It was snowing by the time Hermione took over the watch at midnight. She sat next to Hermione, quietly discussing their next move when Harry emerged from the tent. They greeted him, relieved by his suggestion to pack and leave early.
"We'll go somewhere more sheltered," said Hermione, shivering as she pulled on a sweatshirt over her pajamas. "I kept thinking I could hear people moving outside. I even thought I saw somebody once or twice."
Estella pulled on an extra pair of socks and slipped on an old jumper over her two layers of shirts.
"I'm sure I imagined it," said Hermione, looking nervous. "The snow in the dark, it plays tricks with your eyes...But perhaps we ought to Disapparate under the Invisibility cloak, just in case?"
Half an hour later, with the tent packed, Harry wearing the Horcrux, Hermione with the beaded bag, and Estella with the small rucksack, they Disapparated. The usual tightness engulfed them; Estella's feet parted with the snowy ground, then slammed hard onto what felt like frozen earth covered with leaves.
"Where are we?" Harry asked, peering around at a fresh mass of trees as Hermione opened the beaded bag and began tugging out tent poles.
"The Forest of Dean," said Estella. "Mione and I came camping here before with her parents."
It was one of the best experiences of Estella's life, simple and quite fun, especially Hermione's dad's stories. She learned that trip, Hermione was prone to falling as a child, she often managed to levitate objects she wanted into her hands, and that Hermione's parents were very much in love with each other.
Here to snow lay on the trees all around and it was bitterly cold, but they were at least protected from the wind. After setting up the protective enchantments, they spent most of the day inside the tent, huddled for warmth around the useful bright blue flames that Hermione was so adept at producing, and which could be scooped up and carried around in a jar. The afternoon flesh flakes drifted down upon them so that even their sheltered clearing had a fresh dusting of powdery snow.
On the fourth night, Estella and Harry forced Hermione to go inside and get some sleep; it would have been her third-night keeping watch, so safe to say, sleep was well needed. The two kept watch together, covered in mounds of clothing in an attempt to keep warm. They say close together, Harry leaned against her chest, her legs on either side of him. She preferred this picture, for it guaranteed the most warmth and greater heat exchange. His hands rested on her thighs, rubbing small circles under the two thin blankets that barely retained heat. Harry's mood had improved over the next few days and he seemed almost back to his normal touchy self.
Estella nudged Harry as a bright silver light appeared right ahead of them, moving through the trees. Whatever the source, it was moving soundlessly. The night seemed simply to drift toward them.
Harry jumped to his feet, moving so Estella could follow. He raised her wand, moving slightly in front of her as though he forgot she could do wandless magic with as much ease as he did it with a wand. Her eyes scrunched up as the light became blinding, the trees in front of it pitch-black in silhouette, and still the thing came closer.
And then the source of light stepped out from behind an oak. It was a silver-white doe, moon-bright and dazzling, picking her way over the ground, still silent, and leaving no hoofprints in the fine powdering of snow. She stepped toward them, her beautiful head with its wide, long-lashed eyes held high.
Estella stared at the creature, filled with wonder, they shared identical Patronouses. They gazed at each other for several long moments and then she turned and walked away.
"No," Harry said, his voice cracking. "Come back!"
She continued to step deliberately through the trees, and soon her brightness was stiped by their thick black trunks. For a second she hesitated; it could have easily been a trap but a Patronus was light magic, those with more evil in their hearts could not perform the spell (well, Umbridge was the exception but that was because she was one despicable and wicked witch).
"Let's go," said Estella, grabbing his hand, they set off in pursuit.
Snow crunched beneath their feet, but the doe made no noise as she passed through the trees, for she was nothing but light. Deeper and deeper into the forest she led them, and they walked quickly, sure that when she stopped, she would allow them to approach her properly. And then she would speak and the voice would tell them what they needed to know, why she appeared in the dead of night.
At last, she came to a halt. She turned her beautiful head toward them once more, and Harry broke into a run, pulling Estella along with him.
Though the darkness had swallowed her whole, her burnished image was imprinted in her mind. Now far came: her presence had meant safety.
"Lumos!" Harry whispered, and the wand-tip ignited.
The imprint of the doe faded away with every blink of her eyes as she stood there, listening to the sounds of the forest, to distant crackles of twigs, soft swishes of snow. Despite the surrounding darkness, she didn't feel unsafe but quite the contrary. She hoped Hermione would not wake up to find them missing.
"Harry, point the wand there," murmured Estella, guiding his hand in the direction of a gleaming object. In front of them was a small, frozen pool, its cracked black surface glittered as Harry raised the wand higher as Estella told him.
