In the shadows, Ron lies on his back, staring gloomily at the pitched ceiling of the tent, listening to the radio's murmur, while Hermione, wearing a red scarf to protect against the chill, runs the fingers of her left hand through Harry's hair, alternately employing the wand in her right hand to trim Harry's hair and flip the pages of A History of Magic. "Oh my god..." Hermione finally shouts out, getting our attention.
"What?" Harry asks, alarmed, thinking that Hermione was talking about his hair that she was cutting.
"I'll tell you in a minute." Hermione mumbles, her brain thinking through the possibilities. Harry watches his hair dropping to the ground.
"Maybe you could tell me now." Harry says as he gets up and joins Hermione, looking over a book.
"Alright. The Sword of Gryffindor? It's Goblin made." I nod, listening to what she is saying.
"Brilliant." Harry comments, still not understanding.
"You don't understand. Dirt and rust have no effect on the blade. It only takes in that which makes it stronger." Harry, still confused, slowly nods his head.
"Harry. You already destroyed one Horcrux, right? Tom Riddle's diary, in the Chamber of Secrets." I tell him, understanding where Hermione was going with this.
"With a basilisk fang. If you tell me you've got one of those in that bloody beaded bag of yours..." Hermione shakes her head, no.
"Don't you see! In the Chamber of Secrets, you stabbed the basilisk with the Sword of Gryffindor. Its blade is impregnated with basilisk venom." Harry's face beams.
"It only takes in that which makes it stronger..." Harry exclaims.
"Exactly! Which means it can destroy Horcruxes!" I smile, beaming with excitement that we might have just found a solution to our problem.
"Which is why Dumbledore left it to you in his will." Hermione mentions to Harry. The only problem now is that we don't know where the sword is.
"You're brilliant, Hermione. Truly." Harry mentions and I nod, agreeing with him.
"Actually, I'm highly logical, which allows me to look past the extraneous detail and perceive clearly that which others overlook." I pat Hermione's shoulder, chuckling.
"There's only one problem..." Suddenly, the lights click off.
"The sword was stolen." The lights click back on. We all turn to the source of the voice - Ron, with the deluminator in hand, lying in the shadows of his bunk, staring blankly at the three of us. "Yeah, I'm still here. But you three carry on. Don't let me spoil your fun." Harry glances at Hermione, who is studying Ron warily.
"What's the problem?" Harry asks, and I fold my arms over my chest, frowning.
"Problem? There's no problem. Not according to you, anyway." The rain starts to fall harder.
"Look, don't be shy. If you've got something to say, spit it out." Ron swings out of the bunk. As his face meets the light, he looks mean, the locket chain glittering.
"All right, I'll spit it out. Don't expect me to skip up and down because now there's some other damn thing we've got to find." I sigh, moving towards Ron but he backs away from me.
"Ron..." But he just ignores me.
"I thought you knew what you signed up for." Harry mentioned, starting to glare at Ron.
"Yeah, I thought I did too."
"I don't understand. What part of this isn't living up to your expectations? Did you think we'd be staying in five-star hotels? Finding a Horcrux every other day? Did you think you'd be back to Mummy by Christmas?" Harry and Ron get closer to each other, their voices also getting louder. Hermione and I stood back but her hands were starting to shake.
"No, I just reckoned after all this time, we'd have actually achieved something. I reckoned you knew what you were doing. I reckoned Dumbledore had told you something worthwhile! I reckoned you had a plan!" Ron shouted. I wasn't even sure what to say.
"I've told you everything Dumbledore told me! And in case you haven't noticed, we've found a Horcrux!" Harry shouts back, becoming more angry by the minute.
"Yeah, and we're about as near getting rid of it as we are to finding the rest of them, aren't we!" I walk closer to Ron.
"Take it off, Ron. You wouldn't be talking like this if you hadn't been wearing it all day." I told him, hand out.
"Please Ron. Take it off." Hermione begs him.
"Yeah, he would. D'you think I haven't noticed the two of you whispering behind my back? D'you think I haven't guessed what you were thinking?" I furrowed my eyebrows, I hadn't seen any whispering.
"Harry, we weren't..." Hermione starts, shaking her head, but Ron cuts her off.
"Don't lie! You said it, too, you said you were disappointed..." Ron stops, looking back at Harry, ignoring Hermione's protests. "Do you know why I listen to that radio every night? Do you! To make sure I don't hear Ginny's name or Fred or George or Mum or..." I felt my heart lurch at the sound of George's name being mentioned on that radio.
"You think I don't listen! You think I don't know what it's like..." Ron shakes his head, angry at Harry.
"NO! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE! YOUR PARENTS ARE DEAD! YOU HAVE NO FAMILY!" Dead silence. Harry glares at Ron. Hermione looks shocked. I feel my own heart breaking, because there is nothing different in this case from me and Harry. Harry pushes Ron away and points to the tent's opening.
"Go then. But leave that." Hermione, eyes flashing with panic, glances from Harry to Ron. Ron strips the chain from his neck, casts it away, then turns to Hermione.
"And you?" Ron asks, looking at Hermione. He wants her to go with him. He wants to feel as though Hermione will choose him over Harry. "Are you staying? Or coming?" Hermione looks anguished, glancing from one to the other. The canvas streams with rain behind her. "Fine. I get it. I saw you two the other night. Yeah, that's right. Didn't know I knew, did you?" Again, I furrow my eyebrows. What has been going on with these kids?
"What? Ron, no... please..." He whips aside the tent flap and the rain roars. As Hermione rushes after him, she tips over the radio. As it hisses, Harry glowers at the Horcrux. Seconds later, Hermione returns, sopping hair plastered to her face.
"He's gone." Hermione rushes into my open arms and I hold her tightly, letting her cry into my shirt. I shoo Harry away, telling him to just go to bed.
YOU ARE READING
Daughter of Black
FanfictionShe was named after both her parents. On her father's side of the family, it was tradition that they were named after stars - Mira. Her mother's name was Arabella so her father gave her part of her mother's name as well. He wanted part of both of th...
