sayin’? Come on, mate, back me up here. You understand that I need you guys to go get the food and supplies, right?’ Ron looked over at Harry, surprised when he didn’t immediately jump to his defense.
‘Well, no, not really. Yeah, you got hurt, but we told you we were short on supplies and then you ate everything you could find while we were sleeping. Not very helpful, Ron.’ Harry gazed coolly at him and then raised an eyebrow when Ron started to sputter. ‘Maybe you should try to get home, I’m sure that your mom would be happy to help heal and feed you.’
Ron glared at him, his mouth hanging open. This was not what was supposed to happen! Harry was supposed to be all supportive and agree with him!
‘So, you’re agreeing with her! Wow, way to be on my side! I guess something has been going on behind my back while I’m suffering here!’
Both Harry and Hermione snorted and then Harry just shook his head. ‘So paranoid, Ron! We’re cold and hungry and just trying to get through the days. You need to either get your head in the war or go home. We really don’t have time for anything else.’
Ron had left shortly after that, still whining but both Harry and Hermione had held out against anything he had to say. They were both totally over all of it. He couldn’t get Hermione to go with him, but planned to get either one of his brothers or his mum to come back and convince her that she needed to be with him and his family, not in a tent by herself with just Potter.
‘I was thinking. Our bank cards are linked from Gringotts to our Muggle bank, you know. So, instead of being here, in the middle of nowhere with nothing to eat and being cold, we could be in a nice hotel with decent food that we didn’t have to make ourselves, making plans from a safe and warm place.’
Hermione gazed at Harry with a grin. ‘I was just thinking the same thing! Should we pack this thing up, or leave it here for just in case?’
‘Pack it up, I don’t want anyone coming and finding it. And mostly by anyone, I mean Ron. I am totally over that idiot. We need a new plan, one that he doesn’t know and would never guess. It would be just one less thing to worry about.’ Harry started picking up and shrinking all of their stuff in the tent and storing it in the appropriate trunk.
‘Ok, and where do you want to go, we don’t have to stay anywhere around here, and I can’t wait for a decent bath!’ Hermione finished packing up her things, and then looked at Ron’s. ‘What should we do with his stuff? Do you think he’ll remember he left it here?’
‘Leave it. We can shrink it down and leave it hidden in a tree. I don’t want any of it with us.’ Harry was adamant about that, who knew what Ron or any of the OotP had attached to his belongings. ‘Leave anything that has a tracking charm on it, that way they’ll be able to find it, but not us.’
Within fifteen minutes, they were packed up and ready to go.
‘So, where to? London? It’s been quiet there lately and I’ve always wanted to stay at one of the swankier hotels there. And now, we can afford to.’ Harry shrugged at her surprise. ‘You know I didn’t get any outings when I was growing up. So?’
Hermione nodded. ‘You know a simple concealment charm and we could just walk into any place we want. We’d have to be careful with taking it off… You’ve thought of something.’
Harry nodded. ‘Not concealment, Make-up charms. We could conceal what we look like and put a do not notice charm on us until we got into the building. What do you think?’
‘I think it’s an excellent idea!’ Hermione quickly darkened her hair and straightened it out, making a thick braid down her back. With a light dusting of makeup, she was done.
Harry went the opposite way and lightened his hair to almost blond. That alone totally changed his looks. And some concealer over his scar and he no long looked like himself.
‘You… you sort of look like Malfoy, Harry.’
Harry sighed and shrugged. ‘Well, we both have ancestors that are Blacks, so it’s not a surprise. But I’ll charm something over it all when we get into town, I don’t want to be caught looking like him, either.’
Hermione nodded. ‘True. So, are we ready? All we need to do is shrink the tent and go, right?’
‘Yes, hot food and warm beds, here we come!’
Hermione laughed as they left the tent, shrank it and Apparated closer to London. After checking to make sure no one was following them, they then went to a train station and rode into town and then strolled to a mid-level hotel on one of the quieter streets.