The ice reflected their distorted shadow and the beam of wand light, but deep below the thick, misty gray carapace, something else glinted. A great silver cross.
"Harry," her voice rose steadily. "That looks like-"
"The sword of Gryffindor," Harry finished, awe audible in his voice.
He dropped to his knees at the pool's edge and angled the wand so as to flood the bottom of the pool with as much light as possible. Rubies in its hilt were visible. It was the sword of Gryffindor lying at the bottom of the forest pool.
"How'd it get there?" she wondered aloud.
"I have absolutely no idea," said Harry.
"How do we get it out?" Harry asked a moment later.
The pair stared at it for a moment.
"Summoning Charm didn't work...I think we have to take a swim," Estella said, already shivering at the cold breeze passing over them.
"I'll do it," Harry said quickly.
"Hey-no, I'll do it!" she protested, ignoring him as he attempted to pass her her wand.
"Estella, you rely on the doggy paddle," said Harry.
"I don't see why that matters. I'm better at swimming underwater than above it!" she said, pushing her wand back to him.
"And I'm Elvis," he said sarcastically, pulling the first two jumpers he was wearing over his head. "Plus you're smaller which means you'd freeze quicker."
"Harry-"
"No more arguments, Essy, won't change anything," he murmured, locking eyes as he shrugged boots, his jeans, and dual pairs of socks.
"Next time one of us has to do something dangerous or something along those lines, it's going to be me," said Estella, scowling. "And I'm very good at the doggy paddle!"
"I know you are, Essy. I have no doubt in your swimming skills," he lied through chattering teeth and fully body shivers. He passed Estella the pouch he used to carry items of importance, then he pointed Estella's wand at the ice.
"Diffindo."
It cracked loudly, cutting through the silence: The surface of the pool broke and chunks of dark ice rocked on the ruffled water. As far as Estella could judge, his journey would not be too deep, but to retrieve the sword he'd have to fully submerge himself.
"I'll get a fire going when we get back to the tent, and I know a quick-drying spell," said Estella, as Harry submerged himself to his shoulders in the frozen water with a sharp hiss. She couldn't imagine how cold he must've been. It was wicked cold on dry land, the water must've been at double the low temperature, definitely within the negatives.
She grew more and more anxious the longer he was under the water. Her eyes frantically scanned the pool, he should've grabbed it by now, he didn't have to go in deep for the sword. The pool could not have been more than seven feet deep. Panic rose in her throat as she dropped to her knees, scanning the water, and plunging a hand in as deep as she could go without being fully submerged. He wasn't that far underneath but the pond was deeper than it seemed. And she didn't know whether she could carry herself, the sword, and Harry without running out of air or strength, especially because they'd hadn't had as much to eat as of lately.
"Estella! What the bloody hell is going on?"
Estella leapt to her feet, her terrified eyes widening in shock as she settled on the confused and worried gaze of Ron Weasely, the boy who'd abandoned them weeks ago.
"Ron?" she breathed, her voice wavering in shock and panic. "Harry, he'd down there and he's not coming up and I know I talk a big game of being a good swimmer but he was right, I rely on the doggy paddle-"
Ron cut her off and dropped a bag next to Harry's clothes before diving into the icy depths of the half-frozen pool.
Her heart raced and antagonizing long seconds passed. Her mind was racing. What if she lost them both? What if this was where Harry died and she followed? What if Ron died? How'd Ron even find them? Had Hermione awoken and discovered that they were missing?
Her shoulders shook, her body racked with violent shivers, and her teeth clattered hard. A loud sigh of relief left her mouth as Ron reemerged, dragging a sputtering Harry to the banks of the pool.
She dropped to the ground beside Harry's shaking body.
"Harry!" her voice cracked as she cupped his cheeks. His eyes shot open, looking at her with shock and disbelief.
"Are-you-mental?" Ron's voice rang out from over her shoulder, Harry's eyes widened as they moved from Estella to Ron.
Shivering violently, Harry staggered to his feet, leaning on Estella as she passed him his clothes. There before them stood Ron, fully dressed but drenched to the skin, his hair plastered to his face, the sword of Gryffindor in one hand and the Horcrux dangling from its broken chain in the other.
"Why the hell," panted Ron, holding up the Horcrux, which swung backward and forward on its shortened chain in some parody of hypnosis, "didn't you take this thing off before you dived?"
Neither of them answered. Harry began pulling on layer after layer of clothing, staring at Ron.
