Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it is the property of the brilliant J.K Rowling. This story is the product of her marvellous characters and world and my imagination.
Any constructive criticism or reviews are extremely welcome, I adore feedback of any kind. Enjoy the chapter.
The Light Begins To Fade
"The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof."
Richard David Bach
"Mione, where are my shoes?"
"They're under the bed in your room where you left them Gin."
"Hermione, what happened to my tie?"
"It's round your neck Ronald, are you really that oblivious … wait, don't answer that."
"Mione, can you please help me with my hair?"
"Harry, you know that nothing anyone, even me, does - muggle or magic - will ever make your bloody hair lie flat."
"Hermione, do you happen to know what I did with the vow book, I could have sworn it was on the table."
"Honestly Kingsley, you call yourself an auror. Never leave anything on the table with the twins round. Here, I kept hold of it for you."
"Hermione dear, do you know what happened to Aunt Muriel's tiara, Fleur is getting frantic?"
"It's in its case on the dresser in your room Mrs Weasley, we moved it once the twins started experimenting in the sitting room."
"Hermy darling, you don't happen to know where the Dungbombs George and I had in our room are do you?"
"Firstly Fred, my name is Hermione, or Mione if you wish, not Hermy, which you know annoys the hell out of me."
"Yes, fine Mione, now where are the Dungbombs … and the rest of our stuff for that matter?"
"You expect me to tell you that Fred, I moved it all to a secure, hidden location to prevent you ruining the wedding with inevitable pranks."
"Aww Mione, you're no fun."
"Well suck it up and deal with it Fred, I'm not in the mood right now."
Hermione splashed her face with some cold water from the Burrow's kitchen sink in an attempt to wake herself up, giving a tired smile when she saw Remus come over to her, "you seem a bit stressed Hermione, something wrong?"
The petite brunette sighed, "it seems like everyone has questions for me this morning - I'm starting to curse whoever began the tradition of big weddings. Then with all the stuff that's been going on the past few weeks; Sirius coming back, getting Harry and Moody dying, telling the Order about Horcruxes and trying to cope with … with his betrayal of the Order and Dumbledore's murder."
Neither of them needed to say who 'he' was, his name became unmentionable almost immediately after Dumbledore was killed. It seemed a little strange to Hermione that no one would say Snape's name, considering they almost all said Voldemort's. She guessed that it was because Voldemort had never professed to be on the light side, only to turn against them. Also, Voldemort hadn't killed Dumbledore.
Hermione was still unsure what to think about Snape. In front of everyone else, she acted just as they did - as if he was a traitorous scumbag - and in reality, that was what the evidence pointed to. But still, he'd saved Harry's life in first year, constantly helped the Order by passing information. If he'd wanted to kill Dumbledore then he'd had thousands of opportunities before hand when he could have done it without anyone realising he was there. But from what Harry said, Draco Malfoy should have done it and Snape had taken over when it was clear the ferret wasn't going to go through with it. There was more to the whole thing if you asked Hermione, she wanted more information and since Harry had a tendency to be a little bias and judgemental when it came to Snape and Slytherins in general, Hermione knew Snape and Dumbledore were probably the only ones to know the whole story. Since the former was on the run and the latter dead, she didn't know if she'd ever discover the true story.
She came back to reality as Remus spoke, "yes, we've all been a little busy recently, but now is a small period of time to relax, Bill is getting married and Sirius is back with us. We might as well enjoy the little light moments in life, they seem to be getting scarcer right now."
Hermione gave Remus a cheeky grin, "speaking of lighter moments in life, how are things going with you and Tonks?"
Remus blushed slightly as Hermione giggled, "we're good … very good."
Hermione pouted playfully, "is that all I'm going to get out of you Remus, maybe I should ask Tonks."
She paused for a moment, "no, probably not a good idea. I reckon I'd get more details than I ever wanted to know."
"Isn't that the truth," came a masculine voice behind her.
She swivelled round, "Sirius," smiling as she jumped into his arms for a hug.
"My cousin is a serious firecracker with no shame. She has about the same amount of tact as she has balance - which isn't an awful lot."
He gave them a grin, which quickly turned into a wince as said cousin, who had toned her hair down to a raven black with silver streaks in for the wedding, whacked him around the head.
"Sirius Black, you better shut up right now or so help me I will ensure the Black line ends with you." Hermione and Remus laughed, Tonks narrowed her eyes and Sirius' eyes widened as he backed away from his irate cousin.
Hermione sighed as Mrs Weasley's voice floated in from the kitchen, "Hermione dear, it's time to get ready for the wedding. The girls are all up in me and Arthur's room because it's the biggest, bring Tonks as well. Sirius, Remus, Harry and Ron are in Fred and George's old room if you want to go up."
Hermione turned to Tonks, "you better be coming up too, I may be more amenable to Fleur than Ginny, but I can't be up there with that lot. Mrs Weasley and Mrs Delacour will just fuss over Fleur and Ginny will be gossiping with Gabrielle, I need someone to talk to."
Tonks smiled, "don't worry Mione, I'll come up with you to save you from the boredom that is wedding details and the latest fashions, I need to get into my dress anyway."
She turned and kissed Remus, "take Sirius and go find Harry and Ron before this one," she jerked her thumb at Sirius, "manages to get himself into more trouble."
She grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her up the stairs to Mr and Mrs Weasley's room, leaving behind a smirking Remus and a scowling Sirius.
Hermione was bored, so were Tonks and Ginny for that matter. They were all in their dresses - red for Hermione, silvery lilac for Tonks and a gold bridesmaid dress for Ginny - with their hair done up and shoes on, waiting for Fleur to finish getting ready. The part-veela seemed to find fault with every bit of her outfit, rather like she had with the Yule Ball decorations in Hermione's fourth year, insisting on her tiara being adjusted, her make-up touched up. Hermione, Ginny and Tonks were bloody sick of it, but they knew Mrs Weasley wouldn't let them go down until everyone was ready.
She didn't like being bored for a lot of reasons - it made her feel useless and lazy. It also had the nasty habit of leading her to thinking of her parents. She knew that altering their memories and sending them to Australia had been the safest option for them, but that didn't make her miss them any less. The only comfort she got was that they were safe and they couldn't miss her because they didn't remember her at the moment. Of course, she missed them, but she tried not to think about that when possible, it just made her sad and she had enough on her plate with the war and trying to keep Harry alive to be worrying about the parents she had grown apart from and sent far away for their own good.
She shook herself out of those thoughts quickly, all they would lead to was sadness and this was a wedding - she needed to be happy. She threw herself into an enthusiastic conversation with Tonks about all the wedding preparations that had been going on. Tonks had missed out on a lot of them since she'd often been sent on small missions or to the shops. Hermione suspected it was a ploy to get her out of the way, Tonks was well meaning, funny, smart and an excellent auror, but put her in a crowded room with food and decorations and things went downhill from there. Hermione was just describing Mrs Weasley's almost breakdown when the flowers, which had been spelled so they couldn't change colour, had been bright pink instead of cream, when Ginny nudged her and she saw Fleur was finally ready.
Hermione couldn't deny it - Fleur was a complete vision - she knew Bill wouldn't be able to keep his eyes off her and Ron would probably be goggling too so it was lucky he didn't have a girlfriend to get jealous about it. Mrs Weasley and Madame Delacour were looking on with pride, tears sparkling in their eyes as Fleur gave a delicate twirl to show off her dress to the girls. Hermione gave the blonde a genuine compliment, having warmed to her since Dumbledore's death, and the bride-to-be responded with a dazzling smile. Hermione sighed, she doubted she'd ever look so beautiful.
Mrs Weasley chivvied all but Fleur and her two bridesmaids; Gabrielle and Ginny, out of the room and downstairs to help with the finishing touches of the wedding and to get everyone seated. They'd wanted a bigger wedding, but with the atmosphere is the wizarding world how it was at the moment they didn't want to risk information getting out, especially after what had happened when getting Harry from the Dursley's house. Therefore, only Order members, the Weasley family and Fleur's parents and sister were present. Bill and Fleur had decided that they would have a fully family wedding after the war was over. Hermione was glad in a way, it made the wedding much safer, especially since it was at the Burrow, which was under protection, and they wouldn't have to worry about disguising Harry.
