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Assistant: Title: In The Forest Of Dean
        Author: T3Tohru T3Tohru 
        Chapter: 53/87 
        Summary: A complete rewrite of Book Seven.A darker, more dangerous, and more realistic outlook on war.Mostly Hermione-centric.Mostly follows canon, but provides a different look at how the relationships in HP could have formed had Hermione realized that she and Ron did not fit well together and that Harry, her best friend, was really what she was looking for the whole time. This is the story of what could have happened between Harry and Hermione in The Deathly Hallows after Ron leaves in a grittier war-torn world.Features added subplots, alt POVs, and OC characters.HHR is the main pairing, but this fic is about more than just their relationship. It is a fully developed story about the war following Hermione and her allies through the fight. **This fic contains mature content, explicit language, and is dark in nature. PLEASE READ THE TAGS**If you are looking for nothing but fluff, or a love story solely about HHR tackling everything alone without gaining a scratch, you will not find it here.COMPLETE (but continuously editing)
            
            A Horcrux, a tent, and an explosion of emotion.
        Contents: Chapter 53: Chapter Fifty-Three
    

    

        
          
          
            Hermione, Harry and the Order try to navigate the days post werewolf den operation and tackle the pressing issues of the war including the surviving muggles, food supplies and planning.
          
        

      
        
          JK Rowling and whatever other appropriate affiliates obviously own the rights to Harry Potter and the Harry Potter universe. I own nothing but the inserted original characters/plot concepts. I make no money on this. This is simply a FAN based work.I would like to give a huge shoutout to the wonderful humans that helped me comb through several past chapters to catch pesky lingering errors that I can no longer see. Thank you: Amelia_Davies_Writes, GalaxyNightangale, and all the others who have pointed out my grammatical errors via discord.And a massive thank you to Greca for agreeing to read and beta new chapters, to Ginny for acting as a sounding block for my ideas as I worked to complete this beast and for reviewing my epilogues, and to Invi, who has prevented me from deleting this story several times now.Your help is greatly appreciated.
      
  

  
  
    
    This chapter is dedicated to Aani <3-x-x- Hermione’s eyes fluttered open, a cool breeze wafted over her face as she let out a quiet sigh and two heartbeats fluttered nervously in the back of her mind. It was Arthur and Bill. They were awake and likely getting ready to go to work, hence the nervousness and increased stress levels coming from their tags – but it wasn’t what had woken her. She’d woken up to the smell of burning, images of yellow glowing eyes, terrified brown ones and the blue of the snatcher’s she’d killed on the hillside months ago. It had been a long time since she’d thought of that man, but his eyes had floated up in the mix that swarmed her mind when her occlumency technique began to fail as her mind woke.It was accompanied by a heavy weighted sadness and the last thing she’d seen before she opened her eyes were Nasir’s piercing ones. It made the rune on her chest weigh heavy as she stared up at the ceiling in the still dark tent. She took another deep breath of fresh cold morning air and tried to convince her mind that the smell of fiendfyre wasn’t real – though she doubted that it would leave her senses any time soon. Neither would the hollow sadness that ached in her chest.A quick time check let her know that it was 5:30 am and she quickly concluded that Arthur and Bill were up getting ready, removing their memories and trying to calm down before they started their day in just one short hour. The next sixty minutes would dictate the next steps of the war – it would confirm whether or not the Order had been suspected of having any involvement in the attack and if they needed to prepare for a counterattack by Voldemort’s Death Eaters. So far, it seemed that everyone else was asleep, including Harry, who was pressed up against her side and sleeping soundly.He deserves it, she thought fondly as her eyes shifted to the mess of black hair beside her. He’d been her rock the night before and he’d picked up the pieces when she’d completely imploded. He’d held her tightly in the cold water, he’d listened to all of her internal turmoil and guilt and he’d been completely nonjudgmental when she told him how she’d felt about Ava. Then he’d forced her to take a break when she refused to listen to her body, he’d been the one to make her go to bed and get the rest that she’d so desperately needed.After speaking with Arthur, making Nasir’s tombstone and setting up the tent Harry had led her immediately to the bathroom – where they’d both stripped off their clothes, dropping them haphazardly on the floor before jumping in the shower. She’d nearly scrubbed herself raw to try and remove the smell of death and fire that clung to her skin and the blood that stained her hands before finally getting out and putting on her pajamas. She’d been too lazy to look at what clothes she’d grabbed so she’d ended up in Harry’s loose-fitting grey shirt and her own green pajama shorts while he threw on a pair of black sweats. Harry had made her eat a piece of toast (because she couldn’t stomach anything else) and then he’d dragged her to bed and made her take a small sip of dreamless sleep draught.He’d kept her whole. He’d kept her sane.Warmth radiated from his body and made the exhaustion that still riddled her bones feel a little less terrible. The shaking in her limbs had stopped, her mind felt clearer than it had before she’d passed out the night before and her emotions were back under control even if she did feel a bit empty. Her meltdown had helped – as much as it had killed her to completely fall apart and walk out of the debrief it was what she’d needed. After everything that had happened the day before she’d been entirely unable to keep it all in and she’d confessed to Harry the root cause of her pain and anguish. Aside from the guilt, she’d felt over being upset with Ava, aside from the sadness that bit into her soul when she thought about Arthur and Remus’ injuries, and Nasir’s death – it had been the loss of her edge in the war that had truly killed her, she’d lost the trump card that she’d yet to play. The fact that she could no longer make a deal to save Harry’s life or make herself more than what she was broke her confidence and her heart.It hurt.She let out a quiet breath and carefully slid herself