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The Morning After	By : Queeny Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 58833 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 29
- 30
- 31
Chapter 30 � Doubting the Piper

Author: Queen Celestia

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Beta Read By: Momof3Dogs. She tells me whether I�m making up words
or not. :p

+++++

When Harry had
told her the news, she was not sure what to think. Everything her life had been
had been shattered by one night, a well-laid plan, and a spell. It felt as if she had awoken from a
strange dream, where the shadows around her suddenly came into sharp focus and
her misty doubts of reason disappeared in the bright sunlight.

Snape
had killed Dumbledore.

She
couldn�t think of him as Severus anymore, his given name seemed to stick in her
throat like thick peanut butter. At least she had found out what it meant when
the stone went cold, she thought ironically. Pomfrey had treated her for shock,
but it didn�t seem to be helping much, as everyone around her, including herself, painted the story of Snape�s moves. How could she have been
so dumb? So, so, so... duped! It was because she had trusted him; despite of everything he had
said, she had trusted him. But now that her fantasy bubble had popped, the
sting of reality vanished those words uttered by ... who?

Oh,
Dumbledore. Swallowing seemed an effort, and she was thankful that her friends
kept quiet the part that she had been his wife. In fact, that entire fact had
seemed to disappear, and once again she was like them again. No longer Mrs. Snape, but Miss Granger once
more. Except, she had known he had to do something that he couldn�t tell her, was this it? Could this have
been it? A small doubt lingered in her mind, as she remembered Dumbledore�s
firm advice, and Snape�s cagey behavior. She didn�t want to say
anything though, incase it affected the plan. Or incase she was entirely wrong.
She couldn�t bear to be mocked� if she was wrong.

Entering
their chambers had been hard. Ginny offered to go with her, but Hermione knew
in her heart that she had to enter them the first time alone. Everything was in
place, although some of the books were rather hastily pushed in as if he had
been researching something before Flitwick had come. His presence was still
there, despite him having left the place
hours past. The room seemed to hold an expectation of his return.

Closing
her eyes, she tried to push back the curtain of betrayed grief that seemed to
overtake her. She had never realized that a broken heart could hurt this much,
for even when he had told her he was only nice for sex, she had some inane hope
that he had been lying, for surely his desire for her would prove to be something
more? Now she knew she had been wrong. It was all an act. Come to think of it,
Snape must be a very good actor to
pull the wool over their eyes so convincingly�. Her fingers clasped the spine
of a book that was sticking out, and interested in what he had been doing,
removed the book. A dark green bookmark marked the place he had last been
reading. Eyes skimming the text her mouth dropped open in shock. He was
studying Horcruxes! Had Dumbledore told him? Had he used Legilimency
on her during the night? Well, there was no harm in arming herself with the
same arsenal of information he seemed to have, she reasoned, as she pulled all
the books he had been reading out onto the couch beside her. She could tell he
had been reading them by their hastily shoved in appearance, each of them
protruding enough to catch her attention, as if he had been disturbed in the
middle of his studies. Perusing them, she felt a small bubble of excitement as
she discovered pertinent information that could help her help Harry in tracking
them down. Familiar scrawl in the margins caught her attention, and peering to
where it was intended to comment on, felt her pulse quicken. �Few things are
known on destroying Horcruxes, except the most deadly of poisons, or holy of
weapons.� Beside it, Snape had scrawled, Basilisk
Venom � items infected with the venom? Swords, arrows, etc.? Comprehension dawned on her � The Sword of
Gryffindor! It had venom from when Harry fought the Basilisk. Before they left
they would need to gain the sword, and then work on finding the Horcruxes. She
lost track of all time and place, and when she had finished reading she had a
plan.

