AN: Incredibly sorry for the delay. I felt guilty, so I tried to make this one long. Thanks go to reviewers who convinced me to update ( Happy reading!

"Harry? Are you ok?"

"Harry? What's wrong?"

Harry could hear faint voices asking him if he was alright. He couldn't tell who they were at the moment. As a matter of fact, he couldn't even tell where he was. Logic told him he was at Hogwarts, in the Great Hall, but his mind and eyes were telling him something different.

He couldn't really see anything; he seemed to be surrounded by fog. Squinting, he tried to make out his surroundings. It was a useless task. Nothing was discernable. The only thing he could identify were his hands, which he held out in front of him. What was going on?

Taking a blind step forward, he continued to look around. The fog didn't seem to let up, but now he could see a faint object in the distance. Squinting again, he could barely see the figure. It seemed to be a man, not a beast, because it was not crouched on all fours. However, beyond that, Harry couldn't tell what it was.

Harry walked closer to the figure, not without caution however, but the figure paid him no attention. Harry was close enough now to see that what ever it was thin and tall, giving Harry the impression that it was sickly. Before Harry could take another step, his scar erupted in pain. He couldn't stop himself from crying out, but he managed to stay standing.

"Ah, Harry Potter. I've been expecting you..."

Harry's heart almost stopped. He knew that voice. That sinister voice had plagued his dreams for the past ten years now. The voice belonged to the man that Harry loathed above all. A man that had ruined Harry's life numerous times. A snake-like man....

"Yes, I'm sure you recognize me, don't you? You look the same as you did ten years ago, sporting that horrible hair you inherited from your stubborn father, and those bright, innocent eyes from your mudblood mother...I remember those eyes very well, Potter," the figure said. Harry's scar was bursting with pain. An unknown anger was boiling up inside of him. Voldemort was mocking him, teasing him about his parents.

"But I guess you have figured out that I did not call you here to talk about the past. No, it is the future that I wish to discuss. My sources tell me that you and your-friends-have returned to Hogwarts. Do you not remember the promise I made to you, Potter, if you ever returned to Hogwarts?" Voldemort asked, his voice a mere whisper.

Harry couldn't keep himself from shuddering. Of course he remembered. Voldemort had informed him that if he did not leave immediately, then something horrible would happen. Harry hadn't believed him until a week after the 'talk' Dumbledore had disappeared. Of course, Harry left after that. He couldn't take the chance that Voldemort would kill off more of his friends, especially since he hadn't known how Ron or Hermione were doing.

"I seem to remember it, yes, but it sounded like a scared attempt to drive me away," he said, trying to say anything to break Voldemort's confidence. "A bit pathetic, if you must know."

"I would venture that Albus doesn't feel the same way, Potter," Voldemort hissed. Harry's eyes narrowed and he started forming some conclusions in his mind.

"You! You banished Albus!" he said. Voldemort simply chuckled evilly.

"I would not dare to take credit for that genius move, no, but I won't deny I had a part in it. Either way, it doesn't really matter, now does it? You'll never see him again, as our young over-achiever did a fine job. This, however, is getting off topic. I just wanted to remind you, Potter, that you are no longer safe at Hogwarts. Oh, I'd watch out for your Aurors, if I were you. Crucio!"

Harry's body filled immediately with excruciating pain. He couldn't see, couldn't think, all he knew was pain.

'Come on Harry, gather your mind,' a voice said in his head. This voice turned up on occasion, bringing him back to earth. Harry concentrated on a pain-free existence. 'Tell yourself the pain isn't real', the voice said. He concentrated. It wasn't real, it wasn't real. The pain was all in his head. Yeah right-the bloody voice had no idea what it was talking about.

'It's all in your head, all in your head,' the voice said again. Harry growled impatiently, and was going to argue with the voice when he realized he could no longer feel any pain. As he groggily opened his eyes, he was startled to find three sets of eyes looking down at him.