"I don't know why mum's so insistent on this usher business," Fred said as he escorted Hermione to her seat, "who cares where anyone's sitting, it isn't like there's any relatives who care about that sort of stuff here - and thank Merlin for that, I don't think I could stand to see Aunt Muriel, she's been completely unbearable since she leant her tiara to Fleur and then found out she wasn't invited to the wedding, never mind the fact that practically no other family were either."
Hermione laughed, she'd heard many stories about Great Aunt Muriel - none of them good - and was very relieved when she heard the woman would not be present at the wedding. "You should let your mum have the ushers and wedding details Fred, she was so disappointed that the families couldn't come that we shouldn't upset her in things that can actually happen."
Fred shrugged, "I suppose so, but that's you Mione, always thinking about everybody else."
He gave her a smile, "I better go make sure Ronniekins is in the right seat, last I saw he was trying to get closer to the front and we can't have him drooling over the bride, especially not when the groom's our own brother." Hermione shook her head in exasperation, she hoped Ron got over his fancy for Fleur soon or he wouldn't be on very good terms with his eldest brother.
She was relaxing a little in her chair, watching as the final touches were put to the decorations and everyone made their way to their seats, when her reverie was broken by a crash and a curse. She swerved round and smiled as she saw Tonks sprawled on the floor, two chairs knocked over next to her, and Remus helping her up with an amused smirk. T
he clumsy metamorphmagus finally made it into her seat next to Hermione, "wotcher Mione," she said with a grin, "only fell over once on the way down - must be a new record for me."
Hermione laughed, "very true Tonks, but I've still decided that I'm charming you a pair of anti-trip boots for your birthday."
Tonks smiled abashedly, "Mione, I've had so many pairs of those things and they can never overcome my clumsiness."
Hermione just gave a smile, "yes, well they haven't been reinforced by both Dumbledore and myself have they?"
Tonks laughed and they settled into their seats to watch as Sirius was chastised by an irate Mrs Weasley for turning the wedding arch neon pink.
"Molly's a bit testy isn't she," Sirius said with a lazy grin, as he dropped into the chair on Hermione's other side.
She rolled her eyes and smacked him on the arm, "honestly Sirius, this is the first of her children's weddings and she wants it to be perfect. She's already had to sacrifice a lot in the name of secrecy and safety so don't you go annoying her even more."
Sirius winced and pouted playfully, but Hermione just ignored him and began talking to Tonks about the wedding.
Remus patted his best friend's shoulder, "Padfoot, I do find it hilarious how much Mione can control you - one might think you were afraid of a teenage witch."
Sirius just shuddered, "of course I'm bloody afraid of her, she's the smartest witch of her generation and incredibly powerful. Besides, you remember what happened the last time I seriously pissed her off," he said, referring to the week before, when Sirius' pranks on Hermione had caused her to hex him so badly he couldn't walk straight for six days.
Everything quietened as a wedding march began to play, the sound emitting from a charmed organ and echoing around the pure white marquee as the remaining guests slipped into their seats. Hermione grinned as Hagrid found his own special seat - five times the size of the other delicate golden chairs and probably reinforced with a number of charms to prevent it collapsing. She saw Ron sit next to Harry, who was gazing wistfully at the marquee entrance where Ginny would soon enter as bridesmaid, smiling as she thought how happy the youngest Weasley made her best friend. Everyone was soon seated, with Molly, Arthur and Mrs Delacour seated at the front, both women holding scraps of lace that would undoubtedly be needed once the tears started. It took little to set Molly off these days and Hermione could only be thankful that it would be tears of happiness today, especially since she knew how upset Molly had been the past few days about Percy's non-attendance.