After checking in with adjoining rooms and showers for them both, they went down to the main dining room and picked out food.
‘Wow, this is so much better! I was really getting tired of all the running and hiding. Tomorrow, let’s just stroll into Gringotts and let the dverger know what exactly Bellatrix has in her vault. So much easier than trying to steal it, or me claiming the vault. I don’t need it, although, maybe I should merge it back into main Black vault. It would serve her right.’ Harry cut into his steak and moaned softly as he chewed. ‘This is so good!’
Hermione nodded. ‘Yes, let’s do that. And see where they are on with getting the snake and the werewolf. Why were we doing all that running around, being cold and hungry out in the woods. Did we lose our minds?’ She ate a shrimp and grumbled a bit. ‘We never get this kind of food in the magical world, did you notice that? I mean, it’s good and all, but there isn’t the variety we can get here.’
‘We should totally get Indian while we’re here, I would love some good Indian food!’
They continued to plan their actions for the next couple of days, including letting the OotP know that they would be out of touch for the foreseeable future. And wouldn’t that be a trick! Most of the members would be having a fit because they weren’t being micromanaged.
Although at this point, they didn’t really care. They knew they were missing things because they were always cold and hungry and moving from place to place and now that they weren’t, it would be better. Maybe they could actually get some work done.
‘What do you think Ron told his mom? You know he’s going to be all bent out of shape that we didn’t follow him back. And Molly’ll probably be having hysterics because we’re out here all alone.’ Harry sat back in his seat and nursed his last cup of tea. Even that was better than what they had been drinking!
‘You know, he’s been nothing but a hinderance since we started. I’m surprised that he didn’t get us caught the last time we were spying on that town. Stumbling all over, it’s like he was trying to get … us… caught...’
Hermione and Harry just gazed at each other.
‘Ok, this is kind of a horrendous thought. What if that is exactly what someone wants. For us to get caught. You know it would bring everything to a screeching halt and turn the attention from other things going on. You know they aren’t telling us everything, Harry. All those meetings where we are told to go and do something unimportant while ‘the adults’ get on with planning the next stage of the war. And it hasn’t gotten any better since Dumbledore’s been gone.’
Harry gazed narrowed-eyed at her. ‘I really don’t like where this is going. I really want to get to the bank and find out if they know anything. And if it’s what I think it is, well, there are going to be some very unhappy people very soon. Let’s head back upstairs, I’m going to need some room to move.’
After settling the check, they went upstairs and sat on the bed in Harry’s room.
‘What do you think is going on? I can’t believe that one of the Order is trying to get us captured.’
‘Not so much one of the Order, but I think Ron is. Or at least get me caught. Then he could be the hero as he rescues you!’ Harry shrugged as Hermione jumped up and stomped around the room. ‘I’m not positive, but you know he thinks he’s in love with you and that you are just dying to “fall” into his arms. This would give him that chance and, hey, if it got rid of his “competition”, so much the better!’
‘That… that… Idiot! I don’t even really like him anymore! Even as a friend! He’s whiney and stupid and hasn’t had an original thought in his head since this all started! Don’t think I haven’t noticed that he’s been parroting back all the crap his mom has been telling him! All the ‘mum wouldn’t like this or that’ is getting really old.’
Hermione huffed and sat down.
‘So, what are we going to do? We can’t let them know where we are, not anymore. Maybe a drop box for them? I don’t care if I talk to any of them ever again. Stupid people.’
Harry nodded. ‘A drop box. The dverger could set it up and that way, we wouldn’t have to do anything except leave whatever in it. That’s a great idea. And no, let’s not talk to them until all of this foolishness is done. We are so close, Herm. So close and it would all be done and we could leave here and go someplace warm and finish school without worrying about being hexed in the back.’
Hermione nodded and leaned into him. ‘That sounds like a wonderful idea. A good night’s sleep, a good breakfast and talk to the dverger. See if they have any ideas for us, probably better than some of the plans the Order has come up with lately.’