"It was y-you?" Harry said at last, his teeth chattering, his voice weak.
"Well, yeah," said Ron, looking slightly confused.
"Y-you cast the doe?"
"What? No, of course not! I thought it was you doing it!"
"My Patronus is a stag."
"Not you, I thought it was Estella's. It had no antlers."
She shook her head. "Harry, you were with me when it appeared, how could it have been mine?"
Harry shrugged sheepishly at her.
Estella muttered the dry spell on both boys as Harry shrugged on his last layer. Both males sighed as warmth fluttered through them.
Harry took Hagrid's pouch from Estella's hand and placed it around his neck, stooped low to pick up Estella's wand, and faced Ron again.
"You're here? You're not leaving again?" she asked.
"Well, I've-you know-I've come back. If-" He cleared his throat, visibly nervous. "You know...you still want me."
There was a pause and Estella launched herself at him, pulling him into a tight hug. It must've startled him because he stumbled back a bit.
"You are the biggest idiot I know and trust me, I know many," she hissed. "I'm so glad you're back!"
His arms wrapped tightly around her, returning her hug with as much relief and joy. She might not have said it, but she greatly missed Ron. She'd admit it to herself but not to him. Ron wouldn't let her live it down if she admitted to missing his presence. He'd become the brother she never had, one that was always there until one day he wasn't.
She moved away from him and rejoined Harry. She silently reassured herself that Ron had returned and he'd just saved Harry's life.
"Oh yeah, I got it out," Ron said, rather unnecessarily, holding up the sword for inspection. "That's why you jumped in, right?"
"Yeah," said Harry. "But I don't understand. How did you get here? How did you find us?"
"Long story," said Ron. "I've been looking for you for hours, it's a big forest, isn't it? And I was just thinking I'd have to kip under a tree and wait for morning when I saw that deer coming and you two following."
"You didn't see anyone else?"
"No," said Ron. "I-"
But he hesitated, glancing at two trees growing close together come yards away.
"I did think I saw something move over there, but I was running to the pool at the time, because you'd gone in, and Estella looked really panicked, and you hadn't come up, so I wasn't going to make a detour to-hey!"
Harry had begun hurrying to the place Ron had indicated. The two oaks grew closer together; there was a gap of only a few inches between the trunks at eye level, an ideal place to see but not be seen. The ground around the roots, however, was free of snow, and Estella could see no sign of footprints. He reappeared by her side moments later.
"Anything there?" asked Estella.
"No," said Harry.
"So how did the sword get in that pool?"
"Whoever cast the Patronus must have put it there."
They all looked at the ornate silver sword, its rubied hilt glinting a little in the light from Estella's wand.
"You reckon this is the real one?" asked Ron.
"Only one way to find out, isn't there?" said Harry.
The Horcrux was still swinging from Ron's hand. The locket was twitching slightly. Harry held her wand high and looked away before nodding at a flattish rock lying in the shadow of a sycamore tree.
"Come here," he said, and he led the way, brushed snow from the rock's surface, and held out his hand for the Horcrux. When Ron offered the sword, however, Harry shook his head.
"No, you should do it."
"Me?" said Ron, looking shocked. "Why?"
"Because you got the sword out of the pool. I think it's supposed to be you."
One could look at it that way.
"I'm going to open it," said Harry, "and you stab it. Straightaway, okay? Because whatever's in there will put up a fight. The bit of Riddle in the diary tried to kill me."
"How are you going to open it?" asked Estella.
"Parseltongue," said Harry.
"I genuinely question how you're alive sometimes," said Estella.
They ignored her.
"No!" said Ron. "No, don't open it! I'm serious!"
"Why not?" asked Harry. "Let's get rid of the damn thing, it's been months-"
"I can't, Harry, I'm serious-you or Estella should do it-"
"But why?"
"Because that thing's bad for me!" said Ron, backing away from the locket on the rock. "I can't handle it! I'm not making excuses, Harry, for what I was like, but it affects me worse than it affected you and Hermione, it barely affected Estella. It made me think stuff-stuff I was thinking anyway, but it made everything worse, I can't explain it, and then I'd take it off and I'd get my head on straight away, and then I'd have to put the effing thing back on-I can't do it, Harry!"
He backed away, the sword dragging at his side, shaking his head.
"Ron, you can do it," said Harry, "you can! You've got the sword, you saved my life, I know it's supposed to be you who uses it. Please, just get rid of it, Ron."
The sound of his name seemed to act like a stimulant. Ron swallowed, then, still breathing hard, moved back toward the rock.
