A/N AS usual, I really own nothing except the plot...so there. Thanks to Lady Starlight for her work on this chapter...The train is pulling out of the station...
Chapter 47: The Crucible
*******************Hogwarts, the Library*****************************
April 29, 1998
10:25 pm
Hermione sighed softly as she turned a page in a very old Arithmancy book, and leaned back in the rickety-looking chair she had long ago charmed to be as comfortable as any armchair in the Gryffindor Common Room. Though the Common Room always had slightly better distractions...she smirked, thinking back to long nights when she would look up from homework to find Harry looking at her, before he would glance away. Merlin, I wish we weren't so...obtuse when we were younger.
Hermione shrugged to herself and looked back to her full sheet of equations dealing with Magical energy storage in Familiars. That's the last of it then; she yawned slightly and ran fingers over tired eyes. I'll have Luna double check my calculations in the morning. I suppose that Harry will want to go check out Dover, soon.
Hermione smiled slightly and her brown eyes perked up, then going dark as her breath caught suddenly. She smirked to herself as she felt Harry approaching from the direction of Gryffindor Tower. Hermione quickly looked around, and verifying that no one was here, as it was after hours anyway and knowing for a fact that Madame Pince had headed into Hogsmeade for something, she pushed her books aside and moved around the table. She licked her lips slightly as she quickly loosened her tie and pulled her shirt loose of her skirt. She knotted the front, exposing her toned stomach, and hopped up to perch on the side of the table facing the entrance to her alcove. An eye flicker later, and her skirt shrunk until it barely covered her bum. She crossed her legs and leaned back on her hands just as Harry came around the stacks and stopped. Hermione slowly crooked an eyebrow as she took in his slightly flustered image.
He grinned slightly as he adjusted his glasses and moved towards her slowly, loosening his uniform tie as he went. Hermione slid from the table and stalked over to him, growling under her breath. She smirked as she slid up to him, and pouted slightly, "I've been bad...Professor Potter," she whispered, grabbing his uniform tie and pulling him back slowly towards the table.
"Oh..." Harry replied stupidly.
"Yes..." Hermione replied as she turned her back on him and moved away, his eyes were fastened on her bum, as she knew they would be. "Oh...Harry?" she whispered throatily as she stopped and placed her hands on her hips, drawing attention to the straps of her underwear just peaking above the waist of her skirt.
"Yes, Herms, darling?" Harry asked as he came up behind her and placed his hands on her hips.
Hermione turned her head slightly and smirked, "This," she snarled and spun, her elbow coming up to rap him smartly in the temple. Her right leg came up and around as she continued the spin, catching him in the back of the head and sending him tumbling to the floor, shattering a chair in the process. Hermione blurred as she dropped on his chest with both knees.
"HERE, HARRY," Hermione called, and glanced up for an instant as a second Harry sprinted into the room. She looked down at the one she knocked to the floor. His eyes were slightly crossed as he tried to see the tip of the twelve-inch dagger that was drawing a thin line of blood from his throat. She glanced back up as Harry's, the real Harry that is, eyes hardened and a faint glow started to fill them. I'm fine, love...this bloke just got lucky. Her eyes flickered as she drew back her dagger, and in one move reversed it and rapped the imposter sharply behind the ear with the pommel. His eyes rolled back in his head as he passed out, Hermione stood and let Harry pull her to him. I felt you come onto the floor, and I was going to... Anyway, I knew as soon as he stepped into view that he wasn't you, of course, I could feel you still halfway down the hall.
Harry nodded and squeezed her to him again, before letting her go. He knelt down next to his doppelganger and started to search him, finding nothing except a wand that was obviously not Harry's, it was maple and had a heartstring core. Harry looked up at his wife; I do hate to ruin your little surprise, Mione. She smiled at him, and unknotted the shirt, letting it fall to cover her belly, she didn't bother to fix her tie or skirt however, as she hopped back up on the table and sat for a moment, watching Harry as her brain ran through the permutations.
Her eyes widened, and he nodded, diving in a pocket for his mirror. He flipped it open, "Ron," he hissed urgently. Ron's image appeared almost instantly, showing him sitting up in bed, with Luna beside him reading something, as evidenced by the book she was still lowering as she looked over at Harry. "Is everyone else there?" Harry asked as Hermione hopped down to lean over his shoulder. He glanced down to check that their captive was still out, and bound him with a flick of his wand in thick, glowing cables.
"Yeah, Mate;" Ron said, "one minute." Harry and Hermione could distantly hear Ron saying something, then the mirror's perspective changed as Ron laid his on his bed and cast a spell over it. In the Gryffindor dorm, tiny images, like that from a pensive appeared over the mirror, of Harry and Hermione looking back at them. Harry glanced towards the entrance to Hermione's cul-de-sac and back towards the table. He felt Hermione ward the area as he set his mirror flat on the table and with a flash, ghostly images surrounded them, as if they were in Harry's bed if he still had one there, of the Gryffindor boys seventh year room, complete with beds on which eight witches and wizards were scattered about. Amazingly enough, it looked as if all of them, except Dean who was lowering a sketchbook to the floor, had been actually studying, or at least more or less behaving.
"What's wrong, Hermione?" Parvati asked as she sat perched on the edge of Neville's bed. She reached up and pulled on a braid at the side of her head and frowned. Neville sat up in bed behind her, and leaned back against the headboard as Lavender stretched out, with her head at the foot of the bed, all the better for the three of them to see at the same time.