out from under Harry’s arm. Despite her body still feeling worn from the exertion the day before her mind felt awake and she knew that she would not be able to get back to sleep. Not when Arthur and Bill were buzzing like little bees in her mind and her nose burned with the smell of fire from her dream. She wanted to take a second shower. Have tea. Maybe sit and stare at the wall of the tent for a few seconds while she tried to collect herself and prepare for what she knew would be another long and exhausting day. Then she wanted to get reading to see if there was a way to help Ariel. She wanted to take stock of their supplies and make a list of what needed to be replaced.There were a million things to do and yet despite this she didn’t feel panicked like she had the day before. Her breakdown the night before had taken care of the desperate anxiety and now she was left feeling tired, worn, and sad – but calm. A heaviness lingered in her heart from her dream and left her solemn as she moved her way to the bathroom with a set of fresh clothes. She would shower, force herself to eat, then get down to business because it would help her remain calm and it would, hopefully, relieve some of the deep ache in her chest. Research, planning and working always did – but she would let Harry sleep until he woke on his own. He was just as exhausted as she was, and he needed his rest.She moved to the bathroom silently, her feet padding softly against the cold floor as her mind monitored the tags in her head. Mrs. Weasley was waking, and Fleur had started to stir. When she reached the bathroom, her nose flooded with the smell of death and fire and she froze, her eyes immediately darted to the pile of muddy, bl@@dy clothes on the floor. She felt her nose crinkling as she glared at them and images of Nasir’s eyes and fire filled her head once more as the rune grew heavier. Her shoulders sagged and she let out a deep low sigh.“I should just burn these,” she whispered as she placed her clean clothes on the small shelf near the shower and bent to pick up the pile of ruined clothing.It was unfortunate, Fleur had bought her this jacket and now it was stained and marked, and she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to clean it. She held it up before her and frowned. Perhaps she should at least try to salvage it – it was her only jacket after all. Tracing her fingers over the fabric she adjusted her hold and made to pick up the remaining clothes but instead froze for a second time when her fingers brushed against something firm. Her eyes shot wide and her heart rate skyrocketed as she rapidly tore open the pocket and untethered the book that she had almost entirely forgotten about.“How could I have forgotten,” her eyes had started to sting as she desperately tugged the book free with shaking hands and enlarged it back to its full size. She felt her face crumple as she pulled the book to her chest and leaned back against the closed bathroom door.It burns.She pinched her eyes shut tight and fought to keep a sob at bay as her lungs ached and tears ran down her face. She hadn’t wanted to cry today; she hadn’t wanted to feel this agony for a second time as she crumpled down to the floor and cast a silencing charm on the bathroom so she could let out a ragged breath. But somehow, even though it hurt, and the tears flowed steady like a river – she felt the smallest spark of hope flutter in her chest.“It’s not over,” she whispered as she pulled the book tighter and drew her knees up to her chest.They weren’t doomed. Not yet. Nasir hadn’t left her with nothing and so she wouldn’t give up. She’d keep pushing. She’d memorize the entire contents of this book; she’d learn whatever he’d left behind for her and she’d push until her very last breath.It took all of her willpower to force herself to shower instead of diving immediately into Nasir’s book, so she compromised and rinsed off quickly without washing her hair. Then she threw on her thick fuzzy socks, sweater and worn jeans before gathering her long curls into a messy knot on the top of her head. She moved silently back into the kitchen, glancing at Harry’s sleeping form with a small smile and starting the kettle under a silencing spell with a flick of her wand. It only took her three minutes to make a cup of tea, grab some oatmeal and take a seat at the kitchen table all while her heart raced anxiously in her chest. She fought to keep her hands steady as she carefully laid the book on the worn surface, took a deep breath, and then slowly opened it.It was a journal, Nasir’s personal journal – but it wasn’t filled with ramblings, stories, or information about his life. At least not directly. While it wasn’t a diary that documented his thoughts or feelings it was a book that documented research, spells, charms, and potions that he’d either developed over the years or learned from someone else. It also included documentation of several modifications and alterations he’d experimented with and implemented on his body – and the majority of it was questionably dark magic.Each time she turned a page her eyes grew wider, her heart rate increased, and she fought to stay in her seat. She wanted to go wake Harry. She wanted to run over and jump on top of him then shake him awake so she could show him the journal – and the urge to do just that only grew stronger the deeper she read. The journal spanned across decades, it included his research notes, scribbles and trial arithmancy calculations. Sections were crossed out when something didn’t work only for another page to be starred with a note indicating it had been resolved and documenting the final calculation.And there were dates.The first entry was marked November 5th, 1919 and based on the neat handwriting Hermione thought it was safe to assume that he must have been at least a teenager at the time, possibly a young adult but definitely no longer a child. This meant that Nasir had been well over 80 years old – yet he’d looked younger than Arthur.She continued to read through the journal, her tea having long since grown cold and the oatmeal sitting beside her entirely forgotten as she flipped page after page until she reached one entry dated October 12th, 1939 where Nasir had made a note about receiving a silver dagger and he’d documented the counter spell required to heal wounds inflicted by it – sarciovolnus. He’d used it on them, she’d seen him do it to heal his own arm too but he hadn’t managed to teach it to them before the den infiltration. At the bottom of the page the date ‘November 1st, 1939 – 9:00 am’ was scribbled and marked with a star but there were no other notes made.After this entry the journal jumped, skipping well over an entire year and the next entry did not occur until January 18st 1941. It was an incredibly brief entry and the closet thing to a traditional diary note that she’d come across thus far, the words ‘Test was partially successful, five remain. Existing runes still functional – new remain useless. Watch Anna’ were written neatly across the page.After this date the entries became a bit more infrequent, the experiments more dangerous, more morbid and less detailed until she reached one dated April 19th 1944 – and Hermione paused. Her eyes grew wider, her mouth dropped open and she leaned down closer to look at the finely sketched diagram Nasir had created.