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SIYE Time:7:51 on 29th March 2024
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Unintended Consequences
By potterfan2008

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Category: Alternate Universe, Post-HBP
Characters:None
Genres: Angst, Drama, Romance
Warnings: Disturbing Imagery, Sexual Situations, Violence
Story is Complete
Rating: R
Reviews: 361
Summary: When Ron and Harry got into their fight while out hunting Horcruxes, Hermione ran after Ron leading to some unintended consequences. Even with the best of intentions, things can still go wrong.
Hitcount: Story Total: 148845; Chapter Total: 11211
Awards: View Trophy Room




Author's Notes:
This starts directly after the events in Chapter 15 – The Goblin’s Revenge of the Deathly Hallows.




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“Ron!”

Hermione ran out of the tent, following him and calling his name. As she reached him and grabbed for his arm, he Apparated away, taking Hermione with him.

“Bloody hell, Hermione!” Ron yelled. “I could have splinched us both. What the hell were you thinking?”

“You are not thinking straight. The Horcrux is--”

He interrupted her angrily. “I know what I’m thinking, Hermione. He doesn’t have a plan. He doesn’t know what to do next. You and I both thought he knew more than he told us.”

“Ron, he is our best friend. We can’t just abandon him. Yes, I am a little disappointed — I thought we’d have made more progress by now -”

The rest of Hermione’s argument was drowned out by the sound of laughter. Turning, Hermione was horrified to discover that she and Ron were surrounded by group of rather large, rough looking men, men who, to her horror, were pointing wands at them.

“Expelliarmus!”

The largest of the men surrounding them summoned their wands while the others held them at wandpoint. Two large burly men moved so they were on either side of Ron and grabbed his arms. When he struggled, they punched him several times in the stomach and face.

After they had subdued Ron, the leader turned back to Hermione.

“So, what do we have here? A lover’s tiff?” he asked, leering at Hermione.

“Stay back!” Ron yelled. This earned him another fist in the gut from the two men on either side of him.

“Are you going to stay down now, Ginger?” one of the men jeered at Ron with a laugh.

“So what are you two lovebirds doing? Shouldn’t you be in school?” the leader asked.

“We’re through with school,” Hermione said, her mind racing. Why on earth did these men care if they were in school?

“We’ll see about that,” the leader replied with a laugh. To Hermione’s astonishment, he pulled a scroll from his pocket. “What are your names?”

Exchanging a scared look with Ron, she said, “L-lily Prewett and this is my cousin, Don.”

The leader looked up after reading down the list. “You aren’t on the list. What house were you in at Hogwarts?”

“Ravenclaw,” Hermione answered quickly. “We finished last year.”

“Prewett? Boss, aren’t most of the Prewetts blood traitors?” one of the men asked the leader.

“How the bleeding hell would I know?” replied the leader heatedly. “They aren’t on the missing list.”

“So we are just going to let them go?” one of the men asked in disappointment.

“There’s no reward if they aren’t on the list,” the leader said. “Let them go.”

With one last punch, the two men sent Ron sprawling to the ground. Hermione ran over to his side and helped him sit up. She looked up in time to see the leader look back at the two of them and laugh.

He tossed their wands on the ground before raising his wand and pointing it at the two of them. He yelled, “Stupefy!”

______________________ ________________________________________ ________
“Wake up.”

Hermione woke to see a plump older lady bent over her. The lady smiled when she saw Hermione’s eyes open. “Oh good, you’re awake.”

Looking around, Hermione saw that they were still in the clearing, although it was dark and a bit colder now. Ron was lying a few feet away from her. Following her line of vision, the older woman said, “Don’t worry about your young man. He is fine. I am Agatha Clark. Let me help you.”

With Agatha’s help, Hermione sat up. Now that the danger had passed, Hermione could concentrate a little more on her surroundings. She could hear the distant sound of waves crashing on the rocks. “Where are we?”

“Falmouth, in Cornwall, dear. I think the Snatchers must have found you,” Agatha said.

Before Hermione could question her, Ron moaned. The two women hurried over to him. “Ron, are you okay?”

“Hermione.” Ron struggled to open his eyes. In the moonlight, Hermione could see the bruising and swelling over Ron’s face from the beating he’d taken.

“Young man, can you stand if we help you?” Agatha asked.

“I think so,” Ron mumbled.

Between the three of them, they had Ron on his feet, but he was swaying.

“My house is just over that way,” Agatha said, pointing towards a cluster of lights visible through the trees. Hermione surmised that the village must lie in that direction. It was a short ten minutes to walk to Agatha’s house.

Once they were comfortably settled around the kitchen table in Agatha’s small cottage, Hermione turned to their hostess. “Ma’am, what did you mean by Snatchers?”

Agatha chuckled softly as she bustled around her kitchen preparing tea and some thick sandwiches for her guests. “Please, child. Just call me Agatha.”

