(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

The moment she had arrived back in the tent, Hermione had pulled the charmed parchment from Kingsley and wrote all out the information she had from her meeting with the Dark Lord. She expressed to Kingsley the utmost importance in keeping this information a secret – as she would be implicated and her cover would be blown. But she trusted Kingsley, trusted him to keep her cover safe… not because he still held any affection for Hermione, but because of her importance within the Dark Lord’s regime.

If she fell, so many of the Order’s other spies would fall with her.

Harry had been on watch when she’d arrived and Ron had appeared to be sleeping, so she’d felt comfortable enough to stow the parchment back into her bag, write Draco a quick note saying goodnight, and snuggle into her bunk. The amount of occlumency she’d had to use while inside Voldemort’s mind had exhausted her, and sleep found her quickly enough.

It felt like only seconds later she woke to the feel of a warm body pressed against her. Her eyes flew open, trying to adjust to the darkness around her.

“Shh,” Ron said, fingertips stroking her cheek. “It’s just me.”

Hermione froze, her hand groping for where she knew her wand had been beneath her pillow, but it came up empty.

“Didn’t want you getting spooked when you woke up and accidentally curse me,” Ron explained. From the light slipping in through the tent flap from the full moon she could see a small, sheepish grin on his face.

“What… What do you want, Ron?”

Ron’s wide blue eyes blinked at her. She could just see the glimmer of the chain that held the horcrux around his neck.

“You, of course,” he answered, then his lips descended on hers.

Hermione’s stomach roiled as she pushed at him, trying to get enough space to slap him.

Fuck, she had been so fucking stupid. Obviously whatever hesitation Blaise had originally put upon him had faded – or perhaps had been eliminated by the horcrux. It was clear from the disgusting way Ron moaned as his tongue pushed into her mouth that he was under the impression this want was mutual.

Twisting her head to the side she pushed at him.

“Ron, no – stop . Get off of me,” she growled, shifting her shoulders.

Ron paused for a moment before shifting his hands to press against her shoulders, trying to pin her to the mattress.

“You’re supposed to be mine , Hermione. Not Harry’s,” Ron said in a hurt voice.

She blinked at him, shocked into stillness for a brief moment which Ron used to his advantage to push himself between her legs. Her body came to her defense then and she drew her hands up, magic flying from her fingertips to shove him across the room into the small collection of chairs that made up the “living room”. She was surprised he’d flown that far given how tired and depleted she felt.

“You bitch! ” Ron cried, stumbling back to his feet.

He was clearly dazed, scrubbing his hands over his face.

Hermione stood quickly, looking around for her wand. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Harry standing in the tent flap, lowering his.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Ron?!” Harry yelled.

Ron moved towards Hermione, sputtering.

“If you ever lay another finger on me, Ronald Weasley, I will kill you,” Hermione promised in a cold, even tone, magic crackling from her fingertips as she held up her hand.

“You? Kill someone?” Ron scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Hermione stepped closer, her voice dropping low.

“Oh I’m capable of so much more than you think.”

“Get the fuck out, Ron,” Harry said, stepping between them.

Ron gaped at Harry, eyes narrowing.

“It’s not what you think, mate.”

Harry scoffed, stepping towards him.

“Not what I think? I just saw you forcing yourself on Hermione.”

The tips of Ron’s ears went red as Harry pushed him.

“That’s not! She – she doesn’t know what she wants!” Ron spluttered.

“Oh, so her saying, ‘ Ron, no, stop, get off of me’ is her not knowing what she wants? She’s never wanted you.”

Hermione stepped forward, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.

“Get out, Ron,” she said, pointing towards the door.

“Or I will make you,” Harry finished for her menacingly.

Ron looked between them for a long moment, a sneer pulling at his upper lip.

“I get it. I’ve seen the way you look at each other,” Ron spat. “ Fine. But you’ll come crawling back to me, Hermione, once you realize that you’ve got no other options.”

Hermione let out a cold, cruel laugh.

“Oh Ronald, if you only knew.”

Ron started to move towards the tent flap before Harry stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Leave the horcrux,” Harry commanded, holding his hand out at chest level.

Ron ripped the locket from around his neck, dropping it into Harry’s palm.

“You’re supposed to be my best mate,” Ron said, his voice dripping with betrayal. “You can’t do this without me.”

“ You were supposed to be a good man, Ron,” Harry said calmly. “I have a feeling we will do just fine without your complaints, heavy sighs, and creepy looks in Hermione’s direction. Certainly our food will last longer.”

Ron’s face was in danger of turning tomato red as he sent one last scathing look at Hermione before shoving his way out of the tent and disappearing through the wards.

There was a long moment of silence, only broken by the sounds of the rushing stream nearby. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione spotted her wand sticking out from underneath her cot and quickly grabbed it.

“I’m so sorry, Hermione,” Harry finally said, turning to her.

Hermione took a deep breath, pushing her hair back from her face as she turned to sit back on the mattress, resting her head in her hands. She was truly exhausted now, barely able to keep her lids open as she stared at the warped floorboards between her feet.

There was a gentle nudge at her shoulder and she looked up to see a glass of water being proffered to her by Harry, who then sat beside her.

“Has this… Has this happened before?”

Hermione took a slow sip before nodding. Harry scrubbed at his face, cursing under his breath in what sounded like parseltongue.

“This is what happened last year, isn't it? When you told me I wouldn’t believe you?”

Biting the inside of her cheek Hermione turned to him, looking at Harry’s guilt-ridden face.

“Yes,” she answered.

Harry nodded, resting his elbows on his knees.

“Did it… Did he…”

Hermione shook her head.

“No… he didn’t… somebody stopped him…” Her voice was so soft she wondered for a moment if Harry even heard her, except he turned his gaze back on her.

“Who was it?”

She took another deep drink of water then clutched it between her hands, staring at the condensation that was collecting at the bottom. Slowly, she rubbed her thumb across it.

“Draco…”

Harry had a sharp intake of breath but she didn’t look at him.

“Malfoy stopped him?”

She just nodded, her thumb rubbing back and forth against the glass. She was so tired, her mind so exhausted – she didn’t have it in her to lie… not anymore… not to Harry.

“Why would he do that?” Harry asked in a bewildered voice.

For a few long seconds – that felt more like minutes – Hermione didn’t answer. She thought of that night, the way Draco’s robes had billowed around him. The way his mask had trickled over his face. The timber of his voice as he threatened Ron:

I’d rather show you what true fear is.

Then the gentle way he’d turned to her, the way he’d asked permission to touch her. The love that shone in his eyes as he’d taken care of her.

I’ll enjoy the moment when I – or Hermione – can finally kill him.

Finally, Hermione turned towards Harry. She didn’t know what her face looked like, the information she was giving away, but whatever it was it appeared to surprise Harry.

“Because he loves me.”

Harry didn’t respond for minutes, just stared at her until finally he nodded, gave her shoulder a squeeze, and walked back out to the front of the tent. It was as if her words confirmed a suspicion for him that he decided no longer mattered in the face of what was yet to come.

And, in his absence, the heavy silence of a chapter closing filled the room.

Only two more Fridays left! I am so grateful to everyone for reading. Just a heads up that I am getting married on Thursday (10/13) so next Friday's chapter release will probably go up later in the day (I live in America CST). Follow me on titktok (@gillianeliza_) & IG (@gillianeliza) to stay up to date as well as find out more about my traditional books that are coming soon! xo!