Hastily
packing what she needed, the door ajar
on the potions cabinet caught her attention and, curiosity pulling at her, she opened it to appropriate some basic healing potions
that would no doubt be needed. A glint of gold caught her attention, and the
precise label made her jaw drop. Felix Felicis. He actually brewed some? How
did she not know? His actions never let on that he had been brewing something
so major as this� She realized yet again how well he had played his part. To
brew a potion of this caliber without the person living with him even catching
on� She pocketed a few vials, along with healing potions and pain potions. �Waste not, want not�, she thought, as
she placed them into her expanded purse. Ticking off a mental list, she was
satisfied that there were only a few more things to do before she could set off
in search of Horcruxes. Everything seemed to be falling in place.

++++++++

Fleeing.
With his cronies of the dark he had fled to the Dark Lord�s hold, to be held in esteem from people he would rather see
dead. A revel had taken place to place him officially as the Dark Lord�s right hand, for who could be
more faithful than Severus Snape? Killer of Dumbledore, Obeyer of Commands. The fact that he had a little Mudblood wife
was of no consequence, for surely she would die soon anyways, without Dumbledore�s protection it was only a
matter of time before the Dark Lord took over the Wizarding world.

Several
female Death Eaters seemed to cling to Severus wherever he went, their
intentions of getting him to fuck them obvious. What would have given him
pleasure in the past only
disgusted him now. Their bodies were too perfect, their intimations for
pleasure too vulgar, their hair too smooth.

Basically,
they were everything that Hermione wasn�t.

His
shunning of them did not go unobserved, for when Bella confronted him in front
of the other Death Eaters as to
why he wasn�t indulging amongst the flesh of the pure blood witches which were
so keen on letting him have some, the expectant blood hankering silence that
followed was keen to his answer. So Severus, told the truth, well to be honest,
a version of the truth, as he sneered down at Bella, whose planned attack
ensured the Dark Lord was around when she did so. �Bella, you treat me as if
I�m an idiot,� he had said in a calm quiet voice, �Those witches only want me
to fuck them so that they can get ahead, and from what I�ve seen, none of them
are worthwhile for even a blowjob.� Bella�s face had flushed crimson, while the
male Death Eaters had laughed, the Dark Lords face breaking into a cruel cold
smile. His remarks only made him more sought after, as each witch tried
different tactics to make him deem them worthy, for whoever was able to fuck
Severus Snape would get far indeed.

++++++

Hermione
paced around the room, trying to find the best way in which to filch the Sword
of Gryffindor. She didn�t know the password to the Headmaster�s office, so that was out, and she wasn�t sure if she
could get the password without raising any suspicion.

At
first, she was going to tell Harry and Ron about it, but after some more
thought, decided not to, not until she had gotten the sword. Plus, Ginny would
kill her if she stole Harry away sooner than needed.

A
small jar atop the fireplace caught her attention
and, with a smile, she leapt upon it. Of course! How could she have been
so dense? With a flourish, she tossed a pinch of Floo powder into the fireplace, before proudly proclaiming her
destination.

She
knew Minerva hadn�t taken anything in the office due to respect for Dumbledore�s
not yet buried body, and with confidence she entered it. It had the
appearance that it was waiting
for the Headmaster to return, and to continue his everyday work. The only thing
that would strike someone who had been in there before would be that Fawkes was gone.

Above
the Headmasters desk, in a place of prominence lay the Sword of Gryffindor, and
with such ease that Hermione
wondered if it hadn�t been planned all along, she lifted the sword down.
Leaving the office proved as easy as getting in, and when she had returned to
the dungeon quarters she placed
the sword into her purse, feeling smug at her use of the expansion charm.

Entering
Severus� once private labs, which since
he was gone, she had claimed for
herself, she watched the potion she had been working on brew. Good, it was
nearly finished, and soon all she had to do was to add the last ingredient.

With a
soft hiss the ingredient, a
small multifaceted crystal, was
place in the potion. The potion immediately was sucked inside the
crystal, leaving the once clear crystal a dull maroon. Hooking the
crystal on a chain Hermione carefully placed it into a box, before placing it
into her purse.

Going
over her mental checklist, she did a small smile realizing that all she had to
do now was send her parents to safety
and convince Harry that no matter what, she was going with him to
destroy the Horcruxes.

+++++++++

It
hadn�t been a week before
Severus had to admit to himself that he was missing his wife.