"Oh Harry, you're all right!"

~~~***~~~

Ron kept glancing over at Harry throughout the meal. His friend had claimed to be fine, but Ron knew better. Harry kept fidgeting and playing with his food, a sure sign that something was bothering him.

He turned back to his own plate, which had been filled three times before he was full. Now it was magically clean, cleared of the tiny scraps Ron had left. All that dueling had made him hungry.

The duel. Well, Ron knew one thing for sure. No one was going to doubt Harry again. The looks of astonishment on all the professor's faces (well, save Snape and Malfoy) made Ron grin as he thought about it. No one had known that Harry had the much power. Ron's glee lessened as he thought of his own disbelief about his friend.

When he had first heard that Harry was the head Auror for the American squad of Aurors, he was in disbelief. There were numerous stories about this mysterious head Auror in the Brazilian camp he was staying in. Stories that said the man couldn't be touched, or that he could turn invisible at will or level one hundred death eaters with a single curse. Nobody had met him, yet his legend was famous among all new Auror trainees.

Ron didn't believe it at first. There was no way that Harry was that super Auror. Part of him didn't believe it because he was jealous. Jealous that Harry had become such a powerful Auror in four years, and he, Ron Weasly, still had yet to become a fully trained Auror after six years. The other part didn't believe it because he was still stewing over something Harry had said to him before he left.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Ron? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Harry asked. He looked nervous, and his eyes were careful never to meet Ron's.

"Sure Harry," Ron said. Inside, he was scared. What was this about? Was it about Hermione?

"Ron..." he paused, and swallowed. "There's no easy way to say this...." he paused again. "I think Percy might be a death eater."

Silence. It took Ron a couple of seconds to register what Harry had said.

"You what?! Percy? Are you insane?" Ron yelled. Harry winced. For the last year people had been labeling him as 'the crazy Potter boy'. It didn't help that his best friend had too.

"No, listen Ron, please," he began.

"No! I'm not going to listen to you accuse my brother of being a death eater! You're crazy!"

"Ron, please, I saw him, I swear.."

"Saw him where, Harry? In your dreams? Forget it, that's not good enough. Those dreams are just that, Harry-dreams! They aren't real! And now you believe that my brother, the one who has never broken a rule in his life, is a death eater? How could you!" Ron was practically screaming at Harry now, who looked hopeless.

"Ron, you've got to believe me! You have to warn your family!"

"I'm not listening to this anymore! I'm leaving!" With that Ron stormed out of the room. How could Harry accuse his brother of something like that? And if anybody were to be a death eater, it would certainly not be Percy. The boy had never broken a rule in his life, let alone become a supporter of Voldemort.

~~~~~~~~

Ron had been so furious at Harry that he had stormed to his rooms. They had been at Hogwarts at the time. After stewing about it several minutes, he decided to talk to Harry rationally, to make Harry see some sense. He'd make Harry realize that Percy couldn't become a death eater.

However, on the way down to Harry's rooms, he had met up with Malfoy, who had served as no help to Ron. He couldn't even remember what they had argued about now-the only thing he could remember was that he got so mad he just left. He was mad at Harry, mad at Malfoy-mad at the world. So he just up and left.

That was seven years ago.

He spent a year wandering, and finally settled down in Brazil. He'd always wanted to be an Auror-well, that or a Quidditch player-and he applied for Auror training. After six years of training, he was finally ready to be a full-fledged Auror.

The thing that bugged him was how Harry had finished the training so quickly. Ron had been one of the top Aurors to go through the program, and it had taken him a little under six years to complete it. It had to have taken Harry at least under four years, if not less than that. How did he do it? He knew Harry was powerful, but certainly not that powerful. Was he?

He had finally acknowledged to himself that perhaps Harry was head Auror for the Americans. After all, they probably had a separate training program there.

After he had gotten over the shock and over his jealousy, he realized that Harry could seriously kick some death eater ass if he wanted to-which had made Ron look forward to the duel earlier that day. It was good to see some of those professors get what they deserved.