"Tell me when," he croaked.
"Es, can you move back?" Harry asked, his voice pleading.
"Harry-"
"Please," he stressed.
She rolled her eyes and backed a good distance away from the two and the Horcrux.
"On three," said Harry, looking down at the locket.
"One...two...three...open."
The last word came as a hiss and a snarl and the golden doors of the locket swung wide with a little click.
Behind both of the glass windows within blinked a living eye, dark and handsome as Tom Riddle's eyes had been before he turned them scarlet and slit-pupiled, like those of a snake.
"Stab," said Harry, holding the locket steady on the rock.
Ron raised the sword in his shaking hands.
Then a voice hissed from out of the Horcrux.
"I have seen your heart, and it is mine."
"Don't listen to it!" Harry said hardly. "Stab it!"
"I have seen your dreams, Ronald Weasely, and I have seen your fears. All you desire is possible, but all that you dread is also possible..."
"Stab!" shouted Harry; his voice echoed off the surrounding trees, the sword point trembled, and Ron gazed down into Riddle's eyes.
"Least loved, always, by the mother who craved a daughter...Least loved, now, by the girl who prefers your friends...Second best, always, eternally overshadowed..."
"It's not true, Ron! Stab it," Estella yelled, and Ron raised the sword still higher.
Out of the locket's two windows, out of the yes, there bloomed, like two grotesque bubbles, the heads, quite doll-like heads, of Estella, Harry, and Hermione, weirdly distorted.
Ron yelled in shock and backed away as the figures blossomed out of the locket, first chests, then waists, then legs, until they stood in the locket, side by side like trees with a common root.
"Ron!" Harry shouted, but the Riddle-Harry was now speaking with Voldemort's voice and Ron was gazing, mesmerized, into its face.
"Why return? We were better without you, happier without you, glad of your absence...We laughed at your stupidity, your cowardice, your presumption-"
"Presumption!" echoed the Riddle-Hermione, who was more terrible than the real Hermione: She swayed, crackling, before Ron, who looked horrified yet transfixed, the sword hanging pointlessly at his die. "Who could look at you, who would ever look at you, beside Harry Potter? What have you ever done, compared with the Chosen One? What are you, compared with the Boy Who Lived?"
"Ron, don't listen!" Estella yelled. "It's not real. You have to stab it!"
But he did not move: His eyes were wide, and the Riddle-Estella spoke. "You know your mother loved me so much she wanted me to be her own. A second and desired daughter."
On the ground in front of them, Ron's face filled with anguish. He raised the sword high, his arms shaking.
"Do it, Ron!" Harry yelled.
The sword flashed, plunging into the locket, but not before Riddle's version of Estella morphed into something that could only be described as a dark ball of mist and launched itself in her direction, with such a speed Estella had no time to throw up a shield nor to dive away. It crashed into her chest, sending her hurtling through the air until her back slammed into a nearby tree with an ear-splitting crack.
It wasn't the orb that hurt, but her head smacking violently against the tree on impact.
The monstrous versions of themselves had vanished but Estella laid motionless on the floor.
"ESTELLA!" Harry bellowed, breaking into a sprint and collapsing onto the ground next to her limp form. Her head had rolled and her eyes were closed.
The wound on the back of her skull she received the night at Godric's Hollow had reopened and was bleeding quite copiously into the white snow below.
"She's not-she can't be dead-you're alive-she's breathing right?" Ron stuttered over his words, dropping the destroyed locket into his pocket and setting the sword on the snowy ground.
All logic left Harry's mind as he felt for a pulse, audibly shaking harder when he was unable to feel one. His hands were far too shaky and his mind too rattled. She couldn't be dead. He couldn't lose her. Everyone else had left him or would leave him at one point and he could live with that, live through that, but Estella, he needed her more than he needed air.
"Estella," Harry said, his voice wavering uncontrollably. "Essy, wake up-please, you gotta wake up."
Ron frantically felt for a pulse, his face pale and his blue eyes glimmering. "I can't-my hands are shaking."
Harry launched himself to his feet, grabbed Estella's wand, and threw himself back to the ground, propping her up against his chest until he could see the gaping wound on her skull.
"Vulnera Sanentur."
The gash slowly closed the more Harry chanted the spell. It almost sounded like a prayer leaving his lips or some horrific ritual, a trade being made.
"Es, open your eyes. I need you to open your eyes for me. You can't just leave me-I need you Essy-" a sound resembling a sob left Harry's mouth "-Please don't leave me, please don't leave me," he pleaded, his voice trembling as though begging.
