Harry frowned deeply, looking out the kitchen window. He was partially relieved that Ron hadn't run off but it still left him with hearts to mend. He didn't want Hermione to die believing that she had never been anything more to either of them than a walking library. She meant the world to the both of them. He knew it, and he was certain that Ron did too.

He had abided by her request for some time alone. She hadn't said much else after their embrace but he could see the defeat in her eyes. Something he never thought he'd ever see in her. She was a fighter, through and through. It pained him in ways he didn't even believe were possible.

He had to fix this, he had to make the time to set things right. These were his friends, his family. The only people in his life that had been through everything with him. Beside him; even now when he was sure they understood all the consequences. He pushed through the open door coming to the edge of the small porch.

"I don't think the Horcrux was just playing on her fears..." Harry sat down beside Ron. The redhead barely acknowledged his presence. He'd obviously blown off some of his frustration. He'd left a rather nice hole in the ground from his efforts though presently he just sat with his arms over his knees and his head bent down.

"I did this to her... It's all my fault..." Ron took a heavy breath lifting his puffy red eyes towards the sky.

Harry frowned deeply, there was truly nothing that could have been done differently that day. No matter how he spun it, it was written by the fates. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was lucky to be alive at all after going head to head with Bellatrix. He turned his eyes to the side watching what was left of his friend. How had their world fallen apart so completely such a short time?

"She doesn't blame you..."

"She should...If I'd been able to hold on just a bit longer...none of this would have ever happened..." Ron wiped at his nose lowering his head back down.

"It's done. There's nothing we can do now but move forward... together..." He wasn't even sure if she would have survived if he had held onto her. The memory of her lying unconscious on Snape's bed when they'd first looked through the mirror hadn't been promising then and given her rate of recovery now, he wasn't so sure she would ever be right again. Harry pursed his lips and put his hand on Ron's shoulder giving it a firm hold.

"What if we can't...what if... she's like this forever?"

"Forever is a long time... let's worry about what's right in front of us. Hermione needs us. Right now, more than ever..."

Ron nodded his head solemnly, looking out at the lawn. He wanted to be her hero, her savior; trouble was, he wanted so much from his life. A family, children, a loving wife. He had been so sure she would have given him all that and more. Now, he wasn't so sure anymore. She was so much smarter than he could ever be. What could he possibly offer her?

"Ron...?"

Both of them turned to see Hermione standing in the doorway. Her face was solemn but her stance showed a strength that hadn't been there before. They each turned and came to their feet crossing the small distance between them.

Ron took an extra step but kept his head bowed down. He raised his eyes though when he spoke, "Hermione... I'm... I'm sorry...I.." He didn't know what could possibly make everything okay again.

"It's okay..." Hermione closed the distance slowly bringing her arms up around his neck. "I forgive you..." She pressed herself close, holding him tight. "I know you were just trying to help me...you've always tried to help me." Her words were soft against his ear. A weak smile pressing into his neck when he completed the embrace.

Harry smiled softly letting the two of them share their moment. He knew this wasn't the end, but it was a start. When Hermione started to pull back he took a small step.

"I found you a wand, it's not much but it's something...Did you find it?" He kept his voice soft, not wanting to break the mood.

Hermione released Ron completely, coming back down on her heels. She didn't take his offered hand but rather wrapped her arms around her waist, "I did, thank you..."

She felt much better now, the salve that Ron had managed to put on her back had released a lot of the tension she'd been holding. It was much easier to think rationally when she wasn't in constant pain. She'd also taken a few doses of the potions in the kit leaving her feeling almost like herself. Her heart ached but her body was strong.

"Snape has my wand..." She didn't know why she told them, but she couldn't stop herself. She glanced at the both of them but couldn't really understand their expressions.

Harry nodded slowly somewhat bewildered by her sudden proclimation. He stayed silent hoping she would continue, letting her lead the conversation. Something had been bothering him though. A question he needed to ask, "Hermione?" He waited until she raised her head before continuing, "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to but... I've been curious..." He lingered giving her the chance to stop him at any time, "How did Snape get you in the first place?"

