-1A/N I'm not sure where this story is going, it's sort of writing itself. I'm hoping it will be a bit more drama-based than what I've written before, trying to experiment and all that. I'm not sure how compliant this story will be, depends on which characters I feel like saving at the time. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Will be MM/HG, I promise!
They were in a street which would have been quiet save for the sudden mass gathering of Death Eaters hurling very dangerous, very loud curses at them. The Muggles had vacated the area a while ago since even they had noticed that the location did seem to have a penchant for trouble. This was about the only positive thing that could be said, however, because now the street was teeming with Death Eaters all hell bent on destroying the Order members whom had been caught completely off guard.
The street was lit up in a beautiful and terrible display of red and green light. The news tomorrow would tell of unexpected fireworks in south London. People fell and no one had time to stop and check if they were alive or dead, busy as they were fending for their own lives. Though the Death Eaters outnumbered the Order three to one, they were struggling to maintain the upper hand. This was partially, and perhaps mainly, due to one of the Order members present being a seriously annoyed Minerva McGonagall. She seemed in a league of her own, battling every Death Eater in the vicinity while still leaving enough leeway for other Order members to do their own spot of damage. It was really quite something to see, the tall, slim woman amidst a menagerie of her incredible spells mixed with the less remarkable castings of the Death Eaters. They swirled around her like a flock of birds, swayed to her will and diving around her where she chose. Even the Death Eater's spells were enthralled to her, reversing on themselves and charging down their casters like angry horses.
One spell she wasn't prepared for, however, was fired at her back. As you well know this is a very unsportsmanlike thing to do and Minerva was not prepared, nor had she even noticed, the jet of green light which was headed straight for her. Her fiery temper kept her focus on those in front of her.
Hermione Granger, on the other hand, did notice. And for a horrible second she had a vision of a world without the woman who had become her hero. Without thinking, she leapt past the Death Eater she had been fighting, grabbed Minerva by the arm and Apparated to the first place that came to mind.
They arrived in a clearing in the middle of a forest which Minerva didn't recognise. Hermione was still holding tightly onto her arm and didn't seem like she would be letting go any time soon. Her breath was coming in quick gasps and her eyes darted around the clearing in a panic. Minerva had other ideas. She wrenched her arm out of Hermione's grip and turned her cold, furious gaze onto the girl.
"What on earth do you think you're doing?" she hissed at her, "Our friends could be dying and now we can do nothing about it!"
"Saving your life!" Hermione replied waspishly, her temper rising. "In case you didn't notice; a killing curse was directed straight at your back! If I hadn't done something you would be the dead one."
Somewhere during her outburst, the truth of her words hit Hermione and her voice dropped in volume. Her anger lasted for a mere second, quickly overtaken by fear and worry for the woman she had just saved. The gravity of the situation once again filled her body, making her feel heavy and lifeless. Suddenly, she realised that she was sat on the floor though she had no recollection of how she got there. The weight of losing her beloved tutor too substantial for her to even stand up. Minerva crouched beside her, her anger rapidly diminishing as she realised that Hermione had done the what she had thought was the right thing and she had lashed out at her for no reason. Before she could apologise, however, Hermione spoke again.
"I just… couldn't bear the thought of losing you."
"Do you know where we are?" Minerva asked after a pause, deciding it best to change the subject. Hermione nodded, getting up, she walked out of the clearing and into the woods.
"I came camping here when I was a little girl, with my parents. It was the first place I thought of that had no connection to me that people would know about. It was the safest place I could think of. There are houses nearby, one's been empty for years. We can stay there for a little while, before we go back."
Minerva followed Hermione through the trees in silence. She trusted her. But after a few minutes in which they seemed to be getting nowhere, she had to speak up.
"Hermione, are you sure this is the right way? I mean, are you positive you remember correctly?"
"Minerva, I'm the girl who knew every textbook in Hogwarts library by heart and you're asking if I remember?"
Minerva smiled in spite of herself and followed the girl. Almost immediately, the trees began to thin and soon after they had left them completely. Minerva shook her head, she should have known Hermione would remember precisely. She probably knew how many steps it took to get from one side of the wood to the other.
Hermione strode forward, coming to a halt next to an obviously empty building on the end of a terraced street.
"Well, this is it," Hermione said, smiling apologetically at Minerva. The building looked derelict and dangerous, as though it was on the verge of collapse. Only one of the windows remained and the door looked incredibly fragile. Minerva followed her inside, the door broke away from it's hinges as soon as Hermione touched it so they left it leaning against the wall for the time being. Cold wind blew in through the new hole in the building. Neither woman did anything about it, they both lacked the energy to even care.