After settling the food down on the table, Agatha explained. “Snatchers are roving gangs of wizards working for the Ministry. They are helping that horrid Muggleborn committee or whatever they are calling it. They search for missing Muggleborn students from Hogwarts or Muggleborn witches and wizards who have fled. They get a fee from the Ministry when they turn in missing students or Muggleborns.”

Hermione listened in horror. So much had changed in just a few short months. “So that’s why they were asking us about school.”

Agatha nodded. Seeing that Ron had polished off the plate of sandwiches, she replenished it with a wave of her wand. Smiling at Ron, she said, “It’s nice to see a young man with an appetite. My sons are all grown now, so I’m glad to have someone who appreciates my food.”

Swallowing a mouthful of food, Ron replied, “Thank you, ma’am. We haven’t had much in the way of home cooked meals recently.”

Getting up from the table, Agatha walked over to one of the kitchen cabinets. She pulled out several vials of potion. She brought these over to the table and handed them to the young couple. “Here, I have some nutrient potions and something for those bruises. I can tell you two have many secrets and I won’t pry into your business. Please just let me help you for the night. I have plenty of extra rooms. The two of you can stay the night and be on your way in the morning.”

Hermione looked over at Ron. Watching him down the vials of potions, she realized it was not the best idea to take potions from a stranger, but it was too late as he’d already taken them.

Agatha had gotten up and taken the dirty dishes to the sink. Hermione rather thought she was
giving them some privacy.

Casting a quick Muffliato, Hermione said harshly to Ron, “You shouldn’t have just taken those potions.”

“What difference does it make? We ate her food,” Ron pointed out.

Not having an answer for that, Hermione asked, “What should we do? Harry is out there by himself.”

Ron rolled his eyes. “Harry, it’s always about Harry. Hermione, we have the chance to sleep in a real bed and eat real food. I was just beaten and stunned. I’m staying here tonight. We’ll find Harry in the morning.”

The thought of a shower and real bed were quite tempting. “Okay, we’ll stay here tonight. We’ll have a long talk in the morning.”

Canceling the charm, Hermione turned to Agatha. “We’d like to take you up on your offer.”

Agatha smiled and showed them upstairs. She set them up in their own rooms opposite from each other on a small hallway. Pointing to the room at the top of the stairs, Agatha said, “That is the bathroom, if you’d like to get cleaned up. I can find some night clothes for you and throw your clothes in the laundry if you’d like.”

Thirty minutes later, Hermione found herself ensconced in a small, nautically themed bedroom, brushing her hair in front of the fireplace. She felt clean and well fed for the first time in months. She never felt she could get really clean in the small bathroom in the tent. It had not been made for so many months of continuous use. A twinge of guilt ran through her at the thought of Harry all alone in the tent in the rain, but they would rejoin him in the morning. Some things would need to change, though. They could not keep floundering as they had been. Perhaps she needed to take a more active role. Perhaps she needed to lead them for a while.

With that thought, Hermione fell asleep.

_____________________________ ______________________________________
Harry woke the next morning after a restless, and for the most part, sleepless night. It had taken him a good ten minutes to realize that no, Ron and Hermione were not coming back in the tent. He had stood out in the rain searching and occasionally calling their names for almost an hour before going back to the tent.

For a brief moment after waking, he expected to hear his friends bickering about breakfast. The deafening silence told him otherwise. He slid out of the bunk and quickly cleaned himself in the rudimentary bathroom. He looked around for a change of clothes, but he soon realized that they had not unpacked much the night before. All of his extra clothes, the potions, books, and other supplies they had brought were still in Hermione’s little beaded bag.

He walked the perimeter of the camp, slightly wary of running into the group they’d heard talking the night before. Using the spell he’d seen Hermione perform at Grimmauld Place, Harry determined there was no one else around. He made his way down to the riverbank and using one of the cups from the night before, got some water to drink. On the way back to the campsite, he picked a few berries that had been left forgotten in one of the bushes. The berries were tart. Harry’s stomach turned as he gulped down the handful of berries.

After his brief meal, Harry looked around the tent. He knew he had been delaying this moment in hopes that his friends would return, but the sun was rising in the sky and he needed to move on. It didn’t seem like Ron and Hermione were coming back.

Grabbing his notes on the Horcruxes and the locket, Harry Disapparated away from the riverbank in Wales. The feeling of being compressed combined with his still slightly queasy stomach caused Harry to vomit as soon as he arrived. He hadn’t given his destination that much thought, but somehow he knew where to go. He had ended up in the secluded backyard of number 4 Privet Drive. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and headed for the back door.

Feeling for the hidden key near the door frame, Harry unlocked the door and slipped quietly into the dark and cold interior of his relatives’ house. He had found out while he was still at the Burrow that once the wards had fallen at Privet Drive, a small contingent of Death Eaters had searched the place, but after that, it had been left alone. The Order of the Phoenix had disabled the Death Eater traps and cleaned up the house. They had even gone to the effort of placing a Mirage Charm on the house so it looked to the Muggles as if people were living there.

