Isolation

40. Fight

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Hermione toyed with a loose thread on her jumper, pulling it tight until there was a temporary dent slicing into her index finger; she frowned, lifting her eyes back to Harry.

"Right, explain one more time what you saw, Harry. Slowly."

"I told you!" he said, evidently exasperated. "You-Know-Who killed the goblins for letting us escape from Gringotts, all of them! Including Griphook! And he knows we have Helga's Cup. He's anxious and panicky now, because he suspects we know about the Horcruxes."

"Well that's not good," mumbled Ron.

"No, but I could hear his thoughts, and I know that he's keeping a Horcrux in Hogwarts. I heard it. And he's going to head there, so we need to get there before he has a chance to move it."

"But, Harry, we don't even know what we're looking for," said Hermione, "Or where to even start looking. Hogwarts is a big place, and it probably has hundreds of hiding places we don't know about."

"But we have the map."

"But not everything shows up on the map, like the Room or Requirement-

"But most of it does. And we know that the Horcrux must be linked to Rowena Ravenclaw somehow. Dumbledore said last year that he believed the Horcruxes would be connected to the Founders, so this one must have something to do with Ravenclaw-

"But we don't-

"And, You-Know-Who revealed that Nagini is a Horcrux, and if he's heading to Hogwarts with her, then that's two Horcruxes in the same place."

"Two birds, one stone," said Ron. "But how do we destroy them without the sword?"

"I don't know yet, but at least if we get them, we can figure that out later-

"Harry, wait," sighed Hermione. "Do you realise how difficult it's going to be to get to Hogwarts? We might be able to get into Hogsmeade with the Invisibility Cloak, but Hogwarts is practically impenetrable. They have Death Eaters and Dementors everywhere-

"We'll figure something out; see how bad it really is when we get to Hogsmeade," he hushed her. "Once he realises the ring and the locket are gone, he'll be heading to Hogwarts. We don't have time for hesitation, Hermione."

Her frown deepened as Harry tugged her bag out of her hand and pulled out the cloak. She knew he was right, of course, that they didn't have time to linger on the edge of idleness, but the abruptness of it all left her feeling uneasy. She was hardly spontaneous at the best of times, and she wondered if Harry's eagerness might be clouding his judgement and his ability to remain rational.

"This doesn't sit right with me," she whispered to Ron. "We are not properly prepared."

"Yeah but bugger it," he replied. "I doubt all the planning in the world could prepare us for this. Even your kind of planning."

"Perhaps you're right, but I just feel like...this is it. I feel like-

"Guys, come on!" called Harry, holding up the cloak for them to slip under. "We need to get going!"

The words died on her tongue as Ron gave her an innocent shrug and left her side, joining Harry beneath the cloak. Smothering the urge to protest or insist that they should take some time to prepare, she headed toward her two companions with heavy ankles, dragging her heels in the mud. If Harry noticed her reluctance, he didn't say anything, but as they linked their hands to Apparate, he gave hers a gentle, reassuring squeeze.

And with the sound of a whip snapping the air, they were gone.

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