Living
in the Dark Lord�s keep had
become a kind of hell, since everyone was out to get everyone. If he ever did feel randy the only one who he would ever
consider fucking was the Dark Lord himself, and lately he just wasn�t into
that, in fact it felt more like an obligation than a pleasure. Some nights, he
would lay awake thinking of her, of her bushy hair spread out beside him, her
face calm and restive in sleep. He realized he had trouble sleeping without her
by his side.

He
wondered when he had become so dependent upon her that he had become an
irritating sop that was madly dependent on a young girl that had no real
experience in life. It wasn�t love, no;
he didn�t think it could ever go that
far. But he had become dependent on having her around, more as a comforting
presence. Perhaps his subconscious had known all along he needed her, and that
would have been why against all better judgments, he had bound her to him. He
was surprised that the scandal hadn�t been bigger. He wondered why she liked to
spend her time with him, and why every time he felt her getting close he shut
her down.

The
Dark Lord had provided him with nearly every luxury imaginable. His bed in the
Dark Lord�s keep was warm and comfortable, his room elite. �There was no reason why he should be brooding
on everything he didn�t have�

Even so, he missed
his books. There were other books, for the Dark Lord knew how to entertain his
followers, but he missed his own books. He missed seeing her read his books,
excitement bubbling within her before she would look up and talk to him, or
perhaps fight with him. Sometimes, although he refused to admit it to himself
in the light of day, he missed seeing her underwear haphazardly all over the
place.

During
the day, he shoved his loneliness into a corner of his mind, and became cold
and sarcastic, learning to hate everyone about him. They reminded him that he was just like them, and if Hermione
really knew who he was, her girlish fantasies would vanish away.

But he
knew one thing for certain; he
would make sure these people would die, just so that she could be safe. Their
cold manners and their conniving ways were worth nothing compared to her warmth
and caring, and how she trusted him.
Well, had trusted him.

The
rest of them could go to hell.

+++++++

He was stuck in
Privet Drive.

He had promised
Dumbledore to stay there until he reached the age of consent, so he could eke
out the last traces of the ancient blood magic Dumbledore had used all those
years ago to protect him.

However,
he didn�t have to be happy about it.

Staring
at the moon�s rays pouring into
his room through his window, Harry sighed
before looking at Hedwig, who was restlessly moving about her cage. He
dared not to let her out, after receiving a letter from the Order informing him
that he would be �picked up� soon, hopefully avoiding Voldemort�s planned raid when the magic failed. Picking up the
letter, he turned it around in his hands, not reading it, for he had read it so
many times already the words seemed to be engraved upon his brain. The
parchment was crumpled from his numerous readings, and, although the letter was
unsigned, he knew it to be an official order letter. Throwing the letter upon
his bed, he stood up and checked
to ensure everything was packed before
pacing his room, anxiously
looking out the window.

A
sound outside his window, caught his attention, and eagerly he rushed to look
out, only to be met with blackness� at first disappointment washed over him,
until he realized the night was darker than usual and the lights that normally lit up Privet Drive were, to
say quite plainly, put out.

A
freckled face suddenly loomed into view, causing Harry to step back and clutch
his chest, his heart pounding at the sudden appearance of one of the twins.
Giving Harry a cheeky wink, Fred
quickly produced a crow bar, and within a few minutes had the window out of
it�s casing, providing Harry�s escape route.

Mildly
hesitant, Harry walked back to the window, peering out. The sight of Fred�s
upper torso, and not much else bobbing up and down in a gentle cadence, gave
him suspicions about what they
were using to keep themselves floating up by his window.

What
first struck his interest was a horrible
maroon color that clashed
spectacularly with an image of
some sort of bird sipping a colorful
blue alcoholic beverage with an umbrella stuck in it. Closer inspection revealed that the bird was a penguin,
reclining on a chintz armchair on a sandy beach with the sun setting in the
background, outrageous sunglasses pushed up on the penguin�s head as it gave a cheeky wink, raised its glass to its
beak and drained some of the liquid.