“Oh my god,” the words whispered from her lips.“Oh my god, what?”“Sh@t! Harry!” Hermione jumped in her seat and clutched her chest as she turned to look toward Harry as he made his way over to her. He was lucky she didn’t hex him. “You scared the bl@@dy hell out of me.”“Sorry, I tried to make noise when I was getting out of bed so I wouldn’t startle you but you were too engrossed in your reading and didn’t hear any of it,” he gave her a somewhat sheepish smile and came to peer over her shoulder. “Is this the book that Nasir left? I almost forgot abou–“Harry’s voice cut off as he leaned forward more and reached around Hermione’s small frame, his hand gripping her gently and pulling the journal up closer just as she’d done a moment ago. She felt the heat from his bare chest radiating into her as it pressed against her spine. She could feel his breath ghosting along her neck as his heartbeat fluttered more quickly in her head.“He didn’t,” Harry whispered.“He did.”“But how? Is it even possible?”“His calculations here show that it is, it’s not so much about the wood they use – it’s more about the affinity to the magical core component itself.”“Yeah – okay,” Harry said slowly, she knew he was skimming Nasir’s notes on the opposite page and working through the calculations and research himself. “So, the wood is just a mechanism to hold it and seems to contribute rather little overall – but did he actually do it? Sure, it works theoretically on paper – but did he really manage to do it is the question.”“He did.”“How do you know – did he tell you?”“No,” Hermione said as she twisted around to look up at Harry. “I saw it – when he cut off his hand I saw it, Harry.”Harry stared at her for a long quiet moment. She could see the gears turning in his head before he spoke the words that she already knew he was going to say.“I want to do it.”She felt a small smile tug at her lips. “We’ll run the arithmancy tonight.” -x-x- Hermione bit back a groan as she sat back on her heels. Her muscles were sore and tired from the day before and her mind was beginning to feel very, very dead as the glow of the setting sun shone through the small barn windows. It looked like a blazing fire – which only made her feel more unpleasant. The day had been long and productive with some high points – but it wasn’t ending well. After reheating her oats and eating breakfast with Harry they’d skipped their normal workout routine in favour of taking stock of their potions and ingredients. She’d managed to clean their jackets so that only a faint smell of smoke lingered on them and they were wearable, but the remainder of their clothes from that day were ruined and unsalvageable – so in a ritual that seemed to be becoming all too familiar, they burned them.They’d discussed Harry’s plan for Arthur, which could be adapted to everyone infected, and then made their way up to the cottage to meet with Fleur – who, with the help of Luna and Ron had taken stock of her own potions and remaining supplies that morning.They’d spent most of the morning going through each list, documenting the expected incoming supplies from Shacklebolt, discussing food supplies and communicating every few minutes with Arthur and Bill. By 11 am it looked pretty promising that the Order was in the clear. Hermione knew it was largely because not a single person on Voldemort’s side (including the demon himself) would have suspected that the Order was capable of such a large scale and violent operation – yet she still found it surprising that Dolohov or Yaxley didn’t at least stop by to speak to Arthur or Bill. Yes, they’d had decoys the day before and yes, they’d made themselves present to create a valid alibi but she couldn’t help but feel both surprised and nervous that they weren’t approached at all.She kept most of her comments to herself as they worked, but she did whisper to Harry that it was something they should continue to monitor. It left a strange taste in her mouth that they would get off scot-free and it made her wonder if something else was going on. Either Voldemort and his followers were planning a return attack and didn’t want to give it away, or, and perhaps even more nerve-wracking – they suspected someone else entirely. Which made her cringe at the thought of someone innocent paying the price for their actions. Unless of course the obliteration of the den was blamed on someone internal to his organization – in which case, it made her feel rather self-satisfied.They ate a late lunch at the cottage and awkwardly accepted Dean’s uncomfortable apology. The boy had come into the room while they were eating, moving nervously and skittishly like a mouse before he finally sat down at the table and apologized for abandoning them the day before when they’d dragged an infected Arthur, a half-dead Remus and a dazed injured muggle into the cottage. His hands twisted nervously, and he stared at his plate while he spoke, saying that he’d ‘seen some things at the Manor’ and that he’d not been able to handle it. He didn’t go into any more detail than that but the sad expression on Fleur’s face hinted that she might know more. Hermione and Harry both brushed it off and told him he was welcome to join them for training in the evenings – where they could teach him some occlumency skills that might help. This made a faint smile brush across his lips and he nodded before silently digging into his food.Hermione had watched him as he ate – or better worded ‘picked at his food’. He was still skinny, he clearly struggled with eating and the dark rings under his eyes suggested that he’d not been sleeping well. Out of the four people that Harry had rescued from the Manor he seemed to be recovering the worst. Luna’s gaunt face had filled out, her hair no longer looked dull and her calm but bubbly personality was starting to shine through once more. She’d spoken a lot about Ava and Charlie during lunch, who were both upstairs in her room putting together a puzzle. The blonde seemed rather taken with them and was already flourishing under the responsibility of taking care of them and helping them adapt