More Than Magic (Hermione x Male reader)

Year 7 - Let It Go

As we close in on Honeydukes, Death Eaters spill from the Broomsticks. 

"There! Right there!" A Death Eater says.

We turn on their heels and vanish into the mist as they run past us and I can almost feel the common thought of being too close coming from the others. 

Harry leads the way, the trio running wicked fast through the twisting streets, glancing down alleyways for signs of pursuers, the mist both friend and foe. Suddenly, a dark figure appears on the roof above. He whistles. 

"I've got them! Down here!!" The same Death Eater says. 

Harry, Ron, Hermione and I race down a side street and stumble into an Alcove, lungs burning and fear growing. 

"They were ready for us," Hermione whispered.

"Can't catch a break can we," I whispered back. 

Suddenly beams of light fracture the mist. 

"We know you're here, Potter. There's no getting away," The Death Eater called out. 

Harry slips the mirror from his pocket and angles it. His own face slides briefly over the surface, and then the end of the alley comes into view. A Death Eater stands there his wand glowing in the mist.

"Perhaps you need some convincing," The Death Eater called out

"What's he mean by that?" Ron said.

Hermione gasped, eyes looking upward. Ron, Harry and I followed her gaze. Just above the rooftops, barely distinguishable from the night, Dementors drift like smoke. As Harry draws his wand, Hermione's hand covers his. She whisperers.

"No, you'll give us away," Hermione said.

The night grows darker, and the streetlights dim. Our breath drifts visibly in the gathering chill. As the dementors descend, the trio grimace, beset by bleak thoughts. A tear escapes Hermione's eye and trails down her cheek. Finally, Harry can take it no more.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry said.

A silver stag bursts from his wand and charges down the street, scattering the Dementors before vanishing around the other side of the Hog's Head Inn. 

"It's him! He's down there!" Another Death Eater said. 

Footsteps clatter on the cobblestones. Harry, Ron and Hermione glance desperately about when suddenly bolts grind, hinges squall and a door opens. A cat slithers out and a man I recognise as Aberforth appears in the doorway, the profile familiar.

"In here, Potter," Aberforth said.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and I slip quickly past the man and inside. He gestures toward a rickety wooden staircase and brings a finger to his lips. Harry enters a room with a threadbare carpet and a small fireplace, above which hangs a large oil painting of a blond girl with a sweet, but vacant stare. He steps to a grimy window and peers down to the street, where half a dozen Death Eaters glance about in confusion. Just then, Hermione and Ron enter the room. 

"Did you get a look at him? For a second I thought it was --" Ron said Hermione finfish for him

"I know," Hermione said a little shaken. 

Hearing this, Harry slips the mirror from his pocket. Footsteps sound from below. 

"Harry! I can see you! In here!" Hermione said.

Harry turns and watches Hermione take a jagged shard similar to his own from the mantel. He glances down at the piece in his palm and sees Hermione's eye looking out at him. Just then, Aberforth's hulking form appears on the landing.  

"You bloody fools! What were you thinking coming here? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is," Aberforth said.

 "You're Aberforth," I said. 

The room goes quiet. The man turns and eyes me. 

"Dumbledore's brother. It's you I've been seeing here. It's who sent Dobby," Harry said as he held up his shard. Aberforth eyes it briefly. 

"Where've you left him?" Aberforth said.

"He's dead," Harry said.

"Sorry to hear it. I liked that elf," Aberforth said.

"How'd you come by it?" Harry said nodding to the shard in Hermione's hand. 

"Mundungus Fletcher, about a year ago," Aberforth said.

"Of course he had it," I said. 

"Dung had no right selling you that. It belonged to," Harry said as Aberforth cut him off.

"Sirius. Albus told me. He also told me that you'd likely be hacked off if you ever found out I had it. But ask yourself where you'd be if I didn't," Aberforth said and Harry doesn't respond. 

"Right then. Reckon you're hungry. Let's get you fed, then think of the best way to get you out of here," Aberforth said.

A tray of food is set down on the table. Ron and Hermione set to, they haven't eaten for days. Aberforth pours himself a glass of mead. Not his first. 

"Do you hear much from the others? From the Order?" Hermione said.

"The Order is finished. You-Know Who's won. Anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves," Aberforth said and the others exchanged glances. 

"Your wrong, it's true that the order is not wan it used to be and they have lost a fair number but they are far from dead, and unlike you, they have given up the fight not yet," I said.

"We need to get into Hogwarts. Dumbledore gave us a job to do," Harry said.

"Did he now? Nice job? Easy?" Aberforth said as if ignoring everything I said. 

An awkward silence, the tension heavy. 

"We've been hunting Horcruxes. We think the last ones in the school. But we'll need your help getting in," Harry said. 

"If we can find it and kill it, then we kill him, and then we can end this war once and for all. We need to get into Hogwarts tonight," I said.  

Aberforth stares at him for a moment, until the silence grows.  

"It's not a job my brother's given you, it's a suicide mission. Do yourself a favour boy. Go home. Live a little longer," Aberforth said.

 "Dumbledore trusted me, to see this through," Harry said.  

"What makes you think you can trust him? What makes you think you can believe anything my brother told you? In all the time you knew him, did he ever mention my name? Did he ever mention hers?" Aberforth said gesturing to the painting of the girl. 

"Why should he..." Harry said.

"Keep secrets? You tell me," Aberforth said. 

"I only care about the Dumbledore I knew. I trusted him," Harry said. 

 "Did you now? And why is that?" Aberforth said. 

"I had no reason not to," Harry said. 

"That's a boy's answer. A boy who goes chasing Horcruxes on the word of a man who won't even tell him where to start. You're lying. Not just to me, which doesn't matter, but to yourself as well. That's what a fool does," Aberforth said.

"Maybe so but what do you call a man that lets one old grudge force him to abandon everything out of spite, you gave up the fight helping us doesn't change that," I said.

"Let it go," Hermione said.