Further
inspection revealed that Fred and George were commandeering a truly hideous
illegal flying carpet, with enough room for all of his belongings, but not one
idea on how they were all supposed to stay upon the carpet without falling off
into the great unknown.

�How
do you like our ride, Harry?�
George asked, his position at the head of the carpet making clear he was the
driver.

At Harry�s skeptical look, Fred laughed, as he climbed through the
window, making himself useful by expertly floating Harry�s trunk out onto the carpet � barely missing Harry�s
skeptical head, who in the nick of time pulled it out of the way. To his
amusement, Harry watched as his trunk settled comfortably down onto the carpet
as if magnetized, and bobbed up and down upon the carpet as if it was a part of
it. �Cool!� Harry grinned, before tossing the rest of his luggage upon the
carpet, the site of his items suddenly sticking down upon the carpet reassuring
him that although this transportation may look dubious at best, it was valid. Hedwig�s cage in hand, he nimbly leapt down out of his window until his feet touched carpet,
the sensation frightening and thrilling at the same time.

�Ready?�
George asked, and with a nod from Fred the carpet zoomed up into the sky, the streetlights of Privet Drive flickering back on
underneath them. The sensation of flying, on such a thin item, with no walls
around him, caused Harry to feel giddy, and after peering over the edge of the
carpet at the twinkling lights below them, he turned his attention to his two jail breakers.

�Magic
carpets are illegal, aren�t they?� the sudden horrid thought of being free and
then being caught on an illegality filled Harry with dread as he watched George
smirk, and Fred recline artfully on the bobbing surface.

�Why, yes, my dear chum, they are,�
Fred replied, and upon seeing Harry�s
horrified expression, he hastily added, �But they�re no problem if you don�t
get caught, which this carpet will warn us of, long before hand.�

Running
his finger along a wave, Harry asked, �So whose carpet is this? I didn�t think
any flying ones were left in Britain.�

�Ah,
that is where you are misguided Harry, this isn�t a British flying carpet, this one is part of our new line to be sent to Switzerland, part
of our Summer Chill expansion line.�

�Y-you�re
expanding to Switzerland?�

George
gave him a rather hoity toity look, �Why,
of course, can�t let ol� Voldy stop business from expanding can we?�

Harry
had known that the Twins seemed to laugh the wartime in the face with their
business, but the idea of them being able to expand � to Switzerland of all countries � boggled Harry�s mind.

The
trip proved tedious and unexciting, the only thing that changed along the trip
was the cold that seeped into his bones and seemed to bite deep inside.
Finally, after two hours, the carpet began its slow descent towards the Burrow.

However,
when he arrived at the Burrow, the reactions were less than stellar.

Hermione
was furious � her fury only being outshone by Mrs. Weasley. Professor McGonagall had cold disapproval in her eyes, and Moody made a fuss
about how the Death Eaters could be at their door right at this moment.

For
unbeknownst to Harry, Fred and George had derailed months of careful Order planning by rescuing Harry earlier
than the plan had indicated. When questioned about why they would risk Harry and
themselves to such danger, the Weasley twins shuffled, looked at each other,
and mumbled a rather dissatisfying answer that they �had a feeling� that the
original plans might become sabotaged. In order to prove that their feeling was
correct, a choice select amount of Order members stalked Harry�s house on the
night of their original plan, and found to their horror that there were a group
of Death Eaters hiding out waiting
for Harry. Suspicions about how the Twins knew about this led to arguments
within the Order, which came to the final unsteady determination that there must be a leak amongst Voldemort�s followers.

Convincing
Harry that she needed to accompany him
on the hunt for Horcruxes happened to be the hardest portion of
Hermione�s task. She was at the Weasley�s,
after she had sent her parents off to Australia, hoping that when this was all over that they would have a daughter to
come fetch them. But, after using logic and determination, she won Harry over,
without having to resort to her using the leverage of the sword over him. After
much discussion, they decided to make a break for it right after the wedding,
while people were revved up on alcohol, and not suspecting them to escape.