Harsh words brought Ron back to reality. Hermione and Harry were arguing. This was odd in itself, for there had only been two other times in which Ron had heard the two arguing. Once was in the trio's seventh year, and the other was just a couple weeks ago, with the lesson issue. However, when he heard his name, he felt obliged to listen to the conversation.

~~~***~~~

"Harry, I don't see where you're going with this," Hermione said, for what must have been the seventh time that night. Ron was off in his own world, and Harry had been mumbling things for the past hour. When she questioned him about it, he told her something about Dumbledore being alive and somebody being a death eater, and Snape knowing the secret....she was very confused.

"I already told you, Hermione, Dumbledore knew something-he knew that he'd be gone for a while. I wonder if he knew about the attack before it happened. And the Aurors-oh god, what am I going to do?"

"Harry-you're babbling. Stop, and tell me in a rational way what is going on," she said calmly, trying to break him out of his constant babbling.

"Voldemort has the list- I don't know how he has it, because it's not supposed to exist. The head Auror of each organization is supposed to know how to contact every Auror in his division. Well, I was made Head just last year. There are over two hundred Aurors under my control-that's a lot of names, you know. I made a up a system of contacts, so that I could contact anyone I needed to within seconds. It worked really well, and our communication was the best in the world.

"However, people started getting suspicious. How exactly was I able to contact every Auror in my department within seconds? There were a bunch of crazy rumors flying around, but the one that stuck the most was that I had a list. A list of all the Aurors, and a way to contact them.

"To have such a list is illegal, not to mention extremely stupid. If a death eater were to get his hands on a list like that, he could easily kill off fifty Aurors before anyone knew what was going on. I'm not stupid-I did no such thing. Apparently, though, someone did, and somehow the death eaters got a hold of it. I've already contacted my Aurors, and they've all fled to HQ with their families, but I still don't know how someone would get a list like that. Only I know every Auror, and how to contact them."

Hermione pondered what she knew about magical tracking and magical recording devices. Unknown to her, Malfoy had been listening to the conversation.

"Sounds like you have a mole, Potter," he said, smirking. Harry, instead of getting angry, considered his words.

"No, I don't think so. I have certain ---devices--- that allow me to know about a traitor."

"I don't remember what business this is of yours, Malfoy," Hermione said curtly. Her patience was thin, especially after trying to get an intelligible word out of Harry all night. Malfoy just needed to mind his own business.

"Why, worried that I might think of something you couldn't, Granger?" he replied. Hermione's eyes narrowed. He'd hit a weakness. She didn't like the idea of Malfoy being able to help Harry more than she could.

"Listen, 'Mione, I've got something else to tell you." Harry saved her from retorting back to Malfoy (not that she had a good retort in the first place) by changing the subject.

"What is it?"

"Well, I know people said I was crazy when I said this, but I think------ no, I know---- that Dumbledore is still alive." The last part he said at a whisper, and only Hermione and Malfoy were able to hear it. Hermione's reaction was different from Malfoy's. Her eyes softened, and she adopted an 'Oh, Poor Dear' look to her face. Malfoy, on the other hand, was smirking (it was almost a grin-but never knowing Malfoy as one to actually grin, Hermione was forced to call it a smirk).

"Harry, remember, Dumbledore died over four years ago," she said quietly, looking at him sadly.

"Yeah, I know what the rest of the world thinks, but believe me----- Hermione, don't look at me like that!" he said, angry she wouldn't listen to him.

"Harry, there was a search for two years. Two whole years!! They couldn't find him, remember? And you know that Dumbledore would never intentionally hide from the rest of the world like that, he's not that cruel. They held a funeral for him and everything," she said sadly.

"Which," he said, almost bitingly, "you did not attend, I noticed. Ron didn't either."

Hermione's lip trembled, but her eyes hardened. "I had other things to attend to, Harry. Things I couldn't wait for."

"Things more important than Dumbledore's funeral? Like what, a research project? I'm sure it couldn't wait," he said, scathingly. Hermione glared at him, and slapped him. Her eyes were blazing with fury, but they held tears as well. How could he say such things? Had Malfoy taken over his body?

"Don't imply that I care more for my work than my friends," she said, coldly.

"You left us here, didn't you?" he asked, just as coldly.

Hermione's eyes teared up more than they already had. How could he know? He didn't know anything, didn't know the whole story.

She stormed out of the Great Hall, hundreds of eyes on her, unable to take anymore.

