They met in the tunnels under Gringotts.
It had been a while since Hermione had been back in England, let alone Diagon Alley. Harry had sent her and Luna on a mission to the bank-petty robberies used to be beneath the Boy Who Lived, but funding an underground resistance took more than just strong words and, as she liked to put it, birthright. Luna, however, had been injured in their old Apparation spot(Death Eaters were tipped off), and Hermione sent her back. Hopefully the younger girl would sent some sort of reinforcements. This was Gringotts, and breaking in wouldn't be as easy as before.
Getting in was easy, barely any goblins worked in plain sight anymore. Voldemort's rule had killed many old, well respected goblin families, and more and more had begun to revolt. So, as he did with people who rebelled, the Dark Lord exterminated them. And witches and wizards were much easier to fool than goblins, especially now that Hermione looked nothing like she used to. Over a year of hard traveling and living in the Resistance had changed her almost as much as Luna's glamor charms. A fake key got her into the stone passageways, and a quick Stunner to the wizard that escorted her allowed her free rein on the carts. By the time she had gotten down to the targeted vault, the spells had worn off some, and Hermione didn't redo them. It wouldn't matter, if she was caught she's just be stuck under the bank, and there was little chance they would recognize her.
The Selwyn's vault wasn't too high profile. Hermione lowered her wand an inch, almost disappointed. She expected something a little more extravagant, if not another dragon. Perhaps the Selwyn family had fallen out with Voldemort or something. It was a lock and key vault, and Hermione pulled out one of George's new inventions-a clay like substance that molded itself to whatever it was pressed against, so Hermione could use it as a master key. What made it remarkable, however, was the fact that the clay undid whatever magical properties were embedded what it molded. Once used, the Gringotts keyhole would be simply a keyhole. No goblin magic involved.
The inside of the Selywn vault made up for it's rather unimpressive exterior. There was gold everywhere, Galleons, Sickles, Knuts, and all sorts of jewels and ornate heirlooms. Hermione did a few charms to see the protective spells, and as before, in the Lestrange vault, found Gemino and Flagarant curses on the items. What was new was what looked like a version of a Nox charm-if Hermione picked anything up, she'd be plunged into darkness. Okay, that maybe was a little difficult to undo, but she got rid of the other two charms with a simple wave of her wand.
"Nox..." Hermione muttered, trying to remember the properties of the first year spell. It had been a while, even of a mind like hers. What if she simply cast an all inclusive Lumos on the item she wanted to pick up? Would that cancel it out, or just make that one item shine? It may even do nothing at all to the Nox, if it was stronger than her charm.
She was interrupted in her musings by the unmistakable sounds of human voices wafting the the long stone corridors.
Crap. Hermione glanced at the open vault doors. She could lock herself in, but that was foolish enough to kill her. No, the best way, if the voices were even coming her way, would be to fight them off. She felt a small smile come on as she gripped her wand. Maybe she was a little more feral than she used to be, but Hermione was still Hermione- she took a lot of pride in her spell work. She flattened herself against the vault door, careful not to touch any of the treasure, and listened.
The voices were definitely coming her way. It sounded like two, maybe three people, and at least one male. Hermione swallowed. She could take three, easy.
They were getting closer, and she tensed, waiting for the attack. Something was...off about their speech, but Hermione couldn't put her finger on it. She distinctly heard a sharp female voice as well, which only left the mystery third person who may or may not exist. Hermione thought there were three sets of steps, but only two were speaking. She pushed herself flatter against the door. Adrenaline built up with tension as she waited for the perfect time to pounce, feeling a little inkling of fear slip through her. No matter how many fight she'd in, she couldn't get rid of that tiny bit of fear, but quite been honestly, she liked it. It kept her alert, kept her alive. It was practical.
Here.
Hermione pushed herself off the wall, startling the three-three! she crowed- walking near her. The girl, who had long dark hair reacted first, drawing her wand and stepping in front of the two boys. Wasting no time, she sent out a silent Body-Bind Hex, dodging a Stunner from the girl and a Disarming Charm from one of the two boys. A quick Shield Charm stopped the girl's violet hex, but the force of it almost shattered the shield.