The
focus soon shifted to the Wedding, and to her friends concern, Hermione seemed
to become more reticent whenever the conversation was drawn to the plans. When asked, however, Hermione
smiled and replied that she was just worried about the war, an excuse anyone
would find hard to combat.

Harry
found himself sequestered in the room he shared along with Ron, Hermione,
and Ginny strategizing on plans
for defeating Voldemort. Harry was at first reluctant to admit Ginny,
but after she fixed a beady eye upon him, he relented, allowing her to join the
group. Their plans became set, in good time too, for Mrs. Weasley seemed determined to work them to death, as the
wedding drew closer. Stealing moments with Ginny was becoming nigh to
impossible, and he barely saw her during the week before the wedding.

The
day of the wedding dawned bright and sunshiny.

Hermione
scowled at her reflection in the mirror, pinching her arm. Gosh she was getting
fatter, the dress seemed to cling to her body in an unseemly manner. What had
she been eating that caused her to pork out so much? Actually, if she admitted
to herself, she was only focusing on her body � which in reality had not gained
an offending amount of weight � to distract herself from the term wedding.

It
brought back memories of her wedding�uncertainly,
she walked over to her clutch and dug around in it, removing a black
frilly wedding album. Her wedding album. She had taken it out of uncertainty,
and feeling rather foolish and sentimental now, had realized she had never
actually looked at the pictures. In
fact, she never knew when it had come to be resting on Snape�s shelves, for he certainly
never told her it had arrived.

Running
her fingers against the tatting, she wondered who had put the album together,
and why, out of everything, they would choose black lace.

Opening
it up revealed a picture of them
kissing, her heart tugged painfully as she remembered the faux wedding, and how
he had refused to have his picture taken...
but after her �gentle� persuasions was forced to take numerous photos. It was a
testament that her life had been in such an uproar that she had clean forgot
about her own wedding photos, but seeing them neatly placed in a book with
small neatly legible captions sent her back to those early days of her being Mrs. Severus Snape.

A
small rather miserable wedding, compared to the hoopla surrounding Bill and Fleur�s wedding, she thought, carefully putting the book away.
Even seeing a picture of him... was
too painful. How could he betray them like that? Still the nagging in the back
of her mind told her that there was more to this than the situation was letting
on. Pasting on a sunny smile, she left the room she was sharing with Ginny.
Today was Fleur�s day, and she
wasn�t going to ruin it by being mopey.

Sitting
in the aisle Hermione nervously flattened her dress. Everyone had settled into
place, the murmuring expectant as they awaited the bride. Bill looked well, his
scars giving him a more rugged adventurer look, rather than marring his face.

The
music began, and Hermione was amused as everyone seated craned their heads to
witness Fleur enter. However, it was also accompanied by the regret that she
would never have this. A gathering of people who loved her, eagerly awaiting
her to walk down the aisle towards the man she loved.

Approval
on all of their faces.

Well
at least not in the Wizarding
world.

The
happiness upon Fleur and Bill�s
faces made her suddenly keenly miss Snape.

Get a
hold of yourself Hermione! She thought sternly, as she continued to watch the
wedding. Snape was a murderer� the old crones words seemed to echo throughout
her mind. Murderer! Murderer!

If he
was able to kill Dumbledore, would that mean that he had killed before? He was
a Death Eater. Would that mean
that� when he had originally joined, before he had supposedly switched sides that he had killed before? Murdered helpless Muggles?

A cold
clammy hand seemed to settle into the pit of her stomach. Just what sort of man was
he? He had seemed closed, reserved, but she had loved him so much, despite
everything. She had the optimism that they could work together through
everything and then he goes and does this.

When
would be the day when it didn�t hurt so much?

Tears
streamed down her face, but luckily most of the women in the congregation were
crying already, so no one questioned that Hermione would cry as well, for it
was a wedding. A joyful event celebrating
the joining of two people in love.

A
joining of families.

His
family was dead.