~~~***~~~

Harry sat, seething in anger. Ron looked over at him, astonished.

"Did she.....she just.....Hermione??"

Harry didn't answer him, he was too busy glaring at his plate.

"Harry?"

"What?!" he snapped.

Ron's eyes narrowed. "Hey, don't yell at me, I'm not the one you're mad at. I didn't do anything."

"Oh sure, like abandoning everyone for seven years wasn't anything. You abandoned me too, Ron."

"Harry! I couldn't take it anymore...you know that," he said, angry.

Harry continued, as if he hadn't heard Ron. "And then, you didn't show up for Dumbledore's funeral--- that wasn't anything either. Oh, and don't worry about not believing me. I'm just a crazy lunatic who thinks your brother is a death eater, but of course, my dreams don't ever come true, do they?" Harry spoke very sarcastically, letting his anger get out of control. The candles that lit the room started to flicker, and the ceiling went dark.

Realizing what his reaction was causing, Harry took a deep breath and walked out of the Great Hall, leaving more silence than Hermione had. Ron stayed for about two seconds, and then stormed out, turning the opposite way Harry had.

~~~***~~~

Malfoy looked over at the now empty chairs that had just seated the famous trio. They'd be back to normal in a couple of days. He hoped.

At last Potter had figured it out! Dumbledore wasn't dead.

He'd known that for the past five years. All the death eaters had. Although at this point in time, Voldemort no longer believed him to be a loyal follower, at that time, Draco was. He was in the inner circle, with his traitorous father, and heard of the plan to get Dumbledore. After the meeting, Voldemort had cast a life-binding secrecy spell. This spell allowed nothing to be spoken or written of the subject outside of the room.

It had been agony, sitting there while people mourned for a wizard who was really just banished, not dead. He'd seen Potter, there at the funeral, looking dead himself, as if all the confidence had been swept away with Dumbledore's death. Two months after Dumbledore 'died', Potter had left.

Showed that great Gryffindor courage they always brag about. Draco just hoped the famous trio wouldn't run again. He didn't want to die at such a young age.

~~~***~~~

Ron was seething. How dare Harry accuse him as if he were the only one to leave everyone behind! Hermione left first, it was more her fault than his.

Now Ron knew he was being rash, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything different than just sit and grumble. Hermione was part of the reason he had left anyway. She'd been gone for three years before he couldn't take it anymore. He hadn't seen her, heard from her-hell, he hadn't even known if she was alive. Yeah, Harry was his best friend, but Hermione seemed to complete him in a way no one else could.

Well, actually, before he had gone off to Brazil.

Hermione was one of his first girlfriends. He'd gone on small dates with Lavender or Padma (who'd eventually forgiven him), but they weren't anything but a night with friends. With Hermione it was different. It seemed he always wanted to be a better person when she was around. Of course, it's not like succeeded. In fact, looking back on it, it seemed that she always brought out the worst in him.

Not able to sit any longer, he started to roam the hallways. His eyes didn't comprehend where his feet were taking him, so obviously they didn't see the person he ran into.

"Ooof!"

Ron turned to apologize to the person when he saw a splotchy-faced Hermione.

"Oh, sorry Hermione, you ok?" he said weakly, trying to regain his balance.

She nodded quickly and turned to go in the other direction. Ron reached out and grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving.

