Chapter one

It had been five days since Ron stormed out of the tent, leaving Harry and Hermione alone. The first two days they hardly spoke, mainly short responses if asked a question. Neither of them knew what to do, how to continue looking for the horcruxes. One thing they did do was stop wearing the locket, after the way it had been affecting them they decided to keep it in a pocket. Harry would occasionally take out the other destroyed horcruxes in the hope he would work out how to destroy the locket, but so far nothing came to him.

Harry was sitting outside the tent, he was just sitting, staring at the trees, thinking.

'Harry, can I talk to you for a minute?'

'Sure, you don't have to ask,' Harry waited until she sat beside him, 'You're leaving as well, aren't you?'

'No, I made a promise to you that I would stay and I'm keeping that promise.'

'You don't have to Hermione, this isn't really your job, it was left to me. You could leave, go find your parents and stay safe in Australia.'

'I'm staying with you, but what I need to talk about is this job, also something personal.'

'Then start with the job, do you know where we might look?'

'No, I don't think we should. Hear me out Harry because I've done a lot of thinking over the last few days. I don't agree with the fact that Professor Dumbledore left this on your shoulders. There are many trustworthy people that could help, you don't need to do this, especially alone. But also, I never liked the fact that he left you with the Dursley's. After the triwizard tournament, then what happened in the graveyard, you should not have been left alone and isolated. After Sirius,' Hermione took Harry's hand in hers, 'You were grieving and left with people who couldn't help you even if they wanted to. I lost my respect for him from our fourth year, but now, and I hate saying this, I do not believe he cared for you as he made you think he did.'

'I know he didn't, he was using me, manipulating me, but it's not like I could do anything, I had no parents or an adult who could say anything. If Sirius got his name cleared before…' Harry sighed, 'then he would have said something, I know he would have.'

'Yes, he would have made sure you lived with him, where you should have lived all your life. But about these horcruxes Harry, let's just stop. We can send a letter to Professor McGonagall, Mr. Shacklebolt, they were in the order and trustworthy. They would know how to help with this, we don't, we don't even know enough to protect ourselves. We on the run, so why don't we just leave and let them handle this job. You've just turned seventeen, this isn't a job for people our age.'

Harry sighed again, 'I don't know what I'm doing Hermione, how could he believe I would figure this out. He didn't tell me anything let alone how to destroy one when we found one. I think you're right though, we can't do this and we shouldn't. Why does it need to be me to find them even if there is a prophecy?'

'It doesn't and I don't think the prophecy is still active. Think about it Harry, you vanquished him that night, you got marked, I think the prophecy was fulfilled that night. If it was made after then that's another story but it was made before you were even born, so it's done. I did a bit of research about prophecies after we were at the ministry. Even when a prophecy is fulfilled the orb remains, it's just a record of when one was made. I think that's why Dumbledore didn't tell you, he didn't want you to figure out it was finished that night.'

'I've thought about that as well, I was marked and he did disappear. What if we're wrong though, what if I am the only one that can finish him?'

'I don't believe that, yes his horcruxes need to be destroyed, then he will be mortal, anyone could kill him. But think of this, unless you're willing to use the killing curse, how could you destroy someone so dark? He could kill you a dozen ways using dark magic and you, none of us our age can do spells that could protect us.'

'Okay, say we let others know, then what do we do? We can't go back, I'm undesirable number one remember and you're also wanted for not registering as a muggleborn. I'm also worried that if I did kill him then they might just chuck me in Azkaban.'

'We leave, you and me, we go, maybe Australia or some other country. This brings me to what else I want to talk to you about.'

'I've been thinking of leaving. Every year since I found out I was a wizard I've almost died, so have you because we're friends.'

'Yes, you deserve a proper and safe life, we all do, but we can't get it here.'

'No, we can't, yet it's our home and we have to leave.'

'We do, now, tell me the truth, how do you feel about Ginny?'

'I don't know, when we first left I was always worried, I kept checking the map. Over the last few days I haven't looked once, I haven't really thought about her. She has her family, I know they will keep her safe, but…I don't know, I just don't think I like her the way I thought.'

'I'm the same, I thought I liked Ron, but ever since he left I realised I don't. I did a lot of thinking about Ron and me, we would never work Harry, look how often we argued, look how often you had to come between us.'

'I never wanted to say anything, you know how jealous Ron gets of me. If I did say something he might have believed I wanted to go out with you and was trying to stop him. I feel the same about Ginny though, we're too different, I'm a quiet person, she's not, we would end up arguing all the time because I wouldn't want to go out like she would. Why do you think our feelings have changed so suddenly?'

'I have no proof but I believe you and I have been dosed with a mild love potion or a potion that makes us attracted to them and no one else. I believe it started in our fourth year, that's when I first got upset with Ron, and it was the first time you paid attention to a girl, you wanted to ask Cho to the ball. If they wanted us it was then that things changed, I went to the ball with Viktor and you asked Cho but went with Parvati. It was a few days later that I noticed how Ron acted around me. I know Ginny has always liked you, I believe she got so jealous when you said you wanted to go with Cho that she was desperate. Ron left five days ago and now we both don't feel the same as we did.'

'Okay, say that's true, wouldn't they know we would find out, eventually, or it could stop working then we would leave them for betraying us?'

'They could have, or they could have made the potion stronger. You and I are alike Harry, if we were married then had children we would not abandon our family.'

'No, we wouldn't, it's a dream of mine to have a family one day, if I survive.'

'Yes, and they would know that. This feeling started two days after Ron left and it's been getting stronger every day he's away. I did a quick search of the tent but I never found anything so if he did have a potion then he took it with him.'

'I believe you and do you know why?'

'No, so tell me.'

'Well, um, red heads don't…um,' Harry shrugged.

'Yes, I am not attracted to red heads either. But honestly, me and Ron, it's impossible. I have to force him to study which makes me believe he'll never amount to much. I work hard because I want to strive to do the best I can. Then there's the way he eats, like a man that's starving.'

'He eats like a pig Hermione, Ginny's not much better, I can't look at either of them when I'm trying to eat. But the amount they eat, it's incredible that any one person could put that much away, apart from the Dursley's. I never said anything before, but it was disgusting. The thing is, they do eat like their starving yet they had never gone hungry in their lives, they wouldn't know what it was like to be hungry. So what do we do, Ron might not find us but he might?'

'We leave, straight away, if they did use a potion I don't want Ron or Ginny near us in case they try to dose us again.'

'Okay, I've been studying a lot of the books, one book I got from Sirius had the portus charm on it. Do you think we could manage to make a port key?'

'We could work it out, but we would need to be somewhere like here, somewhere they will have trouble tracking us.'

'Then we make a few, move around before our final destination.'

'Then how about I read up on those and you write to McGonagall and Shacklebolt. We'll tell her about the locket as well and tell McGonagall about the memories that Dumbledore collected. I don't want to take the chance of sending something like that, we might find a way to destroy it.'

'It's safer to keep with us, just in case the death eaters have complete control. Okay, let's do this because I'm sick of waiting to die, I want to have a normal life.'

Harry stood and pulled Hermione to her feet, for a few seconds they just stared at each other before they quickly turned away and hurried into the tent. Harry sat on one side of the table where their parchment and ink was, Hermione sat on the other side where the books were piled together. Between both of them they did what they needed to, to have a life without being hunted.