I don't own anything Harry Potter related. All rights belong to J.K. Rowling. As always, I'm just someone who lays awake at night thinking up alternate plot lines.
They were losing with death eaters closing in from every direction. Combat med-witches were blurs of disapparation; popping in and out of existence taking wounded Order members to secure medical locations. The Order of the Phoenix had been making steady gains in the war, but today the tides were turning. The Order was being overrun, and most of their best fighters were injured. Hermione was dueling with one arm, and the inability to maintain her balance meant that she was now on the defensive instead of pushing the line forward. The odds of surviving today were slim, and Hermione knew that if they didn't find a way to retreat the Order would be annihilated.
Hermione saw a death eater break away and start running in the opposite directions of the fighting. If she could catch them, then they might be able to find out how Voldemorts's followers were able to get the drop on the Order. Hermione focused her mind and conjured a large circular saw blade and flung it at her opponent. The blade cut her opponent straight down the middle. The attack was crass but effective. Most death eaters didn't know how to respond when muggle weapons were used, or they underestimated the force they would need to circumvent an industrial steel blade. The death eaters were so stuck in their ways that most of their shields only protected them from magic and not physical projectiles. It was this folly that allowed Muggle-born wizards and witches an advantage on the battlefield.
Hermione hurtled over the felled wizard and lengthened her stride to follow the fleeing death eater, Hermione pushed her legs faster but she had been fighting for hours, and this death eater seemed to be fresh with barely a mark on his dark robes. The bastard barely seemed to exert any force as he careened off into the nearby wilderness. Hermione would never catch him. Her legs were burning and a painful stitch in her side pulsed with every breath. Hermione slowed but concentrated. The three D's came to her mind: destination, determination, and deliberation. Hermione ripped open the fabrics of time and space in a desperate attempted to catch her fleeing assailant. Hermione appeared behind him and fisted the cloth at his back, but only felt a moment of triumph as she felt herself once again being pulled into the void between time and space. She had fallen for the death eaters trap.
Hermione recovered from the shock of disapparation, but not quickly enough to avoid being pulled to the location of the death eaters choosing. Hermione fell to the ground and instantly felt chilled. Hermione righted herself but could not get ahold of her bearings. The area was pitch black, and the air smelled dank and stale. Hermione spun in a circle but could not gauge the location of the death eater she knew lurked in the darkness. The place hummed with a strange silence and Hermione could hear her blood rushing, and the harsh exhales of her breath.
Hermione pivoted slowly. I will not die here, she thought. Hermione heard the rustling of robes and spun around again. Suddenly her wand flew out of her hand, and she was left defenseless.
"I did not bring you here to harm you," a guttered voice said from somewhere to her right. The place seemed to swallow the sound of the words.
Hermione slowly turned to face the direction the voice had come from. "Then why did you bring me here?"
"I have information that I think you will find useful." The voice seemed to be circling her.
"How can I trust you?" Hermione questioned sharply.
The sound of a wand being rolled on a hard surface met her ears, and she felt something bump into her shoe. Hermione bent down and picked up her wand. The familiar weight and texture calmed her nerves slightly. He was giving back her wand. Either he was honest or very foolish, and Hermione couldn't tell which. Hermione cast a quick lumos, but the death eater quickly stepped into the shadows. They seemed to be in a cavern and Hermione could faintly make out a tunnel leading off to her right. Should she make a break for it or listen to what he had to say? Considering she didn't know where the tunnel led to Hermione decided to listen.
"You have my attention," Hermione stated to the hooded figure.
"I am willing to pass on information to the Order of the Phoenix or participate in any capacity the Order sees fit."
"What is it you want in return?" Death eaters don't suddenly switch sides and not want anything in return, but Hermione didn't think this was a trap because death eaters didn't stand around and chat. While death eaters usually played with their food, Hermione was still basically intact, so this death eater was at least semi-truthful in his intentions. However, Hermione knew he didn't do this out of the goodness of his black heart.
"I want the war to end." He stated bluntly. "I don't have time to convince you of my intent. The prisoners taken today will be housed at the Nott estate-"
Hermione scoffed, "The Nott estate is nothing but a pile of rubble. Your forces abandoned it some six years ago." After the battle of Hogwarts, the Order had taken to systematically demolishing any houses that might be used by the Dark. The ruins of Malfoy Manor would never be inhabited again. The residual magic from the destruction caused by the Order meant the land would forever be a wasteland. Magical destruction of that magnitude left an imprint that might never fade. Creatures whether magical or not would not come within five miles of the place.