He couldn't do this without her. He feared that somehow she had died and left the bond intact, but it had malfunctioned and he was alive in a world where she wasn't.
His thumb skimmed the side of her face, his other arm cradled her still lifeless body. She couldn't have severed their bond, she couldn't have had the time to. The way she described it, it would've caused mind-shattering pain both physically and mentally. The only pain Harry felt was from seeing her in such a state and intense panic and worry that he could lose her.
The bleeding had stopped, the wound fully closed, but blood remained pooled in the snow, violently contrasting its white brightness with the dark crimson color. There was no reason she would be still unresponsive.
"Stella, open your damn eyes!" Ron yelled, his voice as hoarse as it could get.
It was the smallest of movements that filled both Harry and Ron with indescribable relief. Her hand twitched inside Ron's and seconds later her eyes fluttered open.
"Oh, thank god," Ron sighed.
Harry was speechless. He stumbled to even find the right words to say at the girl in his arms. A moment of silence had passed before he finally said, "Don't do that again."
His voice came out stronger than he thought it would, opposing how he felt on the inside; how terrified he had been.
Estella chuckled almost inaudible. "Didn't have much of a choice," she said softly.
Her eyes met his watering green ones and her heart ached at the sight of him. Instinctively, she wiped his tears.
"Can't get rid of me that easily," she said, smiling weakly.
Ron laughed, though it seemed to be in an attempt to calm himself. "There's the Stella I know."
Ignoring their noises of disagreement, Estella pushed herself into a sitting position and looked around. "You did it?" she asked, her eyes lingering on the destroyed locket: Riddle's eyes were gone, and the stained silk lining of the locket was smoking slightly.
"Yeah," said Ron, nodding and releasing his tight grip on her hand.
"Guess Harry was right, tried to kill me didn't it?" she asked.
"And failed," said Ron, as cheerfully as could muster.
Harry was uncharacteristically silent.
"Harry?"
He cleared his throat before he said, "Estella?"
"I'm okay."
His expression was one of disbelief. "It almost killed you, Es."
"But it didn't. I'm still here to annoy the hell out of you," Estella said, smiling to reassure him. "If You-Know-Who wants to kill me he'll have to do it himself instead of having his soul try to do it.
And she was extremely grateful that she was alive. If she died without severing the bond, Harry would have gone with her, eliminating the chance of defeating Voldemort.
"You looked dead," he murmured. "I thought you were dead. I thought you were leaving me."
"I wouldn't leave you that easily," she said quietly, squeezing his hand.
Harry cleared his throat.
"We should get back before Hermione notices we're gone and panics," said Harry. He didn't like feeling this way. He couldn't stand how terrified he'd felt that she'd die. He didn't care about his life, and he knew he should have, but Estella meant everything to him.
He pulled her into his arms before rising to his feet.
"Harry, I might've hit my head but I still know how to walk."
"Estella-"
"One foot forward then other foot forward," said Estella, lightly tapping his test until he reluctantly put her down, but left a hand wrapped around her waist; it wasn't to help her, but to reassure himself that she was alive.
"After you left," said Harry, clearly addressing Ron but looking straight ahead, "she cried for a week. Probably longer, only she didn't want us to see. There were loads of nights when we never even spoke to each other. With you gone..." Harry trailed off.
"With you gone we fell apart," she finished.
Ron did not respond, but looked at a nearby tree as they walked and wiped his nose noisily on his sleeve.
"I'm sorry," Ron said in a thick voice. "I'm sorry I left. I know I was-a-a-"
"You were a dick. Especially when you said I blatantly just follow Harry. I make my own decisions Ron! If anything he follows me-"
"You made up for it tonight," said Harry, nudging her softly and wordlessly telling her the yelling can wait. "Getting the sword. Finishing off the Horcrux. Saving my life."
"That makes me sound a lot cooler than I was," Ron mumbled.
"Stuff like that always sounds cooler than it really was," said Harry. "I've been trying to tell you that for years."
The two boys looked at each other and Estella shoved Harry into him, forcing them to hug. They separated after a few moments, both in good moods. Estella had noticed back in forth year that without Ron, Harry was lost and vice-versa. A true bromance if you asked her.
"I'm not going to let you leave again," said Estella.
"No?" Ron asked quickly.
"No, Ron. You're the only one who keeps up on my tangents."