‘Yeah, but I think that they have other plans than we know about. The sooner we get away from their plans, the better off we will be.’ Harry rubbed his hand up and down her back. ‘I’m going to have another shower and then go to sleep. Are you all right?’
‘Yeah, maybe a bit disappointed, but I shouldn’t be surprised. We’ve never been well treated here, Harry.’
The next morning, after hot showers and a good breakfast, the two set out for Gringotts to see just what the dverger had to say.
‘Uh ho, looks like the troops are out in force today.’ Harry pulled Hermione back against the wall of a building as he eyed several people between them and the bank.
‘Yes, I see them, how are we going to get to the bank? Could we do a disturbance further on down the street and get by them that way?’ Hermione glared at a couple of Aurors who were hovering around the doors of the bank.
‘Yeah, let me see if I can…’ Harry frowned and then grinned. ‘Watch this!’
He slowly twirled his wand and then gave the spell a little push. Within a minute or two, they could hear yelling down at the other end of the Alley.
‘Did you see that!’
‘Dear Merlin!’
‘Someone get the Aurors!’
And then there was yelling and screaming that made people turn and start toward them, trying to see what was going on, the Aurors running toward the disturbance.
‘Let’s go, it won’t last long!’ Harry grabbed her hand and they quickly made it to the bank and inside. There they were escorted to a private room where Hermione glared at Harry.
‘What did you do? What were they seeing? Because I wasn’t seeing anything down there, and we had a clear view!’
Harry laughed. ‘Yes, well, I’ve always wondered what that spell would do. It’s intent-based, and it makes people see whatever they are thinking about. So, if you were thinking about your children, you’d see them, if you were…’
‘Harry Potter! That’s totally devious! And I can just imagine what some of those people saw!’ Hermione just shook her head. ‘But it totally worked. How long does it last? And you’re going to teach me it as soon as we have a free moment!’
Harry laughed softly. ‘Yes, yes. It only works for a few moments, but it’s enough to get around people.’
‘Lord Potter, so glad to see you today. I hear that you are still causing trouble on the Alley.’ Ragnok grinned toothily at them as he sat down at the desk.
‘Yes, well, some people just want to be all in everyone’s business. And speaking of business, we learned where another of the horcruxes are. And you are not going to be happy about it.’
Ragnok starting frowning. ‘If you tell me that it’s in my Bank, I’m going to be more than unhappy!’
‘Hey, so not my fault! Well, sorta not my fault. But the cup is in Bellatrix’s vault, which I would also like to merge back into the main Black vault. And that would leave just the snake, right?’
Ragnok just sighed. ‘Tell me again, why is the Horde friends with you. All right, let me get that underway, the cup sorted out and then we can discuss the snake.’ He sent a message and then leaned back in his chair. ‘What else do you need? I noticed that you caused a bit of a stir on the Alley before you came in. But there were more people than normal just hanging around today.’
‘Eh, a spell that I read about, it makes you see whatever you are thinking about, and from the sound of it, some of them were thinking about weird things! Or bad things, anyway. But it worked. And since we’re staying in London at the moment, we’re going to have to figure out a different way to communicate.’ Harry shrugged a bit at the look he got. ‘We got tired of sleeping rough, what can I say.’
Hermione nodded. ‘And we dumped Ron back on his parents, so we don’t have to worry about him. And hot showers and baths are a thing to die for. And food we don’t have to cook ourselves. But it brought up the question, why were we running around the forest, hunting horcruxes and dodging Death Eaters? No one could come up with a better plan than that?’
‘I kept being overruled when plans were being made. Since you’ve broken with the Order, we can make some better and more logical plans. Ones that hopefully don’t get you killed in the end.’ Ragnok looked down at his desk as a chime sounded. ‘And the vault is sorted and the cup destroyed. Now, about Nagini.’
Harry sighed. ‘I so don’t like the sound of that.’
Ragnok nodded. ‘And you shouldn’t. You know we put a tracker on her? And so we know pretty much where she was at all times?’ At the nods, he sighed. ‘It stopped working.’