Her
parents seemed to like him, but when she had gone to send them off to Australia
she couldn�t bring herself to tell them what he had done, and had just told
them what she was going to do since it would be the only way to protect them,
and then when they had begun asking too many questions she had changed their
memories and got them sent off to Australia.

In a
way she was impatient for all of this to be over so that she could go find the Horcruxes, impatient to begin the plan
to defeat Voldemort.

Finally
the ceremony was over, and over a general hubbub, the aisles in the tent
transformed into a dining area, with dance floor in the middle. Hermione could
feel the beginning of impatient desperation to leave infiltrate her senses, as she settled down to a table with
Ron, Harry and Ginny.

Quite
inexplicably she felt the necklace against her pulse cold for a second, causing
her to become even more antsy. Since she couldn�t remove it, she decided she could see if it still worked, and
since it seemed to still be working, perhaps she could use it to help protect
herself and her friends. And cold definitely meant bad!!! It had been so quick though, that she decided that perhaps
she was just imagining it. However, it
had pretty much pushed her over the edge for antsyness.

The
food appeared on their plates, and the sound of people talking and eating
filled the room, the wedding party taking on a light festive atmosphere.

Ron
was anxiously looking around, until he paused, smiling widely. �Ron what is
it?�� Ginny asked.

�Luna!�
he replied, and all heads swiveled to where he was looking. Luna was sitting
beside an older gentleman, who from his similar looks it could be deduced that
he was her father.

�Ron,
you can ask her to dance after we�ve eaten,� Hermione scolded, �She�s with her
father now.�

Pouting,
Ron returned to his food, which was positively delicious. Molly and the
contingent of females in the Weasley
and Delacour clans had surely outdone themselves. Dinner gave way to dessert, which gave
way to the meal being finished. Feeling rather full, Hermione decided to sit
for a bit, before venturing out onto the dance floor.

Ron
was off like a shot as he went
to ask Luna to dance, leaving Hermione alone at the table, while Harry very
possessively took Ginny out onto the dance floor.

Hermione
sipped her drink, when a shadow fell across her line of vision. Looking up, she
smiled. �Viktor!� she exclaimed, putting her drink down.

�Hermy-own-ninny!� he replied smiling.

�Sit
down! I haven�t seen you in
ages,� Hermione grinned, as he sat down. It was good to see Viktor again; he was a good friend.

They
chatted a bit, catching up on
things, Hermione glad that he had been in Bulgaria for most of the past year.
However her small hope that her scandalous life with Snape did not reach Viktor
was dashed, as his face suddenly took on a rather thoughtful confused
expression before he tentatively began, �Hermy-own-ninny, ven I vas in Bulgaria, I read
the English Prophet, and noticed you vere recently married?�

She
felt like a small rock had been dropped into the pit of her stomach. She
couldn�t lie to Viktor. Flushing, she glanced at her left hand, which still
held her wedding band. She didn�t have the heart to remove it, despite everything.

�Yes Viktor, I was,� she looked him
directly in the eye, before continuing. �It happened rather fast.� His silence told her to
continue, and with a concerted effort she did. It felt weird talking to someone
who hadn�t been there for her marriage, to say �well, this is what happened and why my life changed so
drastically.�

�Well
it was a potions accident, and somehow I got.. married to .. Professor Snape.�
She began.

�Dumbledore�s murderer?�

She
gave a nod. Viktor�s face looked
angry. �Vy is your husband a murderer Hermy-own-ninny?�

Fiddling
with her napkin, she shrugged. �Well, we thought he was working for� well our
side and I suppose all of us were mistaken.�

�Hermy-own-ninny you are rarely mistaken,�
he replied.

Flushing,
she mumbled, �Well I�m hardly perfect, he even hoodwinked Dumbledore.�

Viktor
stared at her intently, before holding out her hand. �Care for a dance?�

�I
would love to dance.�

It was
strange being touched by someone other than Snape. Although Viktor was a gentleman in every sense of the
word� - more than she could say for Ron,
who seemed intent on groping Luna � it was weird. Although, Viktor�s touch felt very nice, it
didn�t seem to be� well she wasn�t used to it, she supposed. It seemed the time
from when she last saw Viktor, to now had changed him, refined him more into
the man she saw he would become, a man whom she could trust implicitly.