Harry glanced at her. "I pay attention-"
She shook her head. "Ron dives into them and then goes off on his own. It's not your fault Harry, he's used to talking, you and Mione aren't...but that's probably because Hermione's off in logical la la land-and I mean that in the best possible way-and you, Harry, just have trouble following me sometimes," rambled Estella.
Harry looked at her as though she'd grown two heads while Ron beamed at her.
"Never mind," she murmured, waving her hand.
Ron understood, thus proving her point.
"I do follow her though," said Harry.
Ron nodded. "You have since first year," he said.
Estella glared at him. "Why'd you say I follow him then?" she asked, slapping his arm.
Ron chuckled nervously. "I didn't want to feel like you were choosing him. Before you say it, I obviously know you're soulmates but you're like my sister, Stells, and it hurt."
Estella nodded understandingly. "I'm sorry I made you feel that way, Ron.
"Definitely not your fault, Stell. I had to work stuff out myself before I could see that it wasn't you or Hermione choosing him just because he's 'The Chosen One,' but because you both stick to your word and what we're doing, no matter how lonely and hard it is, is for the greater good," said Ron.
She nodded again and Harry remained silent, not quite sure what to say. Estella knew Ron struggled with feeling inadequate or unwanted as a child with six other siblings and a mother who want a girl so badly she had seven children.
"And now," said Harry, filling the short silence, "all we've got to do is find the tent again."
But it was not difficult. Though the walk through the dark forest with the doe had seemed lengthy, with Ron by their side the journey seemed far shorter. Both Ron and Harry had an arm around her waist, keeping her afloat as exhaust riddled her body with each step. Estella knew the moment Hermione saw Ron she'd explode. If the situation was reversed and Harry had left her, Estella knew for certain she wouldn't talk to him for at least a month. It would be radio silence on her end.
It was gloriously warm after frigid forest floor, the only illumination the bluebell flames still shimmering in a bowl on the floor. Hermione was fast asleep, curled up under her blankets.
"Grab her wand," Estella hissed, receiving questionable looks that screamed, "No, are you crazy!"
"Do it!" she pressed. She knew Hermione far better than either of them, and there was no way she'd just accept Ron was back like she and Harry had done, not when he hurt her more.
The two had set Estella on the cot before Harry grabbed Hermione's wand from the side table and attempted to wake Hermione.
"Hermione!"
She stirred, then sat up quickly, pushing her hair out of her face.
"What's wrong? Harry? Are you all right?"
"It's okay, Estella fine, though if you could do a double check of her head-"
"Harry!" Estella said.
"Anyways, we're fine. Es is fine. There's someone here."
"What do you mean? Is her head okay? Who-"
She saw Ron, who stood there holding the sword and destroyed locket in hand. Harry backed toward Estella, slipped off Ron's rucksack, and forced her to lay down.
Hermione slid out of her bunk and moved like a sleepwalker toward Ron, her eyes upon his pale face. She stopped right in front of him, her lips slightly parted, her eyes wide. Ron gave a weak, hopeful smile and half raised his arms.
Hermione launched herself forward and started punching every inch of him that she could reach.
"Ouch-ow-gerroff! What the-? Hermione-OW!"
"You-complete-arse-Ronald-Weasley!"
She punctured every word with a blow: Ron facked away, shielding his head as Hermione advanced.
"You-crawl-back-here-after-weeks-and-weeks-oh, where's my wand?"
She looked as though ready to attack Harry and Estella and Harry reacted instinctively.
"Protego!"
The invisible shield erupted between Ron and Hermione: The force of it knocked her backward onto the floor. Spotting hair out of her mouth, Hermione leapt up again.
"Hermione!" said Harry. "Calm-"
"Don't you tell me what to do, Harry Potter!" she screeched. "Don't you dare! Give it back now! And you!"
She was pointing at Ron in dire accusation: It was like a malediction, and Estella could not blame Ron for retreating several steps.
"She used your full name," Estella hissed to Harry, who stared between Hermione and Ron.
"Estella, not now!" snapped Hermione, before turning back to Ron. "I came running after you! I called you! I begged you to come back!"
"I know," Ron said, "Hermione, I'm sorry, I'm really-"
"Oh, you're sorry!"
She laughed, a high-pitched, out-of-control sound; Ron looked between Estella and Harry for help, but they remained still, not wanting to feel Hermione's wrath.
"You come back after weeks-weeks-and you think it's all going to be all right if you just say sorry?"
"Well, what else can I say?" Ron shouted.