"I didn't mean about just now. I meant earlier-you know, the argument with Harry," he said.

That looked like the wrong thing to say, because her face hardened and angry tears sprung to her eyes.

"I don't want to talk about it, Ron," she said, in a harsh, raspy whisper.

Ron just looked at her, knowing she would give in eventually.

"Come on Hermione," he said. "You can't just sit there and mope about it. If it makes you feel any better, he yelled at me too."

"Hmm, well, I suppose you deserved it, Ron," she said seriously, but there was a small grin on her face. Ron didn't catch the grin, and so he thought she was serious.

"Hermione! I didn't do anything!" he protested. He scowled when he saw the grin on her face.

"Ha ha, very funny," he said sarcastically.

"So why did he yell at you?" Hermione asked, as they turned to walk towards the front of the castle.

"I dunno. He went off about me leaving and not believing him about Percy...." Ron trailed off. He hadn't mentioned Percy to Hermione yet.

"What about Percy?" she asked.

"Harry saw in his dreams that Percy was a death eater," Ron said, his ears turning red. "He told me this years ago, and I didn't believe him. I mean, his dreams aren't always the truth, right? I accused him of lying, and he got mad that I wouldn't believe him. I think the last straw was when I called him crazy. He just exploded, and before I knew it, I stormed out of Hogwarts and took off. Well, today he brought it back up. I can't believe that he still thinks that after all these years," Ron said, shaking his head sadly. "And," he added as an after thought, "he yelled at me for not going to Dumbledore's funeral. I don't know how he could yell at us after all the things he did."

Hermione started to nod her head in agreement, but something made her think. What exactly had Harry done?

~~~~****~~~~

Harry was tossing stones in the lake-well, actually, he was launching them into the lake as hard as he could.

"I can't believe them....crazy...NOT crazy..." he said, grumbling to himself. "And then Hermione...and RON....arg!"

Splash. That was the giant squid, coming up to see what the commotion was. Harry stopped throwing rocks, and walked around the lake to the opposite shore.

Maybe he should just leave. He wasn't really doing anything here anyways. His time would be better served hunting down Percy (whom he suspected knew where Dumbledore was) or finding that damn secretary who leaked all of his Aurors' names to the Death Eaters. He knew it was that nosy secretary, it just had to be!

But his time was useless here, teaching kids how to perform a Patronus and working on shield spells when he could be setting up the defenses to the castle.

Noooo. Hermione wouldn't let him. McGonagall wouldn't let him. Snape just laughed at his misfortune. Malfoy-he was a bit of a puzzle. He still hated Malfoy (there was no doubt) but it was sort of a peaceful hate. Put it this way-there were people (like that Sarah Toombs woman) whom he hated much more than Malfoy.

And why had Malfoy smirked when he said that Dumbledore was still alive? Did he think Harry had gone crazy as well? Or did he know something Harry didn't? How much longer did Dumbledore even have? Was he already gone? And why wouldn't anyone believe him?

He kept walking. By now he had made a full lap around the lake. He saw a figure sitting by the side of the lake. He could tell who it was without seeing her face. She was staring straight, as if in a daze. However, when she saw Harry, she got up and came over to him.

Harry scowled. He didn't need this right now. He didn't slow his speed, so she was forced to walk quickly to keep up with him.

"Harry, could you wait a second? I need to talk to you," she said, a bit breathless. He ignored her and kept going.

"Harry, please!" she said, with an exasperated voice.

He still kept going. Maybe she would understand that he wanted to be alone.

"Harry James Potter! I need to talk to you, and I don't care if you want to talk or not!"

Well, at least she knew he didn't want to talk. It was a start.

"Hermione, I'd rather not have a conversation right now. I'm in the middle of thinking about something rather complicated," he said, for lack of better explanation. Why didn't he want to talk to her anyways? She didn't seem to be mad at him anymore. Ah, that's right, he was still mad at her.

"Harry, stop being immature and listen."

"No, you listen. I was thinking, and I think I'd be better off hunting down the death eater who wants to kill all my Aurors, or hunting down a certain death eater who has betrayed everyone. I'm not doing anything here but arguing with you and Ron. Minerva still treats me like a little kid who needs protecting. No one has done anything about Dumbledore-because no one believes me."

"Harry, we believe you... it's just that sometimes.... maybe what you see is really just a dream-nothing more."

Harry's eyebrows narrowed. "Well, in how many of my dreams does Voldemort talk to me directly?"

Hermione frowned. "You dreamed he talked to you? Had a normal conversation?"

Harry nodded. "Yes..... of course, his normal conversation always includes a 'Crucio' every once in a while."

Hermione gasped. "He can do that? In dreams?"

"Apparently. I didn't realize it before. I could always feel him performing the curse on other people, but never on me directly." He switched the subject quickly, eager for one last try to get Hermione to believe him. If she helped him look for Dumbledore, they'd definitely find him quicker.

"Hermione---please believe me about Dumbledore. I'm not going crazy, I promise. I've found evidence...real evidence, that proves it....." he trailed off, desperately wanting someone to believe him. He found that the only reason he was angry at Hermione at the moment was because she refused to believe him.

When they were in school, she always took his side. It actually made Ron quite jealous of the two in sixth year. Hermione had always believe him before-so why didn't she now?