to their new life. It had gone without saying that the muggle pair were likely upstairs because they were sifting through potion ingredients that could kill a small child if he accidentally grabbed and ate something. Not to mention that Hermione was in the cottage and Luna was probably trying to give her space.She’d bit back a sigh at the time. It was just yet another thing that she needed to deal with later. She needed to speak to Ava and apologize for walking out so abruptly after the woman had hugged her the night before – it was hardly the politest thing she’d ever done and she didn’t doubt that Ava had heard her whisper ‘I can’t be here’. She just hoped the woman understood it wasn’t anything personal. That she wasn’t upset with her she’d just been upset with everything. She’d been overwhelmed and unable to process anything else.Once lunch was done Hermione had apparated to the werewolf safehouse with Harry and Fleur. They’d left Ron and Luna to put the potion ingredients away and to review through a copy of the final combined list of ingredients and tasked them to develop a plan which maximized the potions that they could brew based on what they had. Hermione planned to review what they came up with the next day so that they could get started on brewing as soon as possible. With what happened to Peter, Voldemort now had control of the apothecary market and things were about to get even more challenging as ingredient shortages became the norm. They would need to be very careful about what they brewed and what they used from here on out.Food was also going to become an issue and a risk. They had five additional mouths to feed and Mrs. Weasley and Fleur couldn’t exactly go to the store and purchase the large quantities of supplies that they would require. They knew that even if the Order members didn’t get approached about the den they were still being watched. So, they knew they would need to develop a plan for collecting more food – which would likely include making several nighttime runs while shielded. Hermione and Harry had both already agreed that morning they should be the ones to do it as they were the best equipped to do so. Which, unfortunately, was just one more additional risk they would need to take on – yet it seemed like there were no other viable options. They couldn’t just let the group starve and they refused to get into rationing until it was absolutely necessary because it would only hurt them in the long run.What good was an exhausted and malnourished army?Especially when their ‘army’ was a fraction of the size of Voldemort’s and still severely untrained and ill-equipped to deal with the harsh realities of war. The Order was only just coming around on the idea of using force and making counter moves – Hermione and Harry were not about to let their health decline and they refused to let Arthur or Remus complete the run. Not after what happened at the den. Not until they’d gotten more training in.Thus, during lunch Hermione and Harry had revealed their idea of completing a food run Wednesday night by going to a large muggle bulk store warehouse in Northern England. They figured it would be relatively safe since they doubted that Voldemort and his followers were even aware that such a thing existed. The plan – as discussed over lunch and developed based on the food that Fleur currently had and what Mrs. Weasley had communicated she could get away with buying on a weekly basis per her usual routine – was to stock up on dry foods like rice, beans, flour, nuts, and other canned goods. If all went well, they should be able to get enough stock to feed the entire group for over a month in one run.And shockingly – it had been Ron’s suggestion that brought the plan together and made the large scale operation possible. Hermione, Harry and Fleur had been debating the logistics of transporting large amounts of food. Yes, Hermione’s purse was incredible and could technically fit everything that they needed, but it took a wasteful amount of time and energy to fill it and every minute they spent at the warehouse was another minute open to attack or being caught. Ron had piped up when they’d started debating making multiple trips saying ‘why not use the port keys? Isn’t that what Lupin and my dad did? Dad said during the debrief he tethered the muggles’ hands to the key, could you tether the food together to a port key?’They’d gone silent after he spoke, all of them turning to look at the redhead in surprise. She’d watched as a blush crept across his face and he looked down at the plate before him awkwardly. He must have thought it was a stupid idea because he’d quickly followed up with ‘sorry, that’s probably stupid – I just thought it might work‘.‘It’s not stupid,’ Harry had said quietly while Hermione had nodded, and Fleur and Luna smiled.And that was how they came up with their new plan. They would use the port keys Shacklebolt had made to ship food to the werewolf safehouse. They would tether huge pallets of food to the keys and ship everything in one go to the barn where the Order members would be waiting to unpack and properly preserve and store the food as it showed up.On the walk up to the barn that afternoon Fleur noted that the goblin could now walk on his own and that Mr. Ollivander, while still weak, was mostly just limited by his age at this point and had recovered well. She’d said that Dean was having night terrors, he wouldn’t talk much about what happened at the Manor, but she knew that he’d seen several people die. She’d also noted that oddly, Dean seemed convinced that if not for Narcissa Malfoy – he would have died within the first month of being taken captive. He wouldn’t say much about why he thought this, but Luna had apparently mentioned something similarly odd – which had left Hermione and Harry with (yet again) another strange piece of information to add to the massive pile they already had.Fleur had seemed a little skeptical that Narcissa would’ve helped Dean or Luna and she seemed concerned about the long-term psychological effects of their capture. Hermione didn’t say anything to Fleur about how Narcissa had her wand at some point, or how it’d gone to Snape then to Nasir. She and Harry simply nodded at the information and changed the topic. It was confusing to say the least, but yet Hermione believed Dean and Luna. For as much as it didn’t make any sense – the woman had saved her life too. Nasir had confirmed it when he’d examined her arm, without the potion she’d given her during her torture her heart would have given out and she would have died on the parlour floor.It wasn’t a question of if Narcissa had helped them – it was a question of why.But she’d pushed the thoughts from her mind as they’d