That very question had been bothering Ron too, he knew he'd lost her during the apparation but he never did understand why they hadn't been able to find her in the forest somewhere. He pulled his hand back looping it into his pocket.

Hermione made a small face trying to think back, "It's all a little fuzzy..." She pursed her lips, she had to have been in her fugue state at the time but even still the memory was too distorted to make out clearly. "I think he found me...He had said I was dying when he did but...I really don't know the exact logistics of how it happened..."

The boys shared a pensive look, before nodding their heads. Harry glanced down when Hermione rubbed her forearm but didn't comment on it. It was more than Harry had expected her to say; she hadn't exactly been forthcoming with information recently.

"We know what the next Horcrux is..." Making the unilateral decision to keep the topic someplace safe he took a step closer. "It's a crown, or tiara or something."

"A diadem?"

"Yeah, Ravenclaw colors..."

"He has been using the founder's objects...it would make sense..." Hermione was grateful for something to occupy her thoughts. She glanced at Ron briefly who still looked like a kicked puppy. "It's probably at Hogwarts...how did you get in before?"

"Luna helped us, she and the others of the D.A. have been using secret tunnels all over the school. She even helped us update the map. Maybe we could use one of those to get into Ravenclaw tower." Harry glanced at Ron briefly before back at Hermione.

"Show me." Hermione turned going back into the house. The boys followed after her and into the living room. Taking a seat on the couch, Harry took the chair across letting Ron sit beside Hermione. There was some space between them but at least they were together.

Harry unfolded the map and turned it towards Hermione who leaned over to see. Her mind was working at nearly full computative power now and she was easily able to make out the new additions from her recollection.

"This is the tunnel we used before." Harry unfolded the map further pointing to the Black Lake. "It brought us up right in the center of the courtyard. From there we took this path here and up to this one to the headmaster's office." Harry explained pointing out the path.

"It won't work this time, though. At least it would be risky, even if we waited until the dead of night we'd be exposed here and here." Ron had decided to join in when Hermione furrowed her brow with thought. "Ravenclaw tower is all the way on the other side. Even still, neither of us know how to get into the common room."

"It's protected by a riddle." Hermione said absently pulling the map away from Harry, "All we'd have to do is solve it." Hermione tilted her head turning the map back to the main hall. The names of students being moved in groups made it difficult for her to see but she didn't let that stop her. "There's no secret passage leading up to the floor we need. It'd be better if we could somehow start on the fifth floor..."

Hermione flipped the map again before her eyes caught Snape's name pacing in the corner. Had he been punished for losing her? His movements were slow but without actually seeing him she couldn't be sure. A weight settled over her heart and she forcibly turned her head away.

Her hand went to her neck rubbing at the still tender skin. It was something she didn't even know she'd started doing. Her mind continued to turn before landing on something obscure Snape had said. Her eyes widened from her revelation and she straightened up.

"He's going to know."

"What?" Ron turned confused by her sudden outburst.

"He's going to know the second I step foot into the school." Her hand came down from her neck looking at Harry, "Snape has my wand, but it was the Dark Lord that gave it to him."

"What does that mean?"

"It means, as long as I'm with the two of you, he'll be able to find me." Hermione pushed herself up to her feet chewing her bottom lip. "And with his connection with Harry, he'd be able to find out we were there. He probably already knows you know about the Horcrux. He's probably even stationed his death eaters near the tower."

Harry's eyes widened considerably at the information. Still, they had snuck in before, he was sure they could do it again. "We did this before and he didn't stop us."

Hermione shook her head crossing her arms, "He did know." Her eyes turned darker and her back twinged, "Snape was punished for it..." She glanced at Ron who she could tell was working himself up to an idiotic outburst, "I was punished for it..."

Ron's jaw snapped shut for a moment before he found the courage to ask, "What did he do to you?"

Hermione shook her head slightly turning away from the both of them. If Voldemort didn't know she was gone yet, he surely would soon. That thought and its consequences for the man who had risked himself to save her, coiled coldly in her stomach.

"If we return to Hogwarts now...we better be prepared for it all to come to a head..." She turned back looking between the both of them, "The sword is gone...we need another way to destroy the Horcrux..."

"The sword only worked because of the venom. How are we going to get more of that?" Ron had for once been paying attention but he had no idea of what they could do next.

Silence fell between them as they each lowered their heads to think. Harry rubbed his hands together while he pondered the proper course. Ron leaned back on the couch staring off at some point beyond Harry's shoulder. While Hermione paced, rubbing at her neck again. A good ten minutes passed before Hermione came to a sudden stop.

"The Chamber of secrets!" Her outburst caused both boys to jump but Harry's face lit with hope.

"Yes, of course!"

"What?" Ron blinked rubbing his dry eyes.

"The basilisk should still be down there, right? I mean, dead of course, but its teeth and stuff?" Hermione came back over to the couch sitting down, "Can we get into it? Didn't you say you got there through one of the bathrooms?" Hermione turned her gaze down to the map.

"Yes, it was in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, the one we brewed the polyjuice potion in." Harry leaned over the map too, helping Hermione turn to the proper page.

"That's on the first floor, that's easier to get to..." Harry mumbled pushing the map fold down. "It's right above the Great Hall. We could take this path here from under the lake and go this way..."

"Yes, it could work." Hermione curled her lips in, going back into deep thought.

"If we could get a fang, we could destroy the next Horcrux and then there'd be just one left. Though I don't know what the last one could be..." Harry didn't count his own scar as a Horcrux in their count. He never had, but he knew that when he died, they would have a much better chance of killing of Voldemort.

"Two Harry," Hermione paused in her search looking up into the boy's eyes, "There would be two left..." Her eyes leveled with his and he was sure she knew what he'd done. He lowered his eyes back down to the map choosing not to comment on her correction.

"One, or two, we still need to know what it is..." Ron glanced between the two of them not really understanding what the argument was about. They'd had that conversation during the time that he'd been away and Harry had never spoken about it in front of him since.

"I bet it's the snake." Hermione leaned back onto the couch crossing her arms and legs, "It would make sense."

"If it is, how are any of us going to get close enough to kill it?" Ron leaned his elbows on his knees still trying to keep up with the words ping-pong-ing between them.

"I bet I could." Hermione sat up straighter, "I mean..." Her mouth opened and closed as the breath left her legs in a few short whisps. Both of them waited for her to finish. Though when it became clear that she wasn't going to, Harry cleared his throat.

"We can think about that later, let's try to figure out a safe path into the castle and to both the Ravenclaw common room and Moaning Myrtle's bathroom."

"What about Neville and Ginny?" Ron shifted his feet trying not to think about what Hermione had eluded to. He never wanted her to go back to that madman, even worse of her own free will. "Remember? Luna took us to the back side of the Hog's Head before, she said its where they'd all been getting in and out, maybe we could get in to see the man she'd mentioned. Aberforth?"

Hermione's brows twitched, "Aberforth Dumbledore?"

Harry and Ron both looked at her quizzically, "Dumbledore?"

"Yeah, Dumbledore's younger brother. He owns the Hog's Head."

"How do you know that?"

"I read it, in Rita Skeeter's book about Dumbledore, honestly." She rolled her eyes before leaning forward, "If he can get us safely in and out of the castle, then that would save us a lot of trouble."

"How do we even contact him?" Harry pursed his lips trying to jump on her thought train.

"Didn't you say Ginny and Neville had been using him for their way in and out? We can contact them, to contact him." Hermione leaned back with a small quirk at the corner of her lips. "I don't know about you, but I'd much rather fancy a nice warm inn than the freezing water's of the Black Lake."

