Till The End | h.p

lovegood

Night falls and the boys sit in the tent alone, catching up.

"How long do you reckon she'll stay mad at me?" Ron asks.

Harry stares out the tent entrance at the two girls that they love, "Well, just keep talking about that little ball of light touching your heart and she'll come around," he chuckles.

Ron chuckles with him, "It was true. Every word. This is gonna sound crazy, but I think that's why Dumbledore left it to me, the Deluminator. I think he knew that somehow I'd need it to find my way back, and she'd lead me."

Harry nods slightly as his thoughts drift back to Sam. Ron quickly picks up on it.

"She'll come around, mate. If there's one thing I know about Sam, it's that when she loves someone, it never fades and it never dies. She's been lost for awhile now."

Harry nods, "We both are. I feel lost without her, like half of me is lost with her."

Ron looks outside the tent, "You're lost without each other. You're close to each other, but you don't see each other anymore."

Harry nods and they watch as Sam and Hermione enter the tent. They both stand in front of Harry and Ron who promptly stand up.

"We need to talk," Hermione states.

Ron nods, "Yeah, alright."

Hermione rolls her eyes slightly, "I want to go see Xenophilius Lovegood."

"Sorry?" Harry asks incredulously.

Sam opens up a book, "See this?" She holds it out to Harry, "It's a letter Dumbledore wrote to Grindelwald. Look at the signature."

Harry looks at the way Dumbledore had signed it and Hermione states, "It's the mark again. It keeps popping up. In Beedle the Bard, in the graveyard in Godric's Hollow."

"It was there too," Harry points out.

"Where?" Sam inquires.

"Outside Gregorovitch's Wand Shop."

"But what does it mean?" Ron questions.

Hermione never looks away from Harry, "Look, you've got no idea where the next Horcrux is, and neither do we," she nods towards Sam, "but this, this means something. I'm sure of it."

"Yeah. Hermione's right," Ron notes as he steps forward, "We ought to see Lovegood. Let's vote on it. Those in favor?"

Ron slowly raises his hand as the others look at him with amused expressions at his desperation. Hermione raises her brow slightly and rolls her eyes in amusement before preparing to depart. Sam turns to pack up their things, but Ron steps in front of her.

"Are you still angry with me?"

Sam looks towards her feet, "I'm happier you came back. Right now, that's what matters."

Ron looks down and nods slowly, as he brings his head back up, he notices Harry packing up his own things across the tent, "You know, he's doing the best that he can."

Sam looks over her shoulder and momentarily locks eyes with Harry before turning back, "I never said he wasn't."

Sam looks away and begins packing up the rest of her things and Ron helps, "I've known you for almost my entire life, Sam, and I know when something is seriously wrong."

She bites the inside of her cheek, "These past few weeks without you have been painful, for all of us. I can always talk to Hermione, but we've all lost so much. I've changed, Ron, and not for the better. We've all had to do what's necessary to survive, but I just don't feel like the same person anymore. Relationships fall apart in less stressful times..."