nowhere | dramione

Where To?

"Sorry, it's near where?" Harry exclaimed, shifting round to face me. "Hermione, have you gone mad? We can't stay near Malfoy Manor! That's where Vol- You-Know-Who is staying. Not just him, but that insane Bellatrix Lestrange and half the other Death Eaters!"

"I know, Harry, I'm not stupid," I muttered angrily. Did he seriously think I didn't know that? "But, as I said, the Fourbe Woods aren't normal Muggle woods. They're enchanted, Harry, we'd be safer there than here even without adding our own charms around the tent."

Harry surveyed me and sipped from his mug thoughtfully. "I don't know. It still seems very risky. We'll discuss it with Ron in the morning."

To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised that Harry had even considered it. "Okay, great, that's fair. Goodnight, Harry." I smiled as I moved over to my own bed.

"Goodnight, Mione," As I wriggled under my thin sheets, I watched Harry lay on his back and stare at the roof of the tent as I had been doing earlier. 

Perhaps he was counting the raindrops as if they were sheep to help him get to sleep. I sometimes felt bad for Harry - though I'd never say it to his face, or even to Ron. It seemed so unfair that Dumbledore left this near impossible quest for him with hardly any instruction. Maybe he was going to help Harry further but his death got in the way though that was no-one's fault besides that despicable grotesque greaseball Severus No-Soap Snape's.

I rolled onto my back to watch the raindrops like Harry and was shocked to see the tent's canvas beginning to glow a soft amber, slowly brightening into a yellowy-gold as the sun rose. "Harry," I whispered, "It's morning already."

Patiently, I waited for a reply. When there was none, I sat up to see Harry fast asleep. Smiling, I got up to drape a thick red blanket that Mrs Weasley had knitted for Ron over his bed covers.

"It's nice to see him get some rest," I turned around to see Ron up and out of bed.

"Yes, it is," I agreed. "Morning, Ronald. How did you sleep? How's your arm?"

"Fine. I slept fine and my arm's fine," he replied as he moved towards me with open arms. I buried my head in his chest as his arms closed around me. Ron leant forward and planted a small kiss on the top of my head. "What about you?" he asked, "Did you sleep well?"

"Not really," I said honestly as I emerged from Ron's embrace, "Harry and I were discussing where to go next," he raised his eyebrows to show his interest, "And I thought of the Fourbe Woods. Heard of them?"

Ron shook his head as he pulled me back towards him. I relaxed into him. I was exhausted and tired of living like this. I didn't blame Harry - of course not - but I had to admit that horcrux hunting without finding any horcruxes was making me very weary. In Ron's eyes I can see he feels the same way, sometimes I can even see it in Harry. Often I'll wake up in the middle of the night and wonder why on earth I'm here, and then I'll remember everything I've gone through to get to this point which makes it seem pointless to turn back and give up.

I have to keep trying for my friends, for my parents, for Hogwarts, for the entire wizarding community. Thinking of it in that way, I feel enormous pressure and, if I'm honest, fear. I'm not scared of dying, I'm scared of being a disappointment, a failure, a fraud, a joke.

"Morning," I lifted my aching head from Ron's chest to see Harry getting up and shrugging off his blanket.

"Harry! You've hardly had any sleep, go back to bed!" I scolded, knowing full well that I sounded like my mother.

"The sun's too bright to sleep now," he retorted as he walked to the tent entrance.

"It is not, Harry, lie back down!" I said as he lifted the tent flaps, ignoring me.

Rubbing our tired eyes, Ron and I followed him and we sat outside in the warm morning sun. The rain had slowed to a drizzle now and none of us seemed to mind. Ron put his arm round my shoulders and I lay my head on his.

"Have you two spoken about those magic woods yet?" Harry asked.

"Not properly, I was waiting for you to wake up."

*

We trekked through the marshlands towards a place I thought we'd never go. I clutched my bag so tightly I could feel my knuckles going white.

"Are we nearly there yet?" Ron whined, making Harry and I laugh.

"We've barely even set off, Ronald, don't start that now," I sighed.