entered the barn and got to work. They’d arrived half an hour before the muggles woke up from their dreamless sleep and things almost immediately went downhill.Colin still didn’t trust them, which if Hermione was being fair seemed entirely reasonable. Liza seemed to trust them a bit more now that they were not covered in blood and mud, but the girl still mostly wanted to speak to Fleur – who quickly decided to go on a walk with Liza outside in the fenced-in and secured area. It had proved to be a good idea, because it meant that Liza was not present when Colin had a meltdown. The man had thankfully eaten some food, but he was getting anxious for an update on his family. In the end Harry’d had to douse him with another round of dreamless sleep potion because his panic grew out of control because they didn’t have any answers for him – Shacklebolt had enlisted the help of Thomas from the Ministry to check into their family situations and so far, there’d been no update.Initially Ariel had been in too much pain to do much else but groan in agony and beg for death. It had taken them the entire afternoon to work their way across her body from head to toe transfiguring her bones and correcting them into their normal human shape – all while referencing a biology textbook and trying to keep the woman calm. It had been quite the ordeal, Hermione’s purse was strewn open on the barn floor, both of them had kneeled by her side surrounded by different potions, muggle pain pills and reference books as they worked.Then Hermione had performed obliviation and removed the worst memories from her mind – but it seemed to do little. She’d accepted the information that they told her, mostly because it seemed like she truly didn’t care, and she’d refused the food they offered. She’d spoken a little bit afterwards and asked a few questions but ultimately, she just started to collapse in on herself – hence the heavy suppressed groan Hermione made as she sat back on her heels then forced herself to stand as she stared at the woman sadly.“Harry,” Hermione whispered as her eyes shifted to her dark-haired partner by her side. “I don’t know what else to do.”Ariel was sitting on her cot, bare feet flat on the cold wooden floor, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and her eyes blank as she stared at her bruised and scarred hands. Even with the memories removed it was like her mind seemed to reject the false peace. It was like her body knew there was something wrong, that she’d done something wrong and it was rejecting the magic in the same way that Rose’s body had in the alley. The swelling around where the bones had been misshaped refused to go down, dittany was barely keeping her cuts held together, deep purple bruising spotted her body, and the muggle medications they’d plied her with were doing very little to ease the pain as a fever began to grow in her body.“I don’t want to be here,” Ariel’s words fell like a whisper as tears started to fill her eyes. She lifted her head to look up at them, pain radiating across her face as her cheeks began to flush with the heat of her rising temperature. “Please just put me back to sleep – please don’t let me wake up.”“Ariel,” Hermione said softly as she knelt back down before the woman and carefully took her trembling hands. “There is still a future for you – we can help you and we’ll keep working to find ways to lessen the pain. I know it isn’t wha–““Please,” Ariel cut her off as her face crumpled and her voice dropped to a broken whisper. “There’s nothing left for me – he was my only family and he’s gone now. I-I don’t want to live like this. I’m not stupid – I know I’m dying. I can feel it – it’s not right. Somethings not right and you’ve already told me that the most I would have are a few months at best. What kind of a life is that?”Hermione felt her shoulders fall as her jaw clenched. Upon glimpsing Ariel’s memories while obliviating them she’d realized that the woman’s fiancé was killed during her abduction. After altering her memories Ariel had wept for him, she’d said that she had no other family, she’d asked how long she had to live, and Hermione had answered honestly – ‘two months, four at best’.Maybe it was a mistake – but she could not bring herself to lie to these people.Not after what they’d been through, not knowing what their life would be going forward. So – she, Fleur and Harry had told each of them the truth to any questions that they asked, even if it was hard to bear. They’d tried to be delicate but there wasn’t exactly a great way to tell someone that they were dying because their body was rejecting magic, that there was a whole other world in existence behind the scenes that they never knew existed and that within that magical world there was a war going on between decent people and people capable of some very terrible things.Colin seemed to struggle the hardest to accept the news and he’d only grown more upset with them. Liza was handling the news of magic the best out of all of them, because she was a kid and thought it was ‘super cool’ just like in the movies – but she was also a bit nervous and wanted her parents. Considering all things Ariel had handled the news fairly well but it was mostly because she seemed to have given up entirely. Hermione could see it in her eyes.They were dull.Borderline lifeless.Which made saving her even more difficult. It was hard to force a body to heal when it belonged to a person who fundamentally wanted to die. Hermione swallowed hard. She already knew exactly how this was going to end but she wanted to give saving Ariel her best effort – for Arthur’s sake.“Ariel, there is a chance that I could be wrong,” Hermione said slowly as the woman’s body seemed to curl inwards even more. “We might find another cure – what you’re asking for is permanent. There is still a chance that we could fix this, if you give up now–““I’m not giving up,” Ariel whispered. Fresh tears began to slide down her face, anger laced her voice as she ripped her hands away from Hermione and grimaced in pain. “I’m accepting my fate – it’s not the same thing. It hurts, everything hurts – my mind hurts and I don’t want to die slowly over the next few months while you both prod me with your – your wands or whatever you call them. I’m not a science experiment and I don’t want to live four months in a f@ck@ng barn while you try to help so you can feel better about yourselves – about what you people did while I die in pain! So please – please, at least give me this. Please let me have a say in my final moments.”Hermione felt the runes on her chest grow heavy as she looked at the woman. Ariel looked terrible. Not only did Hermione know that the woman was dying in agony from the diagnostic that floated above her head – she looked it. The deep purple bruises only seemed to want to grow darker, the rings under her eyes were worse than Dean’s and even her heart rate was slow.