"Listen, you insolent bred," he spat "you were not so thorough when you attacked the Nott estate. The Nott estate has dungeons far vaster than the former manor that stood above it."
Hermione's lip curled. Bred. Death Eaters were a stain on the earth, and he dared call her a bred. The Order had taken after Voldemort and tabooed the word mud blood to help them locate their camps. The taboo had helped the Order in the early years make advancements. The death eaters were not a group who practiced self-restraint. Now though, the called people they deemed of lesser blood status bred. The reference meant they were more like animals than humans.
Hermione snarled, "flipendo corpus!" The death eater slammed into the wall behind him. Hermione kept her wand raised and advanced. "I would watch your tongue scum, least I cut it out."
"Taking after Bellatrix, I see" he rasped.
"She taught me some useful interrogation techniques. Ones that would curl even your toes death eater" Hermione hissed. Before Hermione killed Bellatrix Lestrange, Bella had made it her personal mission to capture Hermione. Bella never got over Hermione escaping Malfoy Manor and captured Hermione again during a raid on Knockturn Alley. The four days Hermione had endured in her care had taught Hermione a valuable lesson about what really happened in the war. Hermione strangled Bella to death with her bare hands just like a muggle criminal. Hermione never regretted snuffing the life out of Bellatrix Lestrange. Only Harry and Ron knew how Hermione escaped her capture. Hermione knew others suspected, but they never asked.
The death eater started to struggle for breath, and Hermione loosened her hold. He slid down the wall into a crumpled heap.
"The Nott estate-" he started but coughed and spat blood. "The Nott estate is still being used. There are powerful enchantments used to conceal the entrance, but they are not unbreakable." He paused and clutched his side.
"Go on" Hermione probably broke a couple of his ribs in her anger.
"The prisoners will be taken there and housed for execution. The place will probably have hundreds of bodies both dead and alive. I do not know how long they will be kept, but I doubt after a couple of days anyone will be worth saving."
He was probably right. The Order knew that anyone taken alive was sent to torture houses before they were killed. Sometimes dozens of bodies would appear randomly after a skirmish to remind the Order that at the end of the day they still lost. Any death no matter the advancement on the battlefield meant defeat. Even if someone in a pile was still breathing, they either never regain consciousness or were a danger to themselves and others. This meant that if his intel was correct that they would have to orchestrate a rescue immediately.
Hermione pointed her wand at the death eater, "Vulnere Sana." Hermione heard his ribs snap back together. Not the best healing spell but Hermione's knowledge of medicine was in combat lifesaving and not bedside manners.
"So the Nott estate is in the Peak District which isn't easy to travel through."
"The Nott estate is in Dark Peak, but the moors will offer both cover and concealment."
"Yes, but it offers your side cover and concealment as well" Hermione pointed out.
The death eater raised slowly to his feet using the wall as support. "The guards are mostly dementors with only a few wizards for overwatch. Attacking during the day will offer you the best advantage. I would attack shortly after dawn. The death eaters who come into torture prisoners usually arrive in the late afternoon and leave before dawn. The dementors will also be at their weakest."
Hermione had to admit his plan had promise. This wouldn't turn the tide of the war, but it would boost morale for the Order. The Order would need it after the crippling defeat of today's battle.
"Again what do you get out of helping me?"
"For fuck's sake Granger! I want bloody nothing in return. Did it ever cross your mind that some of us didn't choose to follow a psychotic monster?"
Hermione knew that voice. The way he sneered her last name was all too familiar.
"Bloody hell, Malfoy?" Hermione peered into the darkness.
Malfoy slowly lowered his hood, "in the flesh."
I have a couple chapters done for this fic that I will hopefully be posting soon. I was going to wait to post until I was completely finished but I just couldn't wait. For those of you looking for a caring and compassionate Hermione that is all rainbows and butterflies, I am not the writer for you. If you love a Hermione with an attitude and an all around bad ass then please read on! This is a dramione but expect some other character pairings. XOXOX Lall
My crappy made up spells. I use the google translator for Latin.
flipendo corpus- The knock back jinx with an emphasis on it being a body.
Vulnere Sana- wound healthy