Ron mumbled his agreement before looking over at Harry, he very much didn't like being the proverbial fall mat last time, and he was sure that his injured side wouldn't care for it much either. That and with Hermione's injuries that were suspiciously no longer affecting her movement, he was sure it was the better option.

"We can only ask right?" Harry pushed himself up going over to the corner where he'd left the two-way parchment, it was still blank, the last message Ginny had sent having faded out after he'd read it. "Here," He picked up a pencil from a nearby side table and put it down onto the coffee table between them offering out the pencil to Hermione, "It's a two-way parchment, Ginny has the other half of this one."

Hermione took the offered pencil and leaned forward to write, though as soon as she tried to put pressure on the lead, her hand gave a weak tremble mussing her normally neat print. She gritted her teeth and took a tighter hold of the pencil but that only made her hand shake worse. She tried not to let her frustration show, continuing to write, but both Harry and Ron were easily able to make out her difficulty.

Hermione sighed heavily as the message disappeared into the paper, she set the pencil down and opened and closed her hand a few times, "How long does it take for her to reply?"

"Not too long usually, depends on where she is." Harry turned his eyes away trying to pretend that he hadn't noticed her trouble and looked through the sea of names in the Great Hall, "It looks like it's lunchtime, so maybe it won't take very long..."

As if on cue, Ron's stomach gave out a loud growl turning both Hermione and Harry's heads. They each raised a brow at Ron before looking at the other. Hermione shook her head slightly a smile curling around the corner of her lips. "I think we should eat too, won't do us any good to do this on an empty stomach."

"Did you leave your left-over stew upstairs?" Harry asked, coming to his feet.

"Yes, sorry..." Hermione made a small face and made to get up as well.

"I'll get it." Ron came to his feet faster than her, "Meet you in the kitchen?"

"Okay." Hermione gave him a weak but appreciative smile and came to her feet to follow after Harry. She paused grabbing the paper and pencil just in case Ginny did message them back while she ate before heading towards the kitchen.

oOo

Ginny sat close to Neville despite the narrowed stare from the Carrow twins. McGonagall had informed them that the order had already been aware of the hit placed on Neville's Grandmother. Though she didn't have anymore information at the time she promised to tell them as soon as she had anything to tell them. It hadn't eased either one of them much but it was something.

"Ginny, the parchment." Neville had just happebed to glance to the side at the exact time that the paper glowed. She had it presently tucked under a random book she had taken with her for the sole purpose of obscuring it.

Ginny swallowed down her bite a bit harshly, setting down her fork in haste to pull the parchment free. She coughed slightly and hit her chest before finally getting the food down.

"Who's handwriting is that?" Neville worried that the others may have been captured for a split second before he noticed the 'a', albeit a bit wobbly he'd only known one person in his circle of friends to write that way.

"Hermione's, I think. It's so shakey..." Ginny shook her head to clear it before properly reading the message.

The end is coming. Prepare. We need access to the Hog's Head to get safely into the castle. Please help us.

"The end is near?" Neville glanced up to the headtable. "We need to get as many as we can to the RoR...if she's right, the battle may start from within..."

"We need to tell McGonagall... it's our only chance."

"Right..." Neville turned his eyes to the witch in conversation trying to subtly get her attention unable to do so he turned his head back down. "Tell her we need time...I don't know maybe 8 o'clock?"

"Let's do 10, that way we'll have a chance to get as many as we can safely into the RoR..."

"Alright..." Neville passed her a pencil that he'd had in his pocket before looking back down at his food. Suddenly, he was no longer hungry.

Ginny scribbled their message onto the parchment and hastily stowed it away. She turned her head down the table catching eyes of the other D.A. members giving them a small nod. They had been preparing for this event for a while. All members knew what they needed to do and the person to whom they had to pass the message onto. She flashed her fingers showing them what time they would all need to be inside the RoR. She just prayed they would all make it.