Hermione doesn’t like to lie to the boys. She doesn’t like lying, in general, at all, but especially not to Harry and Ron. She spends the entire day as they make their way up the coastline worrying about the letter that seems to be burning a hole in the pocket of her denims. She tries to focus because this search is important. Their latest research has shown that Voldemort was in the Dover area in 1955 and signs point to one of the horcruxes being left here.

The problem is that they still have no idea what he used as horcruxes so it makes the search tedious and time consuming. There is no easy way to just look for the locket, as they did when this search first began, so it is hours of charms and research and trying to locate all sources of magic in a huge area. It has been months of this. One step forward and five steps back.

It took them two months to find the locket. Destroying it came at a price, though. Ron’s left hand was burned and deformed after. He has use of his fingers but can’t make a fist and flying a broom is now difficult for him. It was four months before they found Hufflepuff’s Cup. She now walks with a limp, dragging her right foot slightly, but it was a necessary price to pay for destroying another horcruxes. Ron has adapted as has she. It just slows them down, which frustrates her, but she’s faster now than she was immediately after.

When they find the next one, she knows Harry will insist on destroying it. She and Ron have talked about it and are ready, of course. They’ll stun him, if necessary, and Ron will hold it. She isn’t sure if Harry needs Ron more than he needs her, but Ron insists it’s the other way around. If one of them dies while destroying a horcruxes or is injured, he refuses to let it be her choice. He still flinches when he sees her misshapen foot. Not because it bothers him, but because he didn’t fight her enough when she forced them to let her destroy it. They won’t take that chance with Harry, though, as he’s far more important than either of them.

There are two more horcruxes out here. None of their research can pinpoint what items Voldemort used. They have a list of possibilities but the days keep getting longer and there aren’t any results so it’s becoming hopeless. She has to keep focused, though. The boys need her optimism or they’ll give up. There are some nights when they collapse around a campfire and Harry just paces and scares them with thoughts of seeking out Voldemort and rushing in to face him. He stares at her leg and Ron’s hand and she sees how dangerous it’s becoming. If they can’t find something soon, he’s going to snap.

She worries about these things all day, every day. Today is worse because she knows she’ll have to lie to them or they’ll not let her go alone. She begins to hate Percy for forcing herself into this situation. Who does he think he is to owl out of the blue, to break the wards she has over their location, and to make her lie to her best friends? If she didn’t think it was important, she’d ignore it and forget all about it.

Percy isn’t part of this, though, and that intrigues her. He hasn’t been in contact with his family since the Christmas before Dumbledore’s death. He ignored the invitation to Bill and Fleur’s wedding, didn’t go to the hospital when Bill was injured or, later, when George was injured during an attack on Diagon Alley. He works at the Ministry and doesn’t seem at all affected by the war that is raging on outside its walls.

Ron thinks he’s a traitor, that he’s probably kissing Voldemort’s arse and a Death Eater, but Hermione doesn’t know. Ron’s angry and has never much liked Percy so it’s easy for him to believe the worst. She doesn’t know Percy well enough to decide what side he’d choose beyond his own. She’s scared to meet him alone, though, because she’s not sure that Ron is wrong. However, her curiosity always gets the better of her so she knows that she’ll be there tonight.