"Someone imitated Harry and came after me," Hermione replied, "though I don't know why he came after me yet, I sorta...knocked him out."
"Polyjuice?" Padma asked interestedly as she sat up next to Seamus against his headboard. In the image Seamus reached over to his bedside table and grabbed a mug of something.
"I guess," Hermione tilted the mirror so they could see the imposter lying on the floor, "He...or she I guess, didn't change back when unconscious, though it's probably a he from the way he acted when I was leading him on..."
"You never know," Lavender snorted, "We might just have taken you up on that offer."
"Shush, Lav," Hermione chuckled, "you are missing vital equipment, I know, I used to live with you." Lavender laughed and Hermione gave her a quick smile, now that the danger had possibly worn off she could relax a touch. "Besides, I like black hair," Hermione replied unthinkingly and closed her eyes as she saw the twins' eyes light up, though they did not say a word. "Be on guard, Harry and I will be back presently, we're going to drop this...person off with Tonks and Remus and have a little talk."
Ron nodded and said something to Neville that the mirrors didn't pick up. He got up and whispered something to Lavender; she nodded and followed, going out of the view of the mirror. "Neville's going to go check on Ginny," Ron explained quickly, "the wards never went off so I'm not too worried, but?" he shrugged and Harry felt a spike of guilt in his nerves. "It's alright, Harry," Ron reassured him quickly, his eyes cut to his right to glance at Luna who was looking at someone's pointed hat with an odd, happy expression, "I understand." Harry nodded and closed the mirror, the images of the Gryffindor room vanished, and Harry pocketed the mirror.
Hermione flicked her wand, and the imposter floated up in the air, moving in front of her as she started out of the Library. Behind her, Harry vanished her books back to their room and followed. Hermione Disillusioned her captive as they reached the corridor and started down the stairs, not really taking care to see that he was not banging off every other railing on the way down.
After several minutes, in which Hermione proved that she was, possibly, even more perturbed with the night's events than Harry, they reached the hidden doorway to Remus' quarters. They had not been seen by a soul, a happy state helped along by the Marauder's map. Tonks opened the door at their quiet knock, and gasped, loudly. She almost let her hand, which was holding her robe closed, slip in her shock, but caught herself and waved them in. She peered about the hallway, and sent a Detection Charm out, just in case, before she moved back inside and sealed the door with a spell. "I'll get dressed," Tonks said, already moving towards the bedroom, from which they could hear soft snores.
After a few minutes, in which Hermione amused herself with a leisurely perusal of Remus' book collection, and Harry split time between watching her and their captive, Tonks returned, now clad in a pair of ripped jeans and a black, hooded sweatshirt with a small replica of her badge on the left side of her chest. She paced over to the imposter and toed him with her boot, before looking back to see Remus, yawning and wiping at his eyes as he clumsily buttoned his shirt. "I see that we have guests, Nymph," he mentioned, and looked over to Harry, "some strange...party, that I was not invited to, perhaps?"
Harry grinned for a moment at the Marauder's Sirius-worthy comment, "Afraid not, Moony," he replied as his face grew grim once more, "this wanker thought he'd surprise Hermione in the Library." Remus rolled his tongue around in his cheek as he glanced at Hermione's still slightly...inviting, attire, but just shook his head.
Hermione looked over to Harry, "We're guessing Polyjuice," she said, "according to the map, he's Grayson Sneade, he's a sixth year Slytherin." She grimaced as she looked down at him.
"Wotcher, is that that nineteen-year-old bloke in Slytherin...the one that Harry dueled with at the start of the year?" Tonks asked thoughtfully. "You would think he had learned his lesson then."
"I don't know why," Hermione replied in a voice halfway between exasperation and a growl, "Draco sure as hell never did, tried to start something every chance he had with Harry or Ron or I, despite his overall losing record at it."
"It's not that simple, Hermione," Harry muttered, the other three looked at him, Hermione frowned slightly as she heard his words an instant before he said them, "This was an attack on you, just like they tried at the start of the year, and what Tom tried with Greyback." He sighed, and crossed his arms, "He's..."
"And that worked out how well for them those three times, Harry?" Hermione retorted, her eyebrows rising slightly. "Exactly what are you going to do about it? Put me under a guard like you did with Ginny, I won't have it, Harry, not even if it's you..."
"That's not what I meant, damn it, but maybe you should be," Harry shot back, his voice rising slightly as well. Remus looked to Tonks and shook his head as she started to move forward. "You are His main target, Mione," he snapped, his voice taking on an almost plaintive tone.
"NO!" Hermione shot back, "YOU ARE DAMN IT!" she swallowed heavily and took a breath, and took three steps across the room, closing to within inches of him. She took another quick breath, I won't ever run, Harry, not even if want me to, and I damn sure am not going to hide behind a squad of the DA every time I go to the bloody loo...
I won't stand by and watch you get hurt, Hermione, Harry whispered, and bent his head into her hand as she reached up and cupped his cheek.
I wasn't planning on watching them hurt either of us, baby, Hermione replied, bending her head forward to rest against his. We're a team; Harry, he can only win if he breaks us apart...
Harry shrugged slightly and nodded, He can bloody well try...Sorry, Mione. Hermione gave him a small, half-smile and kissed him quickly, before turning back to their captive. She glanced back at Harry as he spoke, "Sorry for that..." Remus just waved the apology away and Harry nodded, "Mione, can you?" he waved at Sneade.
"Change him back early...Sure," she said brightly, "but it won't be exactly pleasant for him."