"Oh, I don't know!" yelled Hermione with awful sarcasm. "Rack your brains, Ron, that should only take a couple of seconds-"
"Hermione," interjected Harry, clearly considering this a low bowl as Estella did, "he just saved my-"
"I don't care!" she screamed. "I don't care what he's done! Weeks and weeks, we could have been dead for all he knew-"
"I knew you weren't dead!" bellowed Ron, drowning her voice for the first time, and approaching as close as he could with the Shield Charm between them. "Harry and Estella are all over the Prophet, all over the radio, they're looking for you everywhere, all these rumors and mental stories, I knew I'd hear straight off if you were dead or captured, you don't know what it's been like-"
"What's it been like for you?"
Her voice was now so shrill only bats would be able to hear it soon, but she had reached a level of indignation that rendered her temporarily speechless, and Ron seized his opportunity.
"I wanted to come back the minute I'd Disapparated, but I walked straight into a gang of Snatchers, Hermione, and I couldn't go anywhere!"
"A gang of what?" asked Estella, as Hermione threw herself down into a chair with her arms and legs crossed so tightly it seemed unlikely that she would unravel them for several years.
"Snatchers," said Ron. "They're everywhere-gangs trying to earn gold by rounding up Muggle-borns and blood traitors, there's a reward from the Ministry for everyone captured. I was on my own and I look like I might be school age; they got really excited, thought I was a Muggle-born in hiding. I had to talk fast to get out of being dragged to the Ministry."
"What did you say to them?"
"Told them I was Stan Shunpike. First person I could think of."
"And they believed that?"
"They weren't the brightest. One of them was definitely part troll, the smell off him..."
Ron glanced at Hermione, clearly hopeful she might soften at this small instance of humor, but her expression remained stony above her tightly knotted limbs.
"Anway, they had a row about whether I was Stan or not. It was a bit pathetic to be honest, but there were still five of them and only one of me and they'd taken my wand. Then two of them got into a fight and while the others were distracted I managed to hit the one holding me in the stomach, grabbed his wand, Disarmed the bloke holding mine, and Disapparated. I didn't do it so well, Splinched myself again" - Ron held up his right hand to show two missing fingernails; Hermione raised her eyebrows coldly - "And I came out miles from where you were. By the time I got back to that bit of riverbank where we'd been...you'd gone."
"Gosh, what a gripping story," Hermione said in the lofty voice she adopted when wishing to wound. "You must have been simply terrified. Meanwhile, we went to Godric's Hollow and, let's think, what happened there? Oh yes, You-Know-Who's snake turned up, it nearly killed us all, and then You-Know-Who himself arrived and missed us by about a second."
"What?" Ron said, gaping from her to Estella to Harry, but Hermione ignored him.
"Imagine losing fingernails! That really puts our sufferings into perspective, doesn't it?"
"Hermione," said Harry quietly, "Ron just saved my life."
She appeared not to have heard him.
"One thing I would like to know, though," Hermione said, fixing her eyes on a spot a foot over Ron's head. "How exactly did you find us tonight? That's important. Once we know, we'll be able to make sure we're not visited by anyone else we don't want to see."
"That's bull, you wanted to see him," muttered Estella, earning a sharp glare from Hermione. She simply shrugged. Nothing she just said wasn't true.
Ron glared at Hermione, then pulled a small silver object from his jeans pocket.
"This."
She had to look at Ron to see what he was showing them.
"The Deluminator?" she asked, so surprised she forgot to look cold and fierce.
"It doesn't just turn the lights on and off," said Ron. "I don't know how it works or why it happened then and not any other time, because I've been wanting to come back ever since I left. But I was listening to the radio early on Christmas morning and I heard...I heard you."
He was looking at Hermione.
"You heard me on the radio?" she asked incredulously.
"No, I heard you coming out of my pocket. Your voice," he held up the Deluminator again, "came out of this."
"And what exactly did I say?" asked Hermione, her tone somewhere between skepticism and curiosity.
"My name. 'Ron.' And you said...something about a wand..."
Hermione told a fiery shade of scarlet. Estella remembered it: It had been the first time Ron's name had been said aloud by either of them since the day he had left.
"So I took it out," Ron went on, looking at the Deluminator, "and it didn't seem different or anything, but I was sure I'd heard you. So I clicked it. And the light went out in my room, but another light appeared right outside the window."
Ron raised his empty hand and pointed in front of him, his eyes focused on something neither Estella, Harry, nor Hermione could see.
"It was a ball of light, kind of pulsing, and bluish, like that light you get around a Portkey, you know?"
"Yeah," said Estella, Harry, and Hermione simultaneously.