‘Wait, I thought you said that no one knew you’d done it?’
‘Which is why we’ve been trying to figure out where we knew she was and going from there. Now I wish we’d taken her out when we could.’
‘The stupid order would have had a panic attack if we’d done that. Which is why we decided to go with the tracking device.’ Harry frowned, looking down at the map that had the tracking information.
Hermione suddenly asked, ‘Magical snakes shed their skins, don’t they, would your tracking device come off if she had shed her skin?’
Ragnok just looked at her. ‘And why didn’t we think of that before. Let me send someone to the last place where she was and see if anything is there. And it might have alerted them to our presence it they noticed anything unusual.’
The three sat and chatted while the dverger took care of linking all their bank cards to several different banks in the Muggle world so they would have money no matter where they were.
Finally one of the warrior goblins came in with a grin. ‘Ragnok, we have found the snake and the tracker. And you were right, she tried to shed her skin but because the tracker was fused through the skin, when she tried to shed, it killed her. Which made the tracker stop working. We beheaded her as a precaution and brought the whole thing in stasis for you to look at.’
‘Good job, Snaktooth. We’ll be down to look at it later.’ Ragnok shrugged at the looks of disbelief he was getting from the other two. ‘I didn’t think of that. It’s never worked that way before.’
‘Have you ever tagged a magical snake before? Or one as big as Nagini? Maybe that made a difference?’ Harry shrugged back at him. ‘But that takes out the last horcrux that we have to worry about.’ He rubbed his head, and looked at Hermione. ‘Anything else we need to do? I could do with some more food and a nap.’
Ragnok snorted. ‘Is that what you’re calling it now?’
‘Shut it, you! Since we dumped Ron, we can do whatever we want. And I want a magical marriage, so there’s nothing going on!’ Hermione glared at Ragnok, who just grinned toothily back at her.
One of the tellers of the bank came to the door and stated, ‘There are Weasleys in the bank, they are demanding the whereabouts of Hermione Granger, betrothed to Ron Weasley.’
‘Oh, fuck no!’ Hermione stood up, prepared to go rend all of the Weasleys into tiny bits.
‘Whoa, there, Mione! Ragnok, is there any way that they can betroth someone without their consent?’
‘No, but it could look like it was done privately and that they are coming now to register it at the bank. What do you want to do?’
Harry looked at Hermione and took a deep breath. ‘I know we haven’t talked about this all the way through, but I have always liked you and it has slowly grown into loving you. I don’t want to push you into anything you don’t want, but it would give you some space and time to deal with that whole mess.’
Ragnok smiled toothily and remarked, ‘There are bonding rings in both the Potter and Black vaults. Nothing to say when they were picked out and used.’
Hermione rocked back and forth on her heels for a moment. ‘We were here, what, a month ago? So, we could just say that because of our time together, that we realized that our feelings had grown stronger but we didn’t want to announce it to the world until the whole mess was done with? And Harry Potter, I expect wining and dining and a heartfelt proposal in the end!’ She smiled at him, and he gave her a grin back.
‘So say you, and so say we all! Could we see both sets of rings, Ragnok? And is there a way to hide them so that we can pull them out and freak out everyone? Or disillusion them until we want others to see them?’ Harry shrugged at the looks that he got from the other two. ‘I’m tired of all the crap that we have to put up with. Besides, with all the horcruxes gone, we’re down to just Riddle, right? Especially since no one knows that your Cursebreakers got rid of the one in my head.’
‘A very good thought, Harry. And we should have you claim your lordship at the same time. That way, there will be one more line of defense between you two and the rest of the Order.’
Hermione nodded. ‘That would work. And stop all the complaints in their tracks. Because, of course, we didn’t want to paint a bigger target on our backs and that’s why we did it all private. Molly and Ron will faint while the twins will celebrate!’
‘And Ginny will pitch a fit. All of her hopes and fears right there in front of her!’ Harry grinned a bit meanly and then joined in the laughter.