"Won't kill him?" Harry asked more for the others in the room than himself.
"Probably not," Hermione shrugged, her eyes hard for an instant, "though I don't guarantee it, depends on if they made the potion exactly as per the normal instructions or if it was Snape's longer lasting stuff we found at Spinner's End." Remus and Tonks glanced at her quickly, not realizing that the Potions that had been found there had been identified. Hermione carefully continued to glare at the person pretending to be her husband, but thankfully neither of the older magic users decided to ask further.
"We'll wait an hour then," Harry resolved, "if he hasn't changed back by then...we'll see." He took a seat on Remus' couch and leaned back against the armrest, watching as Sneade turned and twisted in his bonds. Hermione joined him after a quick detour into Remus' kitchenette, and acquiring a pair of cups of coffee from the ever-filled pot brewing there. She handed him one and curled up against his side on the couch, tucking her legs under her. She took a sip and sighed softly, resting her head under Harry's.
Across the room, Remus shared a hidden, smug look with Tonks as Harry pulled Hermione into his side and muttered something under his breath. Hermione laughed softly, leaning her head back to obviously reply in their secret, silent language. Tonks rolled her eyes and motioned towards the back room. He nodded as she left, and continued to watch the pair on his couch.
Tonks returned five or so minutes later with a small, black leather case. She set it down on the coffee table and perched on the arm of Lupin's chair. "Do you need a book or something, Hermione?" Remus asked slightly smugly, she shrugged and closed her eyes, arching back slightly into Harry.
"No, Moony, I have plenty to entertain me," Hermione replied complacently. Her eyes opened as Sneade stirred and began to twist and turn in his bonds. Harry vanished his bonds, just as the image of himself on the floor began to morph, slowly shaking and twisting as Harry's features changed to the rounder ones of Sneade, his body filled out, changing from Harry's slim body to a much stockier one. A soft ripping sound came from the man as his shirt ripped. Hermione flowed to her feet, and waved her hand, lifting the Slytherin into the air and setting him down into a kitchen chair, set near him for the purpose. Another gesture, and faintly glowing cables bound him tightly to the chair. "I know you're awake, Sneade," Hermione said quietly.
He opened his eyes and glared at her, and looked around the room, but not speaking. Hermione knelt down into his line of sight, and gestured behind her for the black case Tonks had earlier retrieved from her field kit. "Do you know what this is?" Hermione asked quietly. She snapped forward, a silver blade blurred around her hand and his sleeve fell away. "I see that your master hasn't marked you yet," she mentioned conversationally and stood looking down at him. She watched as his eyes traced up the exposed portion of her leg. Harry stood suddenly, and she turned back to him slightly and shook her head.
Hermione turned back to Sneade slowly, her foot snapped out and a loud thump was heard as Sneade and the chair he was tied to thumped to the ground. He coughed weakly, gasping around the mary jane that had suddenly found its way to his throat. "Let me make this perfectly clear to your small, snake-loving brain," Hermione said lethally, "I will feed you your spleen if you try that again. Without moving her foot, she opened the small kit and removed a small phial of a clear solution. She tossed the case back onto the couch, "Do you know what this is?" she asked and smiled slowly as his eyes widened. "I see that you do."
Harry stood and moved over to the Slytherin, "You see, we've figured out that the resistance to interrogation is tied to the Mark." He took the phial from Hermione and knelt down. A soft hoot came from his pocket and Harry stood, "Excuse me, I need to take this...You've got him, Love?"
"He's not going anywhere," Hermione replied, as Remus looked on, amused.
Harry nodded and slipped out of hearing distance of the prisoner, he felt a tendril of Hermione's consciousness wrap around his as he opened the mirror. "Harry," Ron said, looking at him from the mirror, "Looks as if they went after Ginny too. She's fine," he added quickly, and Harry let out a soft breath and felt Hermione do the same. "According to Gabby, she was in the common room, Andrea Pierce came in and didn't say a thing to them. She got up to the sixth step and the stairs went away." Harry nodded, and glanced over to Hermione.
There is no slide function in the Slytherin Dorms, Harry. It's in Hogwarts, a History, Salazar didn't think it was necessary...or he probably thought it waste of time, rather.
"She ran out of the Common Room and knocked down Patience into one of the tables. She's all right, though I had Seamus and Padma take her to her Hospital Wing. It delayed us a bit though Harry, long enough for whoever it was to get away," Ron shrugged and apologized. "They had the password to the Dorm, Harry."
"It's not that hard to get the password, Ron, not really. All they'd have to do was to have someone hang out within hearing distance of the portrait while Disillusioned or something," Harry replied and sighed. He looked at Remus who nodded and grabbed a robe and left the quarters. "Moony's on his way up, I'm sure he'll change the password. Hermione and I will finish talking to this wanker and we'll be along...Stay safe, Ron." Ron nodded and vanished from view.
Harry sped across the room, knelt and forced Sneade's lips open with one hand, he poured several drops down the Slytherin's throat and waited as his eyes clouded over. Hermione slowly removed her foot and looked down at him as Tonks came over to stand at their shoulder. "What was your assignment, Sneade?"
He looked towards Hermione then back to Harry, "I was to kill the Mudblood, but she was there, sitting like the little slag she is, so I was going to teach her a lesson first." He shrugged; his answers utterly honest with the typical embellishment that untrained folk added when under Veritaserum.
"Why?" Hermione snapped lowly, "Why start after me again?"
"To remind Potter," Sneade replied.