"I knew this was it," said Ron. "I grabbed my stuff and packed it, then I put on my rucksack and went out into the garden."
He took a breath.
"The little ball of light was hovering there, waiting for me, and when I came out it bobbed along a bit and I followed it behind the shed, and then it...well, it went inside me."
"Inside you?" repeated Estella, not sure if she heard right.
"It sort of floated toward me," said Ron, illustrating the movement with his free index finger, "right to my chest, and then-it just went straight through. It was here," he touched a point close to his heart, "I could feel it, it was hot. And once it was inside me I knew what I was supposed to do, I knew it would take me where I needed to go. So I Disapparated and came out on the side of a hill. There was snow everywhere..."
"We were there," said Harry. "We spent two nights there, and the second night I kept thinking I could hear someone moving around in the dark and calling out!"
"Yeah, well, that would've been me," said Ron. "Your protective spells work, anyway, because I couldn't see you and I couldn't hear you. I was sure you were around, though, so in the end I got in my sleeping bag and waited for one of you to appear. I thought you'd have to show yourselves when you packed the tent."
"No, actually," said Hermione. "We've been Disapparating under the Invisibility Cloak as an extra precaution. And we left really early, because, as Harry says, we'd heard somebody blundering around."
"Well, I stayed on the hill all day," said Ron. "I kept hoping you'd appear. But when it started to get dark I knew I must have missed you, so I clicked the Deluminator again, the blue light came out and went inside me, and I Disapparated and arrived here in these woods. I still couldn't see you, so I just had to hope one of you would show yourselves in the end-and Estella and Harry did. Well, I saw the doe first, obviously, but I thought that was Estella's Patronus."
They explained what had happened, and as the story of the silver doe and the sword in the pool unfolded, Hermione frowned from one to the other of them, concentrating so hard she forgot to keep her limbs locked together.
"But it must have been a Patronus!" she said. "Couldn't you see who was casting it? Didn't you see anyone? And it led you to the sword! I can't believe this! Then what happened!"
Ron explained how he watched Harry jump into the pool and had waited for him to resurface; how he had realized something was wrong when he saw Estella drop to her knees, dived in, and saved Harry, then returned for the sword. He got as far as opening the locket, then hesitated, and Harry cut in.
"-and Ron stabbed it with the sword but a piece of Tom Riddle's sword hurdled itself at Estella...we thought it had killed her."
Hermione stopped examining the back of Estella's head, murmured a quick cleaning spell, and turned her attention back to Ron and Harry.
"And...and it went? Just like that?" she whispered.
"Well, it-it screamed," said Harry with a half glance at Ron. "Here."
He threw the locket at her, gingerly Hermione caught it and examined its punctured windows.
Harry removed the Shield Charm and set Hermione's wand on a small table.
"Did you just say you got away from the Snatchers with a spare wand?" asked Harry, turning his attention to Ron.
"What?" said Ron, who had been watching Hermione examine the locket. "Oh-oh yeah."
He tugged open a buckle on his rucksack and pulled a short, sark wand out of its pocket. "Here. I figured it's always handy to have backup."
"You were right," said Harry, holding out his hand. "Mine's broken. I've been using Estella's."
"You're kidding?" Ron said, but at that moment Hermione got to her feet, and he looked apprehensive again.
Hermione put the vanished Horcrux into the beaded bag, then climbed back into her bed and settled without another word.
Ron passed Harry the new wand.
"About the best you could hope for, I think," murmured Harry.
"Yeah," said Ron. "Could've been worse. "Remember those birds Estelal set on me?"
"Hey, I only did that because you were being hurtful," said Estella.
He looked confused.
"I still know the spell, Ron," came Hermione's muffled voice beneath her blankets, but Estella saw Ron smiling slightly as he pulled his maroon pajamas out of his rucksack.
Ron was back and all was well for a moment in time.
Hi guys, hope you liked the chapter. Vote and comment. I love reading the comments!
I have reread the Harry Potter series and rewatched the movies far too many times for me not to have ever realized Snape was the one who cast the doe Patronus and led Harry to the sword of Gryffindor. I feel so dumb. When I say I've read it so many times I had a phase where those books were all I read. I skipped the first two books (fake ik but those 2 r my least favorites but I've read them at least 3 times so don't come for me) and I've read POA-DH at least 18 times and never realized it.
I've been at my nana's for almost 3 weeks and I had to google if my dog would forget me because I got really scared and I love her so much. Google said she'd remember my face and scent, so I hope that means she didn't forget me. I'll be really sad if she did.