“How about this,” Harry had knelt down beside Hermione and was looking toward Ariel seriously. “We’ll wait until tomorrow – let’s see if the pills that Hermione gave you bring down your fever. Tonight we’ll do some more research while you’re sleeping to see if there is anything we might have missed and by tomorrow – if things haven’t improved and you’re still set on ending things – then we’ll give you what you want.”Ariel’s dull eyes shifted to Harry; she was watching him closely – sadly.“It’s not like I can do anything other than what you want anyways,” she whispered brokenly. “I saw what you people are capable of. It doesn’t matter what I ask for – what I beg for – you’ll do whatever you want anyways. I don’t see how you think you’re any different from the ones that took me in the first place.”Hermione felt Harry stiffen beside her and she knew that the woman’s words had hit him hard.“Tomorrow,” he said in a low and even tone. “If nothing has changed, I’ll kill you tomorrow. I promise it won’t hurt.”With that he summoned a bottle of dreamless sleeping draught from the floor, uncorked the bottle and held it out to her.“This will keep you asleep and without pain until noon.”The broken defeat and anguish on Ariel’s face was hard to bear.“As I said,” the woman reached forward, grimacing in pain as she took the potion from Harry and downed it in one big gulp. She radiated defeat as she locked him with a dead stare. “You’ll do whatever you want anyways.”Hermione stood up to catch the woman as her eyes fluttered shut and her body slouched forward. Harry helped her lay Ariel back down on her cot, tethering her in place before turning to give each other an exhausted look.“Harry if nothing changes tomorrow I-““I’ll do it,” Harry said flatly as he began cleaning up their supplies and carefully putting them in the purse.“Harry,” Hermione said slowly. “You don-““And neither do you,” Harry cut her off sharply, turning to give her a firm look before his eyes softened and he let out an exhausted sigh. He ran a hand over his face tiredly and his shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry – I didn’t mean to snap. I’m just tired – but you don’t always need to shoulder everything Hermione. You’ve taken more than your fair share of this war. I’ll take this one.”“But-““But what?” Harry dropped the open purse on the edge of the cot and moved towards her, his hands finding her hips easily as he pulled her closer to his chest. “What reason could you possibly have for why you should do this?”“Because it’s a weight Harry,” Hermione said quietly as she twisted her hands into the front of his sweater and looked up at him. “And I don’t want you to have to bear it.”“And how do you think I feel,” he whispered, and she saw something painful shift behind his eyes. “Hermione – you killed Rose, you were the one tortured, you were the one attacked, you were the one who had to complete all the obliviations on the muggles yesterday – how do you think that makes me feel to know that you’ve been carrying the brunt of everything thus far? It’s not a competition to see who can bear more Hermione. I know that you’re strong. I know that you can take it and I know that the burden might never be equal because I don’t have the same skill as you. I can’t complete obliviations – so I understand why you had to do them, though I’m going to change that and I’m going to learn – but this is something that I can do. So I will do it. We’re supposed to be a team Hermione, you don’t need to shoulder this all on your own.”Hermione let out a sigh and dropped her forehead against his chest. She hated the idea of Harry carrying around the weight of an innocent life on his conscience. Casting Avada Kedavra, while she’d since established would not actually shatter your soul – still weighed heavy like a burn against your heart. It still left a dark emptiness inside you and she didn’t want him to have to bear that. Yet the logical part of her brain knew that he wasn’t wrong. There was no true reason why he shouldn’t do it other than she just didn’t want to him. It was an emotional response that she simply could not help because she loved him and wanted to spare him – which meant that she also intuitively understood how he felt.He’d had to watch her suffer a lot since September – arguably disproportionately to how much she’d seen him suffer in the last eight months. So as much as she understood how he felt she really couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for him to watch on the sidelines because if she thought about having to watch him go through the same things it made her sick to her stomach. She tightened her grip on his sweater and he wrapped his arms around her to pull her tight. There was no sense in arguing with him because she didn’t have a valid reason and she already knew that he wouldn’t accept any excuses she tried to give him.“Fine,” she sighed into his chest and felt his fingers dig into her sweater in response. “What are we going to tell Arthur?”“The truth,” he said quietly as she shifted to look up at him once more. “We’ve done everything we can, we’ll look at it again tonight and monitor her vitals through the charm. If there is no change by tomorrow, then we’ll grant her a peaceful death – we’ll tell Arthur just that.”“He’s not going to like it.”“I know.”“He’ll want to keep trying.”“I know.”“Should we keep trying?”“Maybe, but eventually we’ll be doing exactly what she said – keeping her alive for the sake of making ourselves feel better while she suffers.”“I know,” Hermione sighed. She felt the exhaustion from the day settle in her spine as she looked up at him. He looked weary like her but still determined, still so very Harry despite everything that life seemed to throw at them. She gave him a small smile. “I love you Harry.”“I love you,” his grip on her tightened before they heard the door to the barn open and they both slowly stepped apart, looking to their left as Fleur and Liza came back inside.“We picked flowers!” Liza was holding up a bouquet of what looked to be mostly weeds. The majority of them weren’t even fully bloomed as it was still April and the weather had yet to level out or allow anything to start growing. But the girl seemed happy and calm – even further improved from how she’d been when she’d first woken up, so Hermione let a smile shift across her face.“Those are lovely,” Harry said warmly from beside her, his hand still wrapped around her waist as a grin split across his face. Liza looked between the two of them curiously, from the small amount of time Hermione had spent with the girl she seemed clever and keen on details.