Every Way A Person Can Be Saved

Grimmauld Place

Hermione Granger was, as everyone liked to remind her, the brightest witch of her age. The pressures of this title had never gotten to her before, but now that there was so much riding on finding the real horcrux, she felt as if the boys' eyes were on her. The worst part was that all she could do was wait until Kreacher came back with Mundungus Fletcher. 

The grey light of dawn was creeping across the sitting room of number twelve Grimmauld Place. It slid silently over Harry, who was sprawled across the floor, then to Ron, who was softly snoring in a tangle of sleeping bags. His hand was stretched out from his side, towards the couch cushions that Hermione was laying on. The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was Ron's had wrapping in hers.

Ron's red hair was tussled this way and that, casting shadows over his freckled cheeks. He looked beautiful. Hermione sighed. Despite being the brightest witch of her age, there was one thing that continuously evaded her intellect. There were moments when she was absolutely positive that Ron felt the same way about her as she did for him, but could she ever be sure? If Lavender Brown had taught her anything, it was that Ron, and perhaps feelings in general, were extremely unpredictable.

Hermione quietly stood, stretching her arms out and shaking the tiredness from her body. These feelings of doubt and worry had to be kept at bay – Hermione needed to read. She'd tried her best to only bring books that would aid in their horcrux hunt, so she didn't bother searching through her bag. Instead, she went up the staircase and onto the second floor. While they were searching Regulus Black's room the day prior, she had noticed a small bookshelf in the corner of the room. Hermione opened the bedroom door and tiptoed inside, careful not to disturb the boys sleeping downstairs.

The bedroom was filled with things. There were framed photos on the dresser, a silver and emerald rug bore the Slytherin crest, which Hermione walked over tentatively. The bureau was still filled with Hogwarts robes. It was as if Regulus was still living there, still writing letters at his desk to the friends in his photos, still sleeping beneath the Black crest and his collage of Voldemort's exploits. Hermione felt as if she were intruding, regardless of whether or not the room now belonged to Harry. She carefully sat down in front of the bookshelf, tracing her fingers along the carvings that lined the shelves.

Among several schoolbooks, the shelf held some books on dark magic, and a few anthologies that reminded Hermione of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The book that stood out to her was a small, leather-bound journal. Unlike the other books, it's spine was not embossed with any fancy title, and its cover was not extravagantly decorated with gold leaf and floral patterns. It was perfectly plain. Hermione pulled it out from between two books on magical history, revealing it's bursting pages. She untied the leather strap that was keeping it closed, allowing the journal to explode out, revealing pages upon pages of writings, with photographs and drawings taped in. Hermione studied one photograph in particular. 

It was falling out of the two pages that it had been squished between, and there were some ink smudges on its back. It showed a girl who couldn't have been much younger than Hermione. She had large, swooping curls exploding from her scalp, and a wide smile. Next to her stood a skinny black-haired boy. They were both in swimsuits with towels wrapped around their shoulders as the pressed their cheeks together for the picture. Hermione dragged her finger down the smiling kids, to the words scrawled at the bottom of the photo: Me & Reg at the lake (taken by Dirk) '76. The picture reminded her of the day that she and Ron had spent at the Black Lake with Luna, and a smile lifted her cheeks. She flipped to the front of the book, searching for a name to put to the face of the smiling girl. A message was written in the same looping script that filled the rest of the book: