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[waningred]

Who: Hermione and Ron
Where: A shady spot somewhere on the lawns of Order headquarters
When: 10th August, 2001, afternoon
Status: Complete

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[waningred]

"At the Burrow. I caught him nosing around." Sitting up on one elbow so to better speak with Hermione, Ron squeezed her hand tightly as way of reassurance.

"Yeah. I talked to him, yelled at him... called him a traitor and a liar and a bunch of other things." He raised his eyebrows, letting Hermione know he'd all but filled up the swear jar during that particular conversation. "He threatened to drag me into the Ministry once or twice but that's all."

Ron sighed and looked away. He'd been sitting on this information about his parents since he'd seen Percy, but he couldn't quite seem to get it out of his mouth.

The shock hadn't worn off just yet.

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That tipped the scales right there. "He actually threatened to take you in himself? Him?"

She shifted and gripped Ron's hand. It was all she could do to keep herself from jumping to her feet, wand out. "I'll kill him myself. Don't think I won't. He has absolutely no right...no bloody fucking right..."

Hermione could have gone on for hours. She had in the past. And on this subject in particular. But there was something in Ron's expression that made her pause and think. She'd seen this expression a lot for over the last day and a half.

"Just what did he say to you, Ronald?"

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Ron couldn't help the slightly smug smile that appeared during Hermione's rant. He'd heard it all before - and then some - in the past. "Don't worry. He wouldn't have been able to pull it off even if he tried."

And he meant it, too. He wasn't kidding when he'd told Percy he'd gladly kill him on the spot.

Her next question prompted him to tilt his head forward until his hair formed a thick veil in front of his face, obscuring the world around him. Tearing a few blades of grass from the ground, he absently twisted them into tight knots over and over until he was ready to speak again.

"He's found them, Hermione," he whispered hesitantly, part of him afraid that once the information was spoken aloud, the wind would carry it to the wrong ears. "Mum and Dad."

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Mum and Dad.

Hermione clapped both hands over her mouth. After all this time. After Ginny's search. They'd never been able to find Mr and Mrs Weasley's graves. And now Percy... Percy had been the one to discover the location.

There was a panic pulling just at the back of her mind. It bordered on the edge of hysteria and grief. The image of Ron's parents, lying there in the middle of the battle. She'd never forgotten what that looked like. And they'd never, ever, been able to say their goodbyes.

Hermione swallowed and dropped her hands down. She didn't trust her voice, and it came out all cracking and sad.

"Where are they, Ron? Is it somewhere we can go to today?"

[waningred]

"He wouldn't tell me," he grumbled, pitching the ruined grass away with disgust, "...said it was a trap and not safe."

Expelling a heavy breath, Ron flopped back onto the ground with little grace and threw an arm over his eyes. He could feel Hermione's emotions radiating out and bleeding over him. A combination of deep-seated frustration and cold fury.

Chuckling softly at the utter futility of their current situation, he suddenly added, "The twat wants us to beg him for it, I think."