~~~***~~~

She looked at his eyes, which were pleading her silently to believe him. Maybe if he had evidence.....

'But he doesn't. He's just making it up.' Her inner voice told her. Still, those eyes...

"Harry.." she started, then sighed. "Harry, can you show me the evidence?"

Harry lost his frown, and a small smile appeared.

"You really believe me?" he asked. She nodded slowly. Yes, he'd never lied to her before...she'd believe him if he had enough evidence.

"Yeah, I believe you. Harry..." she paused. "Harry," she began again. "I'm sorry I blew up at you. I wasn't thinking rationally, and Malfoy just pushed me over the edge and----"

Harry interrupted her. "No, it's not your fault, 'Mione," he said. Her heart gave a slight flutter when he used her nickname. It meant he wasn't mad at her anymore. "I've been angry for a while, and it all just flew out of my mouth tonight. I was angry that you left, and then Ron left, and everything that's been happening..I guess I just lost my temper. I'm sorry," he said. "It just felt like you left me-us-here. Ron wasn't the same after you left. I..I wasn't the same either," he said softly. "No one was here to think logically through anything, no one to tell Ron and I to stop being babies and stop our arguing. We needed you, Hermione, and you left us."

Her eyes swelled with tears, and she felt guilt rush all over her. "Harry, please, I never meant to leave you behind, it's just-----just," she paused, unable to continue for a second. Her throat was tightening up. "I couldn't handle....couldn't.....I couldn't...." how was she supposed to tell Harry the reason she left was because of him?

~~**~~**~~

Hermione was excited. It was a week before graduation. They'd just finished their N.E.W.T.S., and she couldn't wait until July 17, the day the results were supposed to arrive. She'd tried to go over the tests with Harry and Ron, but Ron had just refused to talk about them. He was so stubborn sometimes-it was kind of cute the way he would flinch every time someone would mention the tests.

Harry didn't mind discussing the tests-but he preferred to sit down outside and just relax. She often found him under their tree outside (one they always studied by) just resting, his eyes gathering a far almost lost look. As soon as she'd approach, he'd refocus his attention and talk to her. She never asked about it, and he never offered information.

On that day, Hermione and Harry were sitting by the tree discussing the transfiguration NEWT, the practical part of course.

"Did you know that for bonus you could transfigure the examiner's hand into lion's paw? I think I earned an extra two points because of it," Hermione said thoughtfully. Harry grinned.

"Hey 'Mione, speaking of human transfiguration, what do you think about becoming an Aminigus? Do you think we could do it?" he said, with a mischievous grin. Hermione's face brightened.