That was her first indication that something was wrong. One, who uses a Bat-Bogey Hex in combat? And another, it was quite a strong Bat-Bogey. Hermione shook it off, Stunning her in retaliation. This one hit, and the girl fell to the ground with a thump, displacing what must have been a sleek black wig to reveal bright red hair.
Red hair?
As she gaped, one of the other boys had come up behind her. Hermione turned, she was still faster, and jabbed her wand in his jugular. "Stupefy!" was on her lips, but the dirt streaked face of Neville Longbottom froze the words. He glared at her when she didn't attack, but his expression of loathing slowly grew into confusion, and then awe.
"Hermione?"
Her jaw dropped. Neville? Here? She removed her wand from his throat, but jabbed it straight back again.
"In fourth year, what did Ron show Neville Longbottom as a souvenir from the England Quidditch World Cup?"
"What? Hermione-"
"Answer me!"
"Uh, it was a statue thing, like a figurine, yeah? Of Krum?"
She breathed out slowly, taking her wand down. "Had to check."
Neville stared at her. "It's brilliant to see you, Hermione, but what are you doing here? And what-what happened?"
What happened? Hermione supposed he meant the new look. A year of fighting and training left Hermione in better shape then she'd ever been, and constant skirmishes convinced her to cut her hair and pile it in an untidy heap on top of her head, as well as to forego loose clothing. One didn't think it made a difference, but combined with what was left of Luna's charms, Hermione figured she looked like a homeless stripper. "All this? Mostly Luna, and it's easier to travel in these clothes. Fight, too." she crouched down next to the girl who must be Ginny and whispered a spell. Her eyes opened immediately, but closed again after a few seconds. She began to lightly snore.
"Gosh." Hermione said, frowning. 'She must be dead tired."
"We've been going a little fast this week. Haven't eaten much. Did you say Luna?" Neville said. Hermione smiled at him, lifting Ginny on to her feet. Neville took her weight, lifting her with surprising ease. She took the time to look him up and down, see what exactly happened to Neville. Hermione wasn't the only one who had gone through drastic changes. Neville had lost weight(or was he the same from the Battle of Hogwarts?) and gained muscle, and was encased in a leather jacket similar to her own. Stubble covered his cheeks, and he carried himself with a little more confidence than before. All good changes for Neville, he had gotten strong, but Hermione could see the dark shadows under his eyes, and spotted the wayward gray strands of hair by his temples. They matched Harry's.
"She's with us, at the Resistance."
"So it does exist." it was said with a sort of finality, with renewed hope that Hermione rarely thought of the headquarters with.
"We'll talk later." Hermione said. Wouldn't Harry be pleased! "We should get out of here-"
She turned as she spoke, locking eyes accidentally with the third member of the party. It took a little for her to completely register the gray eyes that regarded her warily.
And then they were dueling. Hermione wasn't even aware how fast her wand came out of her holster, wasn't even thinking of how fast her opponent had to be to counter her first curse. Her mind was in haywire, in that state of mind she got in when she truly feared for her life.
Neville was shouting, and a little bit of her remembered that they were in a place where it was crucial not to get overheard-that made her cast a strong Shield Charm around herself and look at him. Hermione did not lower her wand.
"What are you doing?"
"What am I-is he with you? Him? He's a Death Eater, excuse me for defending myself!" she answered a little shrilly.
"Not...quite." Draco Malfoy said. "Don't you remember?"
"Remember what?"
"For god's sake, stop shrieking, Granger. You're going to be heard, and then you'll get us all caught."
"I'll-I'll get you captured?" Hermione spluttered. He did have a point, rudeness aside-they had to get out of there. "Fine. I'm getting what I came for and then you can tell me why exactly you're here and why he's with you."
Neville nodded, bemused. He reached a hand out to the Selwyn vault, but Hermione grabbed his arm.
"Wait!"