"Who tried to sneak into the Gryffindor Dorm, were they after Ginny Weasley?" Harry asked, and looked over to Tonks as she frowned slightly and help up a note, that said: "He doesn't know anything, Harry", Harry nodded and watched as Sneade began to try to fight the potion.
He failed, at least for now, "I don't know, it was supposed to be Parkinson, but she was sick. Weasley was the target, supposed to leave her somewhere for Potter to find if possible."
Pansy was sick today, Harry, I saw her up in the Infirmary this morning when I stopped by to talk to Poppy about Mum, Hermione put in. She flicked her wand and a red bolt snapped out, knocking the Slytherin unconscious. "Well what should we do with him?"
Tonks sighed, "Can't really take him in, officially," she shrugged, "well we could, he did attempt to assault an Auror at the very least and he was obviously using Polyjuice in an manner that was meant to cast aspersions on another, but what he admitted to under Veritaserum won't be usable at trial. If it were someone like Malfoy, who was already convicted and an escaped prisoner, yeah, but this git is supposedly just a student."
"We know," Hermione looked over at Harry, "I think the best would be to Obliviate him, make him think that he never found me, and go on. We can always use yours and my memories if he's taken in, later."
"Fine," Harry growled and motioned Hermione back as he pointed his wand at the unconscious Sneade, Obliviate...
***************************Dover******************************
May 1, 1998
10:15 pm
A continuous CRACK snapped out over the white cliffs as ten black-cloaked figures appeared in the night and started to spread out across a large clearing in a patch of forest that stood on the very edge of the white cliffs. The one in the center, a young man of only middle height, lowed his dark hood and looked around the top of the cliff, starlight glinting off his glasses. He moved to the edge of the cliff, stalking silently without a single wasted motion and stopped, looking down at the crash of the waves on the rocks below. He looked to his right, Hermione gave him a small nod and he closed his eyes.
A pulse of faintly visible magic snapped out from him, bathing the surrounding area in ghostly witchfire for an instant. It faded and he sighed, almost inaudibly. "Spread out," he commanded quietly, "Seamus, Padma, Dean...go that way," he waved to his right without turning back, "Neville and your harem, go the other." He grinned for an instant, as Hermione elbowed him, then grew serious once more, "You lot know what to do."
"Ha, ha," Parvati laughed, "So any other instructions if we find anything? Other than run and scream, 'Oh, Merlin...Chosen One come and save us...'" Harry snorted at the sarcasm in her tone. "Harry, relax, we'll be alright."
"No, that's basically it," Harry replied wryly, turning. He gave Parvati a brief nod, "Seriously, if you do find something, we all will deal with it...just back off and let everyone know." She gave him a nod and started off to the north, following the line of the cliffs and casting periodic Detection Charms along her path. Lavender followed her to her left and behind, looking closer to the landside of the cliff while Neville trailed them both, on the lookout for anything. Harry watched them move off; then glanced the other way to find that the other group was already at least a hundred meters away and searching. "It's not here," he said quietly to Hermione, Luna and Ron, "I would have already...smelled it for lack of a better word, at least the defensive charms and wards, if nothing else."
"Could he have left it undefended?" Ron asked thoughtfully, not really disagreeing but asking anyway. He reached up and brushed off a patch of dirt off of his cloak, before reaching into an interior pocket to retrieve a bar of Honeydukes best. He broke off a piece and handed it to Luna, before taking a bite, his eyes still on Harry.
"I doubt it," Hermione said quietly, looking back up at Harry, "He is rather too proud of his accomplishments to have them hide unremarked, if only by himself."
"Hermione's right, Ron, Tom's a prideful wanker if nothing else, he would have had something here, though just because it's you three..." Harry shrugged and scrubbed his eyes. "He never meant to have to hide it from me," Harry mentioned tiredly. He glanced around at them, at the three that he probably trusted the most, and just for an instant before Harry hid it once more, Ron was reminded just how young Harry really was. How young all of them really were. "Even when I was twelve-I knew something was, wrong, with that book. It would have been nice, if Dumbledore had bothered to explain it to me then," he shrugged; any anger that he might have felt towards the wizard was long washed away. "But I could even feel it across the room, sometimes when I was tired. I'm tired a lot these days," he mused. He shrugged it off and glanced at Luna, "I don't suppose?"
"No, Harry," Luna breathed softly, "only a vague sense that darkness and light once fought here, it's mostly gone now...purified by time, if nothing else." Harry nodded and Ron and Luna vanished with a soft CRACK and POP, turning back to the cliff, Harry could see them searching along the thin beach far below.
How long do you think we should stay at this, Harry? Hermione asked as she and Harry vanished and reappeared further out to the east, and started casting Detection Charms automatically. She paused for a second when she found an old rusted talisman buried in the ground, she retrieved it with a spell and sighed as she recognized it as an old enchanted good luck charm that someone had lost ages ago. She cleaned it and pocketed it, before looking back up.
Let's wait until the rest of them finish their sweep, we might as well be thorough, you never know what you might find, Harry replied motioning towards her pocket. We will need to start preparing for...
Harry never finished as the sounds of multiple Apparations broke through. He looked to the north just in time to see a rainbow of spellfire light the sky and to hear a female voice scream only to be cut off in mid word.
*********************Hogwarts*******************************
May 1, 1998
10:20 pm
Ginny pulled a dark hood over her bright hair and moved quickly and silently along the empty corridors of the school, keeping to the shadows and glancing around occasionally to make sure she wasn't followed. She slipped out the small auxiliary door off the main, great doors and moved quickly into the courtyard. She crouched down in the lee of the softly flowing fountain and pulled out a piece of parchment, and nodded.