Harry silently made his way up to his old bedroom. Dumping his notes and the locket on the desk, Harry threw himself on his bed and gave into the waves of anger and misery that he had managed to keep at bay. Burying his head into his pillow, he sobbed himself to sleep.
________________________________ _____________________________________
H ermione made her way downstairs the next morning, feeling well rested. To her surprise, it was late morning, almost eleven in the morning. Her hostess was sitting at her kitchen table reading
the morning paper.

“Good morning, dear,” Agatha said as Hermione entered the kitchen. “You must have been exhausted.”

Shyly accepting the offered cup of coffee, Hermione said, “I’m sorry for sleeping so late. It’s been a while since I’ve slept in a real bed.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I didn’t expect either of you down here very early. You had an exhausting and rather traumatic day yesterday,” Agatha said, setting a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast down in front of Hermione. “Trust me, you and your friend are not the first wayward souls I’ve taken in for the night.”

“We’re not?” Hermione asked in surprise.

Agatha chucked. “Oh no. Falmouth used to be famous for the smugglers bringing things into the country, but with the new regime, we are now being used to smuggle people out of the country. Many Muggleborns or those fearing persecution have made their way to our shores, hoping to get across the channel to relative safety in France.”

Before Hermione could respond, she heard clattering on the stairs that heralded the arrival of Ron.

“Good morning,” he greeted the two witches.

He happily tucked into his breakfast while Hermione questioned Agatha on the latest happenings in the Magical world.

After Ron finished his breakfast, Agatha smiled at the two of them. “I’ll let the two of you talk. Remember if need be, we can get you on a boat to France.”

“Thank you, Agatha,” Hermione said with a smile.

As Agatha went upstairs to straighten up the bedrooms, Hermione cast a Muffliato.

“Ron, we need to talk about what we are going to do,” Hermione said.

Ron avoided her eyes. “You know that Bill lives nearby.”

“Ron,” Hermione said sharply. “We need to get back to Harry.”

“Harry, Harry, Harry. Why is it always about Harry?” Ron exploded.

“It isn’t always about Harry,” Hermione replied angrily. “But we promised that we would help him. We said we would always stick by him. I know he seems a little disorganized, but we can help him. I love him like a brother, but he is driving me around the twist.”

“What?” Ron goggled at her.

Hermione looked up thrown by his question. “What do you mean, what?”

“You love him like a brother?” Ron asked.

“Well, yes. He’s like the brother I’ve never had,” Hermione said slowly as if he should obviously understand. “I know it seems like it might always be about Harry, but just until this is over. We promised we would help him. Do you realize we can help him save the world?”

Ron looked down at the table. His anger with Harry had mostly disappeared overnight. Hearing Hermione calling Harry a brother filled him with a warm and happy feeling. Memories of his friendship with Harry flooded over him and with the memories came the feeling of shame that he had let his insecurities get in the way of that friendship.

“Okay, Hermione,” Ron said softly. “You are right. I know that…I just…that Horcrux just twisted everything around in my head. I could only hear…I mean I always feel so worthless and second best.”

“Ron, it’s hard on all of us when we are wearing the Horcrux,” Hermione said. “We just…Ron, we need to make some changes when we go back. If Harry doesn’t have more of a plan, maybe we could talk him into asking for some help. Professor McGonagall, Professor Lupin, or even your brother might be able to help us. Maybe we could stay with your brother for a while. We need a break from the tent and from always being hungry.”

She risked a look across the table at him. His hand was so close to hers. She wanted to reach out and put her hand over his, but she hesitated. “Ron, when we go back…you need to be more…I don’t know, helpful or positive. I know the Horcrux is affecting you, but you can’t keep complaining and being so down. You are a great strategist. Help us.”

Ron tamped down his initial anger at her comments. “I’ll try, Hermione.”

Hermione beamed at him. She canceled the Silencing Charm as Agatha came back down to the kitchen. “We will be headed out soon. We got separated from our friend and need to get back to him.”

Smiling at Agatha, Ron said, “Miss Agatha, I don’t think I’ve eaten so well in months. Thank you so much for your hospitality. Would you mind if I took another shower before we took off?”

“Of course not, my boy,” Agatha said with a smile.

Thirty minutes later, Ron and Hermione were ready to go. Agatha hugged each of them in turn. “Good luck to you both. I hope all goes well for you.”

Reaching behind her, Agatha handed them a large hamper. “I know you both looked as though you haven’t eaten regularly. This will get you through for a while.”

After thanking her and saying goodbye to Agatha, Ron and Hermione left the safety of Agatha’s cottage and walked back to the clearing. With a pop, the two of them Apparated back to the riverbank in Wales where they had made camp only the day before.

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