“Zey are, aren’t zey?” Fleur grinned and she made her way across the barn holding what looked like a collection of picked herbs. “I took Liza to ze garden at ze back of ze paddock. Not much is ready yet – but zere were a few items growing.”“It sounds like you two had fun,” Hermione smiled.“It was fun! Did you know that there is something called a warming charm and it keeps you warm!” Liza was waving the ‘flowers’ around as she spoke animatedly, and Hermione actually had to fight to keep a straight face as she watched the wonder unfold across the girl’s expression. They must have had a great time out there because Liza was practically exploding with excitement. “I didn’t get cold at all! We could have stayed out there forever! Fleur said it even works in the snow – and Fleur also said that I don’t have to go back to sleep now. She said I can come with you to the cottage for dinner!”“Oh,” Hermione said as she arched a brow at Fleur in question and Fleur simply grinned wider. “She did, did she?”“Yes – Liza and I ‘ad a very good chat, didn’t we?” Fleur affectionately ruffled the girl’s short black locks as she nodded. She was so naturally charming and so naturally caring that Hermione couldn’t help but think that someday the woman would make an excellent mother. “Now zat ‘er bruising is all ‘ealed and ‘er diagnostic looked good, I figured she might want to meet ze others – see who we are, get to know us a little yes?”“Yes,” Liza grinned up at Fleur. “Fleur says there are more magical people there like you and that you’re trying to find my parents – so, I thought that maybe I could help? That maybe I could tell your magic policeman more about where I live and what my parents look like. Plus, I’d like to maybe see some more people.”Hermione watched as Liza looked around the barn and her eyes landed on the sleeping forms of Ariel and Colin. The girl’s expression grew tighter as she stared at the two and Hermione felt her chest constrict as Harry gripped her side harder. She knew what Fleur was doing – she wanted to build trust with the girl and she clearly understood that keeping her here with the others was not going to help any. It wasn’t like they could keep the muggles drugged up and sleeping forever – they had to integrate them into the wizarding world in some way eventually. So even though she and Fleur both knew that the girl’s parents were likely already dead, they could at least allow her to feel welcomed. They could include her, make her feel like she mattered and like she might be able to help or had a role to play.“That sounds like a great idea,” Hermione said as brightly as she could and thankfully it brought Liza’s attention back to them. “I know everyone there will be excited to meet you and we could use your help. Did Fleur tell you how we’re going to get there?”“Yes appa – appary–“ Liza hesitated and looked back to Fleur.“Apparition,” Fleur said without missing a beat.“Yeah that,” Liza smiled nervously and clutched the flowers to her chest. “She said it is unpleasant though.”“It is,” Harry crinkled his nose in a funny way and Liza gave him a shy smile. “It sort of feels like being pushed through a hose after riding a carousel too many times.”Liza’s face faltered. “That sounds awful.”“You get used to it,” Fleur smiled at the girl. “But if you like for ze first time you can sleep through it?”The girl hesitated, her eyes darting between Fleur and them again.“I don’t want to sleep like that again,” she said quietly, and Hermione made note of the way her fingers twisted nervously around the bouquet once more. “It makes me feel lonely. It feels fake and I don’t like it.”“Zen you do not ‘ave to,” Fleur gave the girl a reassuring look. “But you might feel a bit – seasick after. If you do get sick zats okay, most people do their first time and we can give you something to settle your stomach when we get zere – is zat okay?”“Yeah,” Liza nodded before her eyes shifted back to the cots. “Are – are they not coming to dinner?”“No,” Hermione said gently with a forced smile. “Ariel isn’t feeling well enough yet and Colin had a bad headache and asked to sleep it off. But if they’re feeling better tomorrow they will join us for dinner then.”“Okay,” Liza accepted the answer, but Hermione did not miss her nervous glance at the two sleeping figures once more.Fleur had been right in her decisions outside. The barn was a perfectly acceptable place to stay when transforming, it was nice enough, cozy and had everything that they needed. But it was no place to leave a twelve-year-old. She would do better at the cottage with the others. Heck they should probably consider leaving her with Luna for a day to let the witch work her own unique magic – since Luna seemed to have a talent for making people feel loved and accepted.Fleur took Liza back outside while Hermione and Harry set the wards, monitors and finished cleaning up the barn. It only took them a few short minutes and then they joined the girls outside in the paddock where Fleur was currently clutching both bouquets.“Everyone ready?” Hermione asked as she came to a stop before them. It was almost 5 pm and she knew that Mrs. Weasley was likely already at the cottage cooking up a meal for anyone who decided to come for dinner. People would show up at varying times, but all of them would be there by 7 pm for training unless something major happened that prevented them from coming.“We’re ready. I thought it might be best if you tether Liza’s hand to yours for ze first time,” Fleur said as Liza nodded nervously. “I will carry ze flowers for now.”“Good idea,” Hermione outstretched her hand to the girl and tethered them together once Liza had taken hold. The girl’s eyes widened when the spell was cast, and Hermione paused and looked at her curiously. “Did you feel that?”“Yeah,” Liza’s wide eyes looked up to her. “Is that weird? Should I not have felt it?”“Not necessarily,” Hermione said as she considered the girl. “Typically muggles don’t notice magic but it isn’t impossible to think that some of them do, or that they might have different levels of awareness toward it – we should see what else you notice this week.”“Okay,” Liza gave her a nervous smile.“Alright,” Harry said as he grabbed Hermione’s other hand and reached out to Fleur. “Take a deep breath Liza and remember to keep breathing okay? It will only take a second then it will be over, and we can all go enjoy some of Mrs. Weasley’s cooking.”The girl nodded and clenched her jaw, Hermione counted backwards from three and then Harry apparated them all to the cottage. They landed on the beach just a few feet from the door with a small crack. Liza nearly toppled over, her hand immediately went to her stomach and her face twisted with nausea – but shockingly she didn’t throw up, nor had the tether really been necessary since the girl was gripping Hermione’s hand so tightly, she was sure it would leave a bruise.