She closed her eyes and returned to the Nox problem. Yes, she'd have to try the inclusive Lumos. Eyes still closed and concentrating fiercely, Hermione waved her wand once in the all too familiar motion and cast the most powerful lumos charm she had ever done. The resulting blast was huge, though calling it a blast was a little incorrect. Light poured from every object in the vault, streaming out and stinging the company's eyes. Neville gasped aloud, eyes watering, and turned his back on the light, trying not to drop Ginny. Draco simply covered his eyes with an arm and ducked.
When the light faded, Hermione opened her eyes, smiled slightly, and conjured a bag to stuff gold in. "Here, help me- Undetectable Extension Charm, you should be able to fit a lot of this stuff. Try not to touch anything dark." she said to Neville, who obliged, handing Ginny off to Malfoy. The exchange made Hermione purse her lips, but time was of the essence, and prejudices had to be put aside for the moment.
Five or so minutes later, Hermione decided they had enough, and directed them to an open area near the cart track.
"And how exactly are we getting back?" Malfoy sneered.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Believe it or not, I've got quite a few tricks up my sleeve." she reached into her now battered beaded bag, which had a place of honor strapped to her thigh, and pulled out one of George's creations, a loud purple and red cube, about six inches across.
"We call this the AAP." Hermione explained. "Anti-Anti-Apparation. Weird name, I know, but it does what it says. It removes all the anti-apparation spells with a six foot radius. Stand close to it, and all of you, grab hold of me."
"Why can't we Apparate on our own?"
"Cause I'm taking you to base. You won't be able to, not with the protective enchantments we've set up."
"They're that extensive?"
"That and more. We've had the full order put up a shield, and a group of us are strengthening it everyday. There are ways to get in, but you have to know where to go." Hermione said. "Go on, link hands with me."
Hermione linked an arm around Neville's to try and keep Ginny from falling, and had Malfoy put a hand on her shoulder. One...two...three..she silently counted to herself. As she reached the last digit, Hermione turned sharply, almost shaking Malfoy off, and felt for her old Apparation spot. She used a different one than she had that morning, for safety purposes, and the fact that Death Eaters already knew about the old one.
They landed in a sunlight clearing in a forest near by. It was about a mile and a half to the entrance, but when she told the others so, Hermione realized exactly how fatigued they were.
"We should stop." she said. "Rest up for an hour or two. Harry can wait."
Neville shook his head at first. "We should keep moving."
"We've been moving for over a week." Malfoy said. "You haven't gotten any sleep at all, let alone the Ginger and me."
Hermione nodded. "Put Ginny down, go on, just for an hour." She realized she would have to make the first move, and settled down, back to a tree. "I've got food."
'Food' was the key word. Neville sat, along with Malfoy, and Ginny was placed against Hermione's tree. Hermione herself reached into her beaded bag and pulled out small, muggle Ziplock bags holding cheese and bread.
"A little medieval, but it'll do for the four of us. Should we wake Ginny?"
Neville prodded her with his wand. "Dunno if she'll get up. She was always a deep sleeper, we haven't been able to shake that, no matter how many raids-"
Hermione swatted his hand away, smiling a little, before sobering. "We all thought you were dead, all of you. How-what were you doing, this year?"
Neville winced a little, stretching. "Hermione, it's been a tough week-"
"It's imperative that I know before bringing you to base." she said firmly. Think of all the dangers they may bring base. Not to mention, she had never really checked whether Ginny and Malfoy were themselves...Hermione's hand twitched in the direction of her wand. Neville, however, had grown observant, and caught the move.
"Hermione." he said sharply. "Please."
"I'm not letting anything happen to our base, okay? We have been strengthening it everyday and it is the only safe place left!"
"I understand but-"
"No, you really don't." Hermione hissed, taking deep breaths and trying to calm down. "I'm not letting anything happen to the people in there. And what-what the hell is Malfoy doing here?"
Neville was glaring at this point too-that was new. Hermione was surprised he could even stand up to her without quavering, but everyone had changed. Apparently he didn't just lose weight.
"How much do you remember of the Battle of Hogwarts?" he asked slowly.