And
she knew that he loathed anything Dark.

Suddenly
a hubbub started, as Kingsley�s Patronus
entered, before speaking in his calm voice, �The Ministry has fallen.�

All
hell broke loose, as within seconds Death Eaters popped into the wedding
beginning an attack. Hermione quickly searched for Harry, Ron and Ginny, and they for her. She was glad that she had made sure to
keep her clutch at hand at all times. When she reached them, they quickly
grabbed onto her as she Apparated
them to safety. However, she had forgotten that she happened to still be
holding Viktor�s hand.

�Vere
are ve?� he asked, as he observed the Muggle
alleyway with some distaste.

�Safe.�
She replied, quickly dropping his hand.

Ron,
Harry, and Ginny stared at Hermione accusingly, before sliding their gaze over
to Viktor. Viktor narrowed his eyes, quickly assessing the situation. �Vell, I must thank you, Hermy-own-ninny, for saving me, but I see I am
not needed here.� He gave them a grin to let them know that he did not take
offense. �Good luck on defeating You Know Who. Hermy-own-ninny,
if you ever need help, do not hesitate to contact me.� And with a crack he Apparated.

The
group collectively breathed a sigh of relief, and Hermione found herself
grateful to Viktor for not kicking up a fuss. Ginny shifted awkwardly, before
looking around once again at the Muggle
alleyway. �So what�s the plan?�

Hermione
grinned, �Well we�re not going back to the Burrow at any rate.�

�But what about food and clothes.. I can�t go traipsing
around in this!� Ginny retorted, signaling her flowing pinky gold dress.

�You
underestimate my genius,� replied Hermione smugly, before she brandished her
clutch in front of them.

�What
are you waving around your little baggy for?� Ron asked, glancing warily about.

�It�s
a clutch Ron, and it has everything we could possibly need in it.� She replied
with some asperity.

Ron
eyed the clutch dubiously, �Blimey, it doesn�t look like it could hold even a
robe in it, Hermione.�

Smiling
smugly, Hermione opened the clutch, �Well it didn�t, but I used the Undetectable Extension Charm on it,
and now it can hold an infinite amount of�robes Ron.�

Her
friends stared at her in shock and amazement. �You can do that charm Hermione?�
Ginny exclaimed with amazement, �My mom can�t even do that charm without some
help from dad!�

Flushing,
Hermione nodded, before glancing at the end of the alleyway where Muggles were doing their daily
business. �Right, well we should get out of here, and the first thing we need
to do is change so�� Hermione took out her wand, and old-fashioned Muggle changing
stalls appeared, their stripy
awnings incongruent with the trashcans, and building walls around them. She
then handed each of her friends their proper clothes, before going to change
herself. When they were done, she magicked away the changing stalls, and walked
confidently out into the busy London street.

�

Ron
looked around slack jawed,
obviously not used to being amongst copious amounts of Muggles going about
their day-to-day life.

Muggles
on cell phones, Muggles with shopping bags, Muggles wandering aimlessly around
looking at signs advertising theatrics. �Blimey where did you send us?� he
asked, turning around to stare
at a large sign advertising Les Miserable.

�Somewhere
around Covent Garden, well close to,� Hermione smiled as Leicester Square sprang into view.
Muggles were everywhere, as well as a small park area that was covered in Muggles. A mime entertained a group of
young children, while Harry noticed the statue dedicated to Charlie Chaplin.

Hermione
looked up at the large clock of one of the buildings that squashed the park
into a small space of greenery. The clock was ornate in that it had small
figures that moved when the clock struck the hour. Hermione led them past the
park, through a pathway surrounded by tall buildings and movie houses, until
into their view sprang a large airy open ended building that stood in the
middle with Covent Garden painted in large golden letters onto green. Inside
the building were proper stores built along the sides with stores in the middle. There were also stairs that
went down a level that released
you to an open-air court, where
musicians were playing to the diners. Just outside the building was a large open-air market, little booths set up
selling socks, shirts that read �my girlfriend went to London and all I got was
this lousy shirt�, tea towels, theater memorabilia, and every knickknack
imaginable that you could stuff into a table that tourists would buy.