“Are you okay Liza?” Fleur was already moving before the girl and looking her over.Liza nodded, taking deep long breaths as she stared at a single point on the ground until she finally stopped swaying and then looked up to take in her surroundings. Her eyes went wide and once again awe flashed across her face as her grip on her stomach fell away.“How far did we go?” Liza asked breathlessly as she twisted to look at the dunes behind her, then back to the ocean and then to the small cottage. She’d still not let go of Hermione’s hand when her eyes shot back to Fleur. “Did you do that?”Fleur laughed. “We went almost across ze country. ‘Arry did it zis time, because he is better at moving multiple people, but I can also apparate.”“Wow,” Liza breathed out as the tension in her face started to lessen. “This is amazing.”“Do you want to go inside?” Fleur quirked a brow.“Yeah,” Liza nodded and then seemed to realize that she was still clutching Hermione’s hand. A small blush crept across her face as she awkwardly let go and looked up toward her, though she was almost as tall as Hermione. “Sorry – thank you for not letting me fall over.”“No problem,” Hermione gave her what she hoped was a friendly smile and stepped away to give the girl some space. “You did great for your first apparition.”“Alright,” Fleur grinned, placed a gentle hand on Liza’s shoulder and handed her back her bouquet of flowers. “Let’s go inside and you can meet everyone.”Hermione had been right, Mrs. Weasley was already there, and she was cooking up a storm. Yet what she hadn’t planned for was walking into a kitchen bustling with people.Ron was at the counter preparing a salad, Ava was setting plates and cutlery out on the table, Charlie was sitting in a highchair laughing as Luna floated magical bubbles around his head, and Dean was placing a bowl of buns on the table. The only two people not in the room were Griphook, which made sense because Fleur said he preferred to be alone, and Mr. Ollivander who Fleur had said was still too frail for more than a few visitors at a time and typically fell asleep after 4 pm. But everyone else was there and it looked like they were having fun. Chatter filled the room, it was busy, vibrant – alive, and even though Hermione felt herself instinctively tense she couldn’t help but smile.When they stepped through the door and into the cottage they were greeted with a warmth that Hermione had not experienced in what felt like ages. It was such a stark difference to how she and Harry had been living for the past few months it was almost overwhelming, yet she felt the weight from the rune on her chest lessen as Luna smiled at them and Charlie waved. Mrs. Weasley gave them a polite and warm nod from a decent distance, sticking true to her word of giving them space. Then she excitedly welcomed Liza and praised the beautiful collection of flowers that she’d brought – she’d summoned a vase and placed them right in the middle of the table as Liza blushed under her praise. The woman’s warm motherly nature made the small amount of tension in Liza’s shoulders relax as Fleur brought her around the room and introduced her to everyone. The girl’s face was bright, her eyes shone as she took in the sight of a knife magically cutting the roast that Mrs. Weasley had been working on, the bubbles around Charlie’s head and the way that Ron was floating salad bowls from the cupboard to Ava – who picked them out of the air with her single hand and placed them by each plate on the table.Ron could have just floated them into place himself – but he was choosing to engage Ava and make her feel like she could be a part of this world. Whether he understood how significant his actions were or if he’d done it on purpose or under Luna’s direction she wasn’t sure, but either way it mattered.He was doing exactly what they all needed to do if they wanted the muggles to feel welcomed. It was so easy for witches and wizards to use magic for everything, which was fine if you were surrounded by nothing but witches or wizards. But when muggles got involved it became more complicated and it could make them feel lesser or left out. She’d learned that the hard way. She’d biologically turned seventeen before her 17th birthday due to her use of the time turner in third year – so she’d used magic at home the summer before sixth year and her parents had, for the most part, hated it.  They weren’t enamoured with magic the way that a young kid was because it looked cool. They’d hated feeling like their efforts no longer mattered, they’d hated feeling like there was no point to doing anything because their witch of a daughter could just do it faster or better with the flick of a wand. They’d hated it because it had made them feel like they couldn’t contribute and like they didn’t belong in their own home.It had been a rather large point of contention in their already stressful and strained relationship, so she’d stopped using magic at home altogether unless she was in the privacy of her own bedroom.She’d have to tell him that what he was doing mattered. She’d have to tell them all so that this sort of behaviour continued and they didn’t accidentally slip back into the habit of just flicking their wands for every little thing – because the smile on Ava’s face as she plucked each bowl from the air and made her way around the table was proof that inclusion was important. Especially when trying to build trust and establish a new life for these people who literally had no one else to turn to.This was balanced.This was warm.This was welcoming.It made her feel like they weren’t so alone.She felt Harry’s arm wrap around her waist as he shifted closer, his warmth radiating into her side like hope as they both watched the commotion ensue.“This is what we’re trying to save,” Harry’s low whisper echoed by her ear and made a shiver run down her spine.“I think we’re going to be okay,” she whispered back as she felt a tightness stretch across her chest – but this time it wasn’t from pain. It was warm and deep and made her heart throb with a long-forgotten sense of community. -x-x-Follow me on tumblr or instagram for updates @t3tohru'
User: Summarize the chapter based on the content provided, ensuring to follow the set format and emphasize key aspects within the specified length.
User: Summarize the chapter based on the content provided, ensuring to follow the set format and emphasize key aspects within the specified length.
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