ESTRANGED • The Final Installment

Five

Ron and I couldn't apparate even a few days later. I felt better and was willing to try but Ron was nowhere near ready. His arm was still in a sling and it was very difficult for him to move. Hermione and I did our best with soups and teas and more soups but it didn't stop an infection from occurring.

Harry was getting restless so Hermione set out a trek for walking. Her and Harry planned it all out while I came up with new ways to help Ron.

The walking took too much energy from the both of us that we didn't have. Harry and Hermione became closer and I tried not to read too much into it but I knew Ron had thoughts. His mood declined little by little every day.

We hid every so often as deatheaters scoured the country for us. Names were rambled off the radio, muggle and magic alike. Ron listened. Everyday.

I settled one night and wrote down all the ingredients that didn't work for Ron's infections and tried to come up with something new. Hermione worked with Harry more and I became the potions master I was back at school. Blending differently and grinding a new herb, I was able to make a sort of cream.

It cleared the infection by the next morning. Ron was better on the outside but the wound had done more to him on the inside than we knew and I wasn't a doctor. The best I could do was treat him the way I knew how.

"Why don't you do this for yourself?" Ron asked me one night.

"Because, just like you, mine are now more internal than anything." I told him, taking the sling off. He winced as I tested his shoulder.

"Your turn with the necklace?" He asked.

I looked down at it and nodded. "Yeah."

"You feel anything?" He asked.

"Just unbelievable sadness. It's like it overwhelms me. The only thing that distracts is your arm which seems to be much better."

"No thanks to them." Ron growled lowly, looking over my shoulder.

"Hey." I snapped my fingers in front of his face and he looked back at me. "They're still helping us. Don't be a git."

"Depressed and mean." Ron mumbled.

I smiled a little. "Rest, Weasley. You'll be apparating in no time."

Ron nodded and laid back down. I cleaned up my mess and made more of the cream just in case, stashing it away for later.

We were on the move for the next week and Ron was getting better on the outside but he looked a lot more scarred and he kept offering to wear the necklace. He was bed ridden and the least to move around so it made sense. That didn't help his assumptions.

Harry and Hermione got closer.

I was taking inventory of the plants and herbs Hermione and I had collected one night while she cut Harry's hair. My hands were still shaky so I couldn't do it and Ron had never cut hair in his life so Hermione it was. I packed everything away after labeling what I could.

"Oh my god." Hermione gasped.

"What?" Harry asked.

I looked over as Hermione went to the table and opened a book, flipping through it.

"I'll tell you in a minute." She said.

"Maybe you could tell me now?" Harry suggested.

"The sword of Gryffindor. It's Goblin made." Hermione said.

I frowned, thinking back to my studies about Gryffindor house. Hermione's next words confirmed my theory.

"Dirt and rust have no effect on the blade." Hermione explained.. "It only takes in that which makes it stronger."