Hermione
led them through it all, and a church in the middle of the road sprang into
view. �Hermione, why are we
here?� Harry asked cautiously.

�Because
I want one last glance at civilization before we go off into the wilderness,� she replied, twirling
around breathing in the sites and mass of people.

�No,
really, why are we here?� Harry asked.

Scowling,
Hermione lowered her arms, and then sighed. �Because I want you guys to look
around you,� she gestured to the
people milling around, some hurrying, others lazily strolling. �This is part of
the war that the entire Wizarding community forgets, these people, if
V-Voldemort wins, these people won�t even know what happened to them, hell they
don�t even know a major battle that concerns their future is happening right at
this moment!� Her gestures became more impassioned, as her friends watched her,
both wary and in awe. �These people are some of who we are fighting for! Sure
we may be fighting for our family, but we�re also fighting for strangers
future, so that they can grow up and contribute and build a society in which we
can live in!�

Ron�s
face had gone kind of vacant, as if what she was saying was almost too much to
take in, but his eyes trained on her told her that he was still listening.
Looking carefully at each of their intense gazes, she finished with, �Anyways,
whether we can do magic, or we
can�t, we�re all the same species, and that seems to be forgotten a lot in the
greater Wizarding community.�

She
could feel her friends scrutinizing her, before their intense gazes faded down
a bit.

Ginny
nodded, �You�re right Hermione, we do.�

Her
friends looked around them at
the Muggles living their daily lives oblivious to the fact that their entire
existence could disappear in the blink of an eye if Voldemort won.

A
sudden movement caught Ron�s eye, and with horror he realized that they had
been spotted, stupid of him, well of all of them thinking that they would be safe in Muggle London. Grabbing his
friends, without telling them what he had seen, he Apparated them all to safety.

Fortunately
he didn�t splinch any of them.
Panting from exhaustion, Ron fell to the ground, his friends looking puzzled
around them. �Ron? Why did you do that?� Hermione kneeled down to her friend,
making sure that he was all right.

�Death
Eater,� he mumbled, �Saw one coming towards us.� A cold hand settled into each
of their stomachs. Nowhere was safe.

Ginny
flopped onto the moss and looked around her. �Ron, where did you Apparate
us?�

Ron
feebly smiled. �First uninhabited place I could think of.. the Moors.� As if on cue a lonely desolate
wind blew across towards them.

�But
where exactly are we?� Hermione asked looking skeptically around them.

�Buggered
if I know,� Ron mumbled.

And
that is how their search for the Horcruxes began.

++++++++

AN: It was interesting writing this chapter,
especially as I began to type �Dumbledore said..� but then had to remind myself
that he�s been killed off. Ha, ha, ha.
Don�t worry lately I�m just very slow on updating but I keep pushing myself to
write! AND I got myself beta readers! : D Yaaay.

I know
I have Ron liking Luna, and then him having sexual fantasies about Hermione,
but hey, he�s a teenage boy. Commitment isn�t really up there at that age.

Although
I�m not sure why I felt like tormenting myself with Viktor speak. But it seems
I like him since he�s wormed his way into this story into a more prominent
position. Tempting to remake this into a Hermione/Viktor story� just kidding.
:)

This
chapter also made me very nostalgic for London. Except.. I wanted there to be a
huge sign of Treats with Billy Piper but that�s light years ahead in time from this timeline!� But most of London meshed together into one
big area I walked. SO I�m fairly certain my description of Covent Garden is
accurate, since I happened to go by there fairly often however the park is Leicester Square� well I�m fairly
certain. I just remember going to a park like that one and if I�m wrong and if
you recognize what the heck I am talking about feel free to correct me, since
my trip to London is more than a little fuzzy. Since I did so much walking all
of London became ONE.
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The Morning After