"Really, Harry? Are you serious? I've been dying to try ever since the Sirius issue in third year, but I thought we should do it together, don't you? Oh, this will be so interesting! And we can keep a log, of things to do and not to do, and we can...." she continued on, with a happy grin on her face. She'd been waiting ages for Harry to bring it up. She hadn't wanted to mention it because of sixth year, but she thought that it'd be a great idea, not just for educational purposes, but for safety reasons as well.

Harry's small grin stayed on his face, which pleased Hermione to no end. It was a rare thing these days to see Harry smiling. You had to work hard to get a smile.

"So when do you think we should start? I was thinking we should try it soon, now that NEWTS are over with," she said at the end of her long speech.

Harry's smile got bigger.

"That's what I figured, Hermione, so that's why I gathered all the ingredients for us. We have everything we need to make the first potion, the one that tells us what our form will be. Don't worry, I haven't made it yet. You won't miss out on this opportunity," he said, half teasing, half serious. She swatted his arm, pouting at his teasing.

"Hmph," she said, trying to keep a grin off her face. It wasn't surprising that Harry had thought of that. He usually thought of everything.

They continued talking for a while until Ron came and sat down by the tree, collapsing dramatically and flopping his arms down, sighing.

Hermione held back another grin. "What's wrong, Ron?"

Ron sighed. "I don't know what to do, now that I don't have to study incessantly for the NEWTS," he said, perfectly serious. "I have too much free time, and no six column planner for me to follow. What should I do, Hermione?" he said, dramatically.

Hermione rolled her eyes and hit him on the arm, harder than she had hit Harry. "Don't make fun of me. Those timetables were the only way I got through those examinations. Ron, how many times have I told you that.."

"Relax, Hermione, I was only kidding." He chuckled. "In fact, I can think of many things to do with my time, but sitting under a tree isn't high up there on the list," he said, laughing again.

Harry just looked over at Hermione and shrugged. "I think what we were discussing would be of interest to you Ron, but if you think that sitting under a tree isn't good enough for you, then ..." he trailed off, knowing that he had caught Ron's interest.

"What? What were you discussing?"

They filled him on in their newest plan. Instead of looking excited, he looked a bit miffed.

"You couldn't wait until I was here to discuss this?" he asked, sounding a bit angry.

"Ron, Harry just now brought up the topic. We haven't had time to really talk it through," Hermione said.

Instead of pacifying Ron, this statement seemed to anger him more.

"Oh, so how long have you been thinking about it Harry? Long enough to tell me, your best mate?" he said.

Harry, who had gotten used to accusations of the sort (which still hurt, by the way), reasoned with Ron.

"No, I hadn't told anyone, Ron. You know what happened sixth year," he said. Ron looked immediately guilty, and apologized. Harry just nodded and changed the subject. Hermione hadn't caught the painful look in his eye when Ron sat next to her with his arm around her waist.

Later on that day, Hermione was in the common room reading on the couch when Harry came in.

"Hey 'Mione," he said as a greeting.

She lifted her eyes from the book (which was more than she did for anyone else) and said a brief hello before going back to her book. It was getting really interesting.

Harry sat on the opposite chair, and just stared into the fire. They sat like that for several minutes, peaceful and comfortable.

A wind interrupted the calmness of the room. A hawk had somehow made its way into the common room, dropped a letter on Hermione's lap, and exited again within a matter of seconds.

She looked over at it, shocked. Harry looked a bit alarmed, but then he calmed down as he realized it wasn't a portkey (it was touching her and hadn't activated-at the time, he had forgotten about time activated portkeys).

Hermione touched the letter carefully, trying to see who it was from. There was no writing on the front, so she cautiously broke the seal and opened the letter.

Inside was a message that would haunt her forever.

You can't save him, Mudblood. No matter how hard you try, or how much you know, he's worse than dead when I finish with him.