Ginny nodded and put away the parchment and picked up a loose stone and touched it with her wand. She concentrated on the specific, special spell taught to her and the rest of the DA by a certain brunette Head Girl, the one that allowed the creation of untraceable Portkeys. A spell that the hidebound transportation department of the Ministry would have metaphorical kittens if they knew it was in the hands of a group of kids. Harry and Hermione; had forgotten to tell them.
The stone bounced and turned blue as Ginny concentrated on the coordinates buried in the missive that Remus had helpfully passed along to her, the code one that Draco had laboriously taught to her while on the run, a code used by the Death Eaters to leave messages to each other. She touched the stone and vanished in a fall of color and a rush of wind.
"Damn it, Harry is going to kill me," another girl in dark robes cursed and spun on her heel, the orders that she was not, for any purpose whatsoever to leave the castle running through her head. She sprinted up stairs, slipping past Filch quickly. He yelled after her, losing her as she vanished into a side passage and watched him sprint by cursing all the while. She shook her head and moved back the way she came one passage, and then up a floor, stopping outside of a door marked only with a small lion. The lion came alive, looking at her as she knocked and then settled down as she looked back.
She looked up as a slightly careworn man, with salt-and-pepper-decorated brown hair opened the door and looked down at her, "Yes, Honor, can I help you?" Remus Lupin said pleasantly.
"She's gone, sir, she ported away, I couldn't follow, I mean I could have..." she said bitterly.
Lupin gave her a small, tired smile, "You did the right thing, Honor...I will take care of it. Please head back to the tower," he paused and turned to a small table set next to the door. A quill scratched quickly on parchment. He handed it to her; "This will keep Argus from harassing you terribly much."
"Are you sure, sir, we can get the rest of the DA...."
"No, Honor, I think I know where she went," Remus replied. Honor looked as if she wanted to inquire further, but nodded in the end and stepped back and started towards Gryffindor Tower at a normal pace. Lupin closed the door and turned around to find Tonks looking at him from the bedroom door, "Ginny's gone to Draco," he growled.
"Stupid, stupid girl," Tonks snapped then took a breath, shaking her head, "I understand her, Remus, damn it I do. I should be the last person to criticize, but..." He nodded and crossed the room. Lupin pulled her into his arms and kissed her quickly, "You going after her?"
"I know where she went. I thought that Draco didn't know well enough were he was to get Portkey coordinates to her, but..." he sighed as he touched his wand to a tall, unmarked wooden cabinet set inconspicuously in the corner of the room; it folded open revealing racked weapons and equipment, magical and mundane. Lupin strapped his wand sheath to one leg and a small pack filled with the twin's toys and a large kukri to the other. He pulled a silvery cloak from the cabinet, leaving another behind.
"Do you need help?" Tonks asked softly, not saying what she wanted to say. He looked back to her, watching as her hair changed color nervously.
"No, Nymph...since Harry and the rest are gone...we can't afford for both of us to be gone," Remus replied reluctantly. She nodded and stepped to him, kissing him quickly and stepping back into the bedroom without another word. She only closed her eyes and sighed as she heard the sound of a Portkey activating in the next room.
***************************Somewhere in Northern Ireland******************
Ginny appeared with a fall of color at the edge of a thick wood, and looked across a neatly kept lawn to a small, brick ostensibly Muggle house. She looked over and saw a pair of Unicorns grazing contently, they knickered softly and moved off. She froze, worried that someone had heard. She waited a moment longer, then slowly started to creep towards the house.
A single branch moved on a tree behind her, with no wind to speak of.
Ginny crept to the door, looked around nervously and knocked. For an instant, she felt something evaluating her. She started to turn to leave, when the door was flung open and a hand shot out and jerked her inside. Ginny saw an afterimage of the doorway fading away as a projected image vanished just as she heard the door slam shut behind her. Her perception spun as strong arms grabbed her and pinned her against a living room wall. She grunted, the wind knocked out of her. A picture fell from the wall, the glass shattering as it hit the hardwood floor.
"What the fuck are you doing here, Red," Draco snapped, his grey eyes wild. His hands shook as the gripped her arms tightly, she squirmed, and he loosened his grip, an apology in his gaze for just a millisecond before it vanished again.
"I wanted to see you, Draco," Ginny said softly. Her bottom lip trembled slightly as she looked up at him. He sighed loudly and let her go, raising his hands to his head and scrubbing through rumpled blonde hair. She watched, her brown eyes slightly lidded, as she finally took him in, clad only in a faded pair of sweatpants. The light from candles scattered around the room highlighted the faint scars along his back from his...discipline at the hands of his father, they were visible as pale lines a shade lighter than the rest of his skin in the light from candles scattered around the room.
He looked back at her, his anger faded. "You can't be here, Ginny," he said quietly, his drawl even more pronounced then usual. Draco paced to a couch and dropped in it heavily, "I'm sure Potty and his bed buddy will be along any time now, you should get back to Hogwarts, maybe if we're real lucky, they are too busy shagging each other to notice you're gone."
"They are all gone on some mission," Ginny shot back, she moved from the wall, shrugged off her dark robe, leaving her in jeans and a t-shirt, and dropped onto the couch next to him. She reached down and took his hand, rubbing it softly as she looked up at him through thick lashes, "I really missed you, Draco."