She shrugged. "Not much. Harry came back from being Crucio'd in the forest and Vol-he broke our protective charms and Harry opened the portal in the Room to get us all out."
"Do you remember how Harry got the Elder Wand?"
Hermione frowned. Somehow, knowledge of the horcruxes and the Deathly Hallows became common knowledge after the fight. "No." she said tersely. She'd rather keep those things between herself, Harry, and Ron.
"You see, it was Draco that figured it out. He'd been doing some reading on why You-Know-Who was looking for wands and he figured it out. He was the one who got Harry out of the forest, he got him the wand."
"That doesn't make any sense." Hermione protested. "Harry didn't say a word."
"Well, everyone thought Draco was dead, and apparently he asked him not to tell."
"And you believed a cover story like that?" she cried, incredulous. "You had no proof!"
"He proved his worth." Neville said simply. "You really think we'd be alive if he betrayed us? Heck, we'd be dead if it weren't for him."
It was such a naive though, such an awful, naive risk. Hermione was fuming. Neville seemed to sense that, because he backed off and changed the subject.
"We had no idea the Resistance was even a thing." he said. "Of course we heard stories, but after our last three leads were dead ends and traps, we stopped looking. I mean, I guessed that Harry was still alive, but I figured you guys were doing what you did seventh year-hiding out in a tent in the country."
Hermione shrugged. "We did for a while, but shutting down Hogwarts was the last straw for Harry. We were still in contact with the remaining Order members, and they couldn't exactly shut down his idea. He is technically the Savior, you know. So we set up a stronghold and we got the word out. You-Know-Who started spreading that whole fake Resistance story to you know, help with morale. I guess it worked in your case."
"That's what Ginny thought!" he exclaimed. "She swore that Harry wouldn't just hide this time. And she predicted the whole Taboo thing again."
The Taboo had returned, only instead of 'Voldemort' being the only word jinxed, his full name, 'Tom Riddle' had also been covered. Hermione hated that they were cornered into using the old names, the ones spoken with fear, but it was necessary.
"Come on." Hermione said. "You may as well tell me what you lot have been up to. breaking into Gringotts, isn't that a little ambitious?"
"Says the person who's done it twice." Neville retorted. A full grin sprouted on Hermione's face, and she laughed, thankful for her baggie of food and her company-people she hadn't thought of in years.
And Malfoy, she supposed.
"The Selwyn vault, my lord."
The cloaked man was hunched over, not daring to meet his master's eyes. He expected punishment, for being the bearer of bad news, and Lord Voldemort was not one to deny. A quick flick of his wand, and the man was screaming, tearing his hair out, tears spewing down his face. Just one Crucio, that was enough. Lord Voldemort stood from his throne, hand crafted from the three hourglasses that had once stood above the students of Hogwarts. The Slytherin one, as tribute to his ancestor, remained high above Voldemort's stronghold-Hogwarts. He swept down the halls of his home, Nagini slithering at his heels. The problem, he mused, with being a genius was that he had to perform such menial torture on his lowest followers. Honestly, it still ended up hurting the man, even if Voldemort didn't have his vengeance in it at all. He walked the familiar path to the dungeons, where the damp drove his prisoners of war mad.
He had long since grown tired of purebloods complaining about their vaults being robbed from. He suspected this pesky Resistance, no doubt headed by that boy. Still, it was their job to keep their money safe. Voldemort lifted his chin as he passed the cells of prisoners either captured or ones who had displeased himself. But, ah, there was a new arrival, one he had seen and tortured before. Oh, fun.
He looked down at the shivering girl with the vacant eyes. Her yellow hair created a halo in the damp and the dark, giving her a semi-angelic presence. Lord Voldemort raised his wand.
"Hello." he said.
AN: GUESS WHO'S BACK
Yeah, hey guys! It's been a while, and I've decided to start fresh, bam, action packed joy for you. I should be updating frequently until school has the nerve to start again, but don't worry! Back for good this time, my loves.
Also, desperately looking for a beta for this story. Help me out?