They walked around the house in silence, looking into every room to see what they could find. Two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, living room and study. There was no electricity but a large fireplace in the living room which they immediately made use of. The water had been switched off but Hermione quickly fixed that, having seen her father do it after every holiday. Almost as soon as the fire was lit, a large, bright figure came bounding through the doorway. It was a Patronus.
"Minerva, Hermione, stay where you are - we are being watched but you are safe for the moment. We are all fine. Don't come back until we give the all clear."
The voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt boomed out of the Patronus before it faded away. Neither woman felt reassured by 'we are all fine' and so they spent the night curled up on the sofa in front of the fire together. They remained silent but it still took hours for either of them to fall asleep and both woke up at dawn. The fire had gone out and the doorway was still empty so a cold breeze had wormed it's way in around them.
Hermione shivered and Minerva automatically put an arm around her shoulder. They sat in companionable silence, neither woman wanting to think about their friends and what dangers they could be in though neither able to stop flashes of horrible images in their heads. Finally, when she could stand it no longer, Hermione moved. She stood up and, still silent, traipsed into the bathroom to splash some water on her face. She returned a few minutes later to find that Minerva had relit the fire. Sitting down, she once again curled herself into Minerva's side. When daylight had fully arrived, they got up and set about fixing up their temporary home.
They repaired the front door, aired the bedrooms and filled in the broken windows, the fire doing the rest of the work for them. Of the two bedrooms, one held a relatively good quality single bed while the other had a substandard double. Minerva took the double under the pretence of needing more space to sleep when in actual fact she just wanted Hermione to have the best of the facilities available. She didn't think Hermione believed her but she was too tired to argue. Both witches would have loved to have gone bed shopping but they did not want to draw unnecessary attention to themselves. This is also why, aside from the essential spells, neither woman wanted to use magic.
They did, however, need to go food shopping. Minerva, through her little experience in the Muggle world, was quite perplexed by the 'credit card' system, whatever that was, and so left the shopping to Hermione although she did follow her around the shop with an amused expression on her face at how natural the whole environment seemed to Hermione.
They returned home, laden with shopping (Hermione fortunately always carried spare Muggle money around) and found that the house was a lot warmer than when they had left it. It seemed almost homey; if you compared it to Grimmauld Place it was quite cosy.
Hermione made a simple meal of pasta with sauce while Minerva scourgified the surfaces and cleaned some plates and cutlery for them to use. It was strange that so much had just been left behind.
That night, the two went to bed in their respective rooms feeling full, warm and as content as it was possible to be whilst fearing for your friend's lives. Neither of the beds were very comfortable and the duvets were lumpy with disuse. Hermione tossed and turned for a good hour before giving up, she simply could notget comfortable. Throwing the cover off herself, she stood up and immediately regretted it, the floor was freezing! Hobbling out of the room, she tiptoed along the hallway to the only closed door in the house.
Holding her breath, she opened the door slowly, careful not to wake Minerva if indeed she had managed to get to sleep. Although they had been at the house for one day only, Minerva had made her mark on the room. Through the dark, Hermione could see that Minerva had artistically moved the moth eaten furniture and rugs around so that it mirrored her room at Hogwarts. The girl found this strangely comforting, as though going through that door had let her back into the castle where everyone was safe.
"Hermione?" she heard a hoarse whisper, apparently Minerva couldn't sleep either. Without replying, the girl entered the room and closed the door behind her. The click of the door in it's frame seemed a lot louder than it should have been, too loud. Hermione flinched before creeping over to the bed and standing next to it, Minerva rolled onto her side to look at her.
"I'm scared," Hermione whispered to her, her voice wavering and hinting at tears about to spill, "for Harry and Ron and Kingsley and everyone."
Minerva sat up in bed and held out her arms, inviting Hermione for a hug, which she hoped would help. Hermione clambered onto the bed and into her embrace, inhaling the comforting smell of her Professor. It reminded her even more of the safety of Hogwarts, though now she realised she felt safe anywhere, as long as Minerva was with her. After a few seconds she spoke again.
"Can I sleep in here?"
Her voice was incredibly soft when she asked, she sounded so small. Minerva knew she was embarrassed and scared and expected her to refuse. Fighting an affectionate smile, Minerva shifted so that she could pull the duvet around Hermione before settling back down herself. Hermione held onto her for a few seconds before turning away from her and closing her eyes. Minerva did the same.
"They'll be ok, you know," Minerva suddenly said, trying to convince herself as much as Hermione, "Potter and Weasley can look after themselves. Kingsley said everyone was fine. So everyone is fine."
Hermione didn't reply and although Minerva was staring at the dark ceiling, somehow she knew that the girl was smiling.
Perhaps it was the heat from the fire, or perhaps the reassuring presence of another body in close proximity, or perhaps the comforting words which Minerva had whispered into the darkness. Whatever the case, after a few minutes, both women were fast asleep.