"You should have used your fingers, dear," he said tiredly. Ginny flinched slightly at his words. He looked away, taking a breath before he looked back to her, "I am glad you're here, but we can't afford it..." Draco reached up and kissed her quickly, pausing for an instant, as he watched her face, as if memorizing it. He stood and paced back to the kitchen, her eyes followed him the entire way, watching as he dug in a cold box through the open door. "Do you want anything?" he asked as he looked back at her.
"I'll share yours," Ginny gave him a small smile and he nodded after a beat, walking back into the room with a single bottle of Guinness. He sat back down next to her and took a long pull, before handing it to her. She took a swallow and set the beer down on the coffee table in front of her.
Draco watched her for a moment, and sighed, reaching out with his arm to pull her into his side. "They aren't going to let you out of the castle after this, Ginny."
"I'm not supposed to be out now," she gave him a faint smile, looking up and back at him. Her smile faded as she looked down at her hand, tiny in his, "What are we going to do, after this is over?"
"You mean if Potty wins and doesn't decide to off one or both of us?" Draco snorted, and she nodded, "We leave, I suppose, when Potter dissolved Mum's marriage to my...father, he cut me off from the Malfoy funds...I doubt that he realizes that wasn't all that a great a blow really." Ginny looked at him curiously, and Draco shrugged, "There are no Malfoy monies, not really, not any longer, at least not in the accounts that I could access. My father gambled a great deal on his Master, much; much of it has gone into Riddle's coffers, and much more into the pockets of various factions at the Ministry. Not that Lucius wasn't quite rich when he finally ran afoul of someone he couldn't bribe or intimidate out of his way, or have quietly killed...Lucius transferred most of the Malfoy wealth into hidden accounts that only he could get to."
"I don't care, Draco," Ginny whispered, shrugging, "it's not like I haven't been there before."
"It's not that bad," Draco laughed softly, "I just don't have the--play money that I had...You already know what I have nifflered away, in accounts that Mum set up for me years ago, when she saw that my sire, wasn't going to back down from his goals...we leave, perhaps the continent or the colonies. Potter still might be able to take those away, since I suppose that I'm a bastard child of the Blacks, now, but I really doubt he'll bother. He's much more likely to put my head in a box." Draco stood slowly and pulled her to her feet.
His eyes darkened slightly as he pulled her to him, and slowly ran his fingertips along the hem of her shirt. She closed her eyes and leaned into him as he slowly peeled it off and dropped it to the floor next to the couch, "We should probably take advantage of this," Draco mused softly as he bent down and nuzzled her neck.
"Yeah," Ginny whispered, "waste is just ghastly, really," she looked around, just her eyes moving as she let her head fall to the side, giving him better access. "Where is your bedroom..."
"Come on," Draco muttered, grabbing her hand and pulling her back across the living room and down a short hall. He pulled her back to him as they stepped through an open door at the end of the hall and it shut firmly a moment later. Soft sounds were audible from behind it as new figure faded into view as a silvery hood was lowered.
He sighed, loudly, and flicked a wand towards the door. A white flash lit the walls and the increasingly frenetic sounds were cut off as if a switch had been thrown. He shook his head and looked around the room with faintly exasperated brown eyes. Remus looked down at his watch and shrugged the cloak off the rest of the way, placing it on the back of a chair. He then paced to the kitchen and filled a mug with water from his wand, before placing tea from a canister in it, and flicking his wand at the mug.
Lupin settled down, and took a sip of his tea, as he watched out the large bay window set in one of the walls overlooking some hills.
************************Dover***************************
Harry and Hermione vanished, reappearing next to Neville, Padma and Lavender. Hermione instantly ducked as a green spell crashed over her head, exploding the trunk of a tree behind her and fired back a faintly visible wave of force picking up two masked Death Eaters and tossing them back into a tree with a loud crunch that carried over the sudden sounds of battle. She glanced over, casting a large, shimmering field up to shield them, to find Harry and Neville, frantically dragging both girls behind the cover of a large oak.
She vanished, reappearing next to Harry, and crouching down as a tree exploded off to her left. Parvati was shaking uncontrollably, as if in the midst of a seizure, while Lavender was at the very least, unconscious. "Focus, Neville," Harry hissed as he dug in a small pouch and poured a yellow potion down Parvati's throat. She stopped shaking and passed out easily, Harry reached over to check Lavender, "Lav's just stunned; Parvati will be alright..." Harry glanced over as five more CRACKs spaced out over a minute rang in his ears.
Immediately, the seven or so remaining Death Eaters that were spaced about the clearing wheeled and fired at the new arrivals, trying to cut the odds. Harry saw Ron stagger slightly and drop behind a tree, before popping up several feet away and killing the Death Eater who had hit him with a precise Piercing Charm. Harry glanced back at Hermione and they dove out from cover, leaving Neville to protect the girls.
Hermione spun to her left, watching out of the corner of her eye as Seamus and Padma both hit a Death Eater at the same time, their purple and maroon curses combining to more or less disintegrate him. Harry appeared to Hermione's right, and vanished again, reappearing behind two more. He stepped right, the Sword appeared in his hand, and he MOVED, cutting up and left, flipping into a backwards roll under a Death Curse, and slicing to his right, from his knees. The blade flared blue as it hit, and sliced off a leg of the Death Eater dropping him to the ground in a spray of blood. The first Death Eater fell behind Harry. He turned to stand, looking back towards Hermione, and dove to his left, just as a Reductor from her wand snapped past his ear and exploded the Death Eater's head that had been lining up on him, the sound of the muffled explosion arriving at his ears only milliseconds after the CRACK of the Death Eater's Apparation.
Dual CRACKs rang out as the two, still standing, Death Eaters Apparated away. Padma Seamus and Dean's eyes met and they vanished in pursuit, having automatically cast the spell to trail them. Harry looked at Hermione, breathing slowly for a minute before they moved together to check on Ron.
Luna had cut away the right leg of Ron's pants above the knee and was currently very focused on stanching the flow of blood from a large, round hole in Ron's leg right above the knee. Harry swallowed heavily as he shone a light from his wand down on the wound and saw the glistening white of shattered bone sticking out. Ron looked pale and drawn in the wandlight, and Hermione swallowed, stepping away and pulling out a mirror. "Poppy," Hermione snapped, and waited impatiently as the witch's image appeared in the small screen.
"Sorry," she said, "I'm not used to these new..."
"We have wounded," Hermione cut across her, and the witch immediately focused. "One with what seems to be a direct CNS hit with a Epileptica, another that may or may not be stunned and one with a compound break in the right thigh," she looked over at Harry and found him covering Ron with a conjured blanket, "looks as if he's already going into shock."
"I will be there as soon as I can," Poppy replied quickly, "it will take several minutes for me to get outside of the wards."
Shit, Harry thought desperately.
I'll go, Harry, Hermione said quickly, meeting his eyes and he nodded, "Just get your supplies ready, Poppy, I'll be there in a moment." Hermione closed the mirror before Poppy could ask just how she would accomplish that little trick. Harry gave her a nod and she vanished.
Harry looked at the empty space in the night where she had been for a heartbeat, before turning back to Luna who was holding her wand to Ron's wound, keeping an artery closed. She gave him a small brave smile and he nodded, squeezing her shoulder on the way before loping over to where Neville sat with his back against a tree holding Lavender. She was groggily blinking, and looking around with a glassy expression in her eyes. Parvati was utterly limp, with beads of sweat dotting her brow. Neville looked rather...concerned as he looked down at her, and then looked up at Harry. "Thanks, Harry..."
"I owed it to you, Neville," Harry said softly. "Poppy is on the way...I don't want to transport Parvati or Ron until she gets here..." Neville nodded, and turned back to Parvati. Lavender slumped back off to sleep in his arms, still suffering the effects of a Stunner to the base of her neck, a spot, that like a direct heart hit, tended to provide more lasting effects.
Several long minutes passed with Harry moving back and forth between the two small groups, his wand in one hand and the sword in the other. He was looking around constantly as that the only effective thing he could do at the moment, pausing to examine the fallen Death Eaters, when Hermione appeared with Tonks on one arm and Poppy on the other. Harry let out a breath he did not know he had been holding, as Poppy immediately ran to Ron, seeing him on her arrival, and dove to her knees, casting a complicated charm that placed Ron's leg in stasis. She poured a black potion into his wound. Ron groaned slightly, causing Luna to grunt as he squeezed her hand. The wound crusted over with the temporary filler, and Poppy got up and moved quickly over to Parvati and Lavender. Harry watched for a moment, before looking back to Hermione and Tonks.
"Where's Remus, Tonks?" Harry asked softly, and groaned, even before Tonks could get the words out as he read the answer from Hermione's thoughts.
"Ginny...went walkabout, Harry," Tonks said softly, and Harry closed his eyes.
"FUCK," he hissed feelingly, and took several deep, calming breaths. "Can this night get any worse?" He glanced to Hermione and watched her shrug helplessly. He gave her a tired smile, and looked back at the abnormal Auror. "How long ago?"
"Not too long," Tonks replied, "Honor trailed her to the courtyard, she let her go, Harry, and came and got Remus and I." Tonks ran her hand through her hair, it changed in a rainbow sparkle before she calmed down, "Remus was sure he knew where she went."
"Honor did the right thing," Harry said absently, "I don't want anyone to go anywhere alone," he carefully didn't mention whose death had precipitated that particular rule, "but with just you and Remus there to trail her. It's probably for the best that he went alone."
"What happened, Harry?" Tonks asked lowly, and Harry shrugged, she looked at Hermione, "Hermione didn't say much in the couple of minutes we had."
"I still don't know, Tonks," Harry said darkly, moving back towards the pile of Death Eaters he had collected while he was waiting for relief, "None of these guys are even in the second or third tier, let alone one of the heavy hitters. So I doubt it was really any kind of ambush...and they really didn't have enough here to reasonably think they could take us, we outnumbered them. From what I've gathered, not having time to really talk to Neville, they just ran across them, and it was sheer bad luck that the girls got hit."
"There is a small enclave of Wizards about five klicks from here," Tonks said thoughtfully, "Not big enough to be a village, only about four houses, but at least one, the Duttas, are members of Arthur's faction, it probably was a terror hit you interrupted."
A crack of sound came from behind them and the trio spun with their wands already glowing, only to lower them as they found Seamus, Dean and Padma standing over a short, grubby-looking man in Death Eater robes. Padma was bleeding from a scalp wound, but looked oddly pleased as she flicked her wand and watched as the Death Eater was tied to a tree. "How's Parvati?" she asked immediately. Harry waved over to her right and watched as she sprinted over to her sister and dove to her knees next to her.
Harry looked at the two boys, questioning them without a word. "The other one's dead, Harry," Seamus reported quietly, "he tried to go head to head with Kali there," his voice a mixture of pride and anguish. Harry nodded. "We caught up to both of them around Bristol, they didn't try to hide their destination; the trace was easy enough to follow."
Harry nodded again and stalked over to their captive. The Death Eater looked at him, and his eyes opened wide, and he gulped heavily, though if it was because of who was glaring at him from only a half meter away, or the fact that two of them had eyes that were glowing in the dimness under the trees, quite independent from the various wandlights, was not clear. Most likely it was a combination of the two. "What were you doing here?" Harry asked flatly, "I don't have Veritaserum with me, and you do not want me to take the information from your mind."
"We can't be interrogated, Potter," the unnamed Death Eater shot back weakly, "The Dark Lord..."
"You had better hope not, mate," Harry replied softly, "If that is really the case, I think I will step back a touch. Could you explain to him, Love," Harry asked without looking back at her, "what happens to those Tommy doesn't want to talk?"
"First," Hermione said silkily, "they experience excruciating pain as the charm destroys their minds. Their Mark then erupts in flames, spreading rapidly along their bodies and engulfing them in seconds. They are ash in instants." The Death Eater's eyes widened, obviously he had not known. "But," Hermione gave him a bleak smile, "since you are only a minion and a not very important one at that, I seriously doubt he bothered."
"Still doesn't give me a reason."
"If you turn evidence on other Death Eaters, your sentence can be communed, to something much lighter, perhaps only a year in the Ministry cells," Tonks put in, "Instead of Azkaban or the Headsman...that is really your only choice, talk and hope you don't die, or know that you'll either be dead or insane..."
Harry glanced over at Tonks and shared a quick glance with Hermione, Azkaban doesn't have the Dementors... she gave a mental shrug as the Death Eater slumped.
"We were supposed to hit a house belonging to some Dutta bloke, it was my and Stimpson's initiation," he replied after a second's reflection.
"Thank you," Harry said softly and a red bolt snapped across from his wand, stunning the Death Eater.
"I have them ready to transport, Harry," Poppy called from out of the darkness, he nodded and watched as Hermione immediately went over and levitated a softly cursing Ron over to slowly float down next to Padma. Poppy immediately conjured cords tying Luna to Ron, Parvati to Padma and Lavender to Neville. All of the conscious wizards and witches crowded in as Harry held up a small gold ball.
PORTUS, the group vanished in a whirl of color and a rush of wind.
***************************Ireland******************************
May 2, 1998.
1:55 am
Remus looked up from the paperback copy of The Hobbit he was reading by the light of a single candle when the door to the bedroom, into which the errant pair had vanished several hours ago, opened with a soft squeak. He touched the book with his wand and it vanished. "You need to get back, Ginny," Draco's voice said urgently from the end of the hall as he walked out into the hall, still looking back into the bedroom. Ginny followed him out, her hair in disarray and an oddly happy smile on her face. Lupin fought the urge to roll his eyes as she reached up to put her arms around Draco's neck.
"Do I have to..." Ginny broke off with a squeak as her eyes found Lupin looking at them over his clasped hands. "Professor..."
"Mr...Black is correct, Miss Weasley," Remus said coldly as he stood and moved slowly down the hall, stopping a meter from them. "You do need to get back, please come with me," he said softly but firmly. Remus grabbed her elbow lightly, but with the promise that he could turn his grip to one of steel in a wink, and started to pull her along with him. "I will return first thing in the morning, Mr. Black, please have your effects packed, you will be moving to a new safe house. I hope that you both enjoyed yourselves--it will be the last for the foreseeable future." Ginny looked back at Draco with tears in her eyes, he shook his head and gave her a small smirk as Lupin turned away for an instant and touched his wand to a teakettle causing it to turn blue and shake before settling back down. "For the record, Mr. Black," Lupin said quietly as he looked back and regripped Ginny's elbow, "If Potty doesn't win, your chances of outliving him are bleak, both you and hers, I hope that you know that, good day, Mr. Black." Lupin touched the kettle and vanished in a fall of color, leaving Draco standing alone.
"I know, you fucking half-breed," Draco snarled and spun on his heel, pacing back to the bedroom and slamming it behind him.
*******************************Hogwarts*****************************
4:15 am
Harry stood with his head against the cool, dark marble of the shower and stared unseeing at the grain. Drops of water sleeted from his hair causing a small waterfall in front of his eyes, but he did not see, only Luna's wide eyes as she looked up at him in terror as she waited for Poppy to arrive to help Ron. Harry took a step back, until his back hit the back wall and slid to the floor of the shower on his bum. He closed his eyes, watching as slightly altered events from the previous week played out...Him being too late, of Hermione not playing attention and not realizing that it really wasn't him and finding her battered corpse, sprawled half-naked on the tattered carpet of the Library. Of Ginny lying in the center of the pitch looking sightlessly up at the sky, of Ron and Parvati dead because Poppy just happened to not be available to patch them up...
Harry... Hermione called quietly in his thoughts.
Harry just sent a wordless reply; he felt her sigh and the glass door slid open a moment later. She stood and looked at him for a long minute, deciding, then without a pause, she stripped quickly and knelt between him and the far wall.
Hermione pulled his head up from his knees and forced him to look her in the eyes, kissing him gently and brushing wet hair out of his eyes. She pulled his head down against her breast and kissed the top of his hair, leaving her lips there, as she breathed slowly in and out. She settled back, not even flinching as his arms wrapped around her a touch too tight for comfort and squashed her against him, nor could she reliably tell which one of them was trembling slightly...probably both.
There you go...they got away lightly...next chapter, a trip to London among other things.