The chatter ended and the only sound came from the organ, as everyone turned slightly to the entrance, where Gabrielle Delacour was walking into the marquee. She held a small silk cushion with the rings - they had forgone a pageboy due to the lack of any boy the right sort of age and so the duty had fallen to Gabrielle as the younger bridesmaid. Ginny followed Gabrielle, the golden bridesmaid dress she wore complimenting her hair beautifully, giving Hermione a grin as she passed her, followed by a wink for Harry, who blushed slightly as Ron gave a playful scowl at his little sister's interactions with his best friend.
Then Fleur came in, gliding down the aisle on the arm of her jovial father. She looked radiant, with a brilliant smile and a glow that seemed to radiate onto everyone and beautify them. Hermione couldn't help but be even more envious of Fleur than she normally was, wondering just what it was like to be so utterly beautiful. But she removed those unkind thoughts from her mind almost immediately, Fleur had tried to be nice, despite her occasional bouts of tenacity, and today was her wedding day - Hermione wouldn't begrudge her that happiness. Anyway, anyone who could make Bill, standing next to his best man Charlie, beam like that - so it was impossible to tell he'd met Fenrir Greyback - was good in Hermione's books. All the Weasleys (except perhaps Percy) deserved happiness and she knew Fleur would make Bill very happy.
Fleur reached the alter just as Tonks leaned over to whisper to Hermione about how jealous she was of Fleur - "after all, I'd never be able to walk down an aisle looking so bloody graceful, I'd fall flat on my face after two steps." Hermione had to bite her lip and cover her mouth to stop herself laughing - it wouldn't do to cause a noise when everyone was so silent. Kingsley stepped forward, as a high ranking Ministry official he had the power to perform wizarding marriage ceremonies, a great help considering that the secrecy of the whole affair meant they couldn't get in a proper registrar.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the union of this wizard to this witch …"
Hermione couldn't help but tune the words out, it seemed pretty similar to a muggle church service, apart from the whole witch and wizard bit, along with the real magic of the whole ceremony. Everyone was so happy and, as predicted, both the bride and groom's mothers had begun sobbing into their scraps of lace as elegantly as they could manage with tears streaming down their faces. Arthur and Mr Delacour, who had sat down next to his wife after giving Fleur away, looked a both women with a little trepidation and Hermione sighed, so few men knew how to deal with a crying woman, even if the tears were over happy things.
"Do you, William Arthur Weasley, take this witch to be your lawfully wedded wife."
"I do."
"And do you, Fleur Isabelle Delacour, take this wizard to be your lawfully wedded husband."
"I do."
"By the power vested in me by the Ministry of Magic, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Everyone stood, clapping, cheering, and in the case of Fred and George - catcalling - as Bill swept his new wife into a passionate kiss as the magic of the binding exploded into what looked like miniature fireworks around the couple. From her limited knowledge of wizard marriage ceremonies, the rings the couple wore would now have been magically engraved with a number of runes signifying love, fertility, protection and luck. She grinned as she clapped, she thought she might prefer wizarding ceremonies to muggle ones, the magic was awe inspiring and the runes on the rings a beautiful touch.
As Bill and Fleur made their way up the aisle, the guests began throwing rice - Hermione had explained a few muggle wedding traditions and someone, she couldn't quite remember who, had wished to eject some humour into the ceremony and they had decided to try this tradition. Next to her, Sirius chuckled as Fred, George and Ginny's uncanny aim meant that both Bill and Fleur got a handful of rice in the face (Ginny would later claim full credit for the rice that hit Fleur) and Hermione smiled as she saw how happy everyone was, a rarity these days. As everyone was caught up in the buoyant mood, Hermione felt herself swept up into several hugs from Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Harry and Ron, before Bill and Fleur reached the entrance of the magical marquee, at which point the adults pulled out their wands and began the quick work of smoothly transforming the ceremony set up to one fit for a wedding reception.
The chairs were all levitated and moved to the edges of the room, surrounding tables Charlie quickly conjured, while the middle of the marquee was transformed into a dance floor, complete with floating disco ball. The alter disappeared to be replaced by half a dozen buffet tables groaning under the weight of Mrs Weasley's delicious food and a beautiful three tier wedding cake that made Hermione's mouth water. One last flick of a wand and the organ split into a six piece orchestra, which began playing a gentle tune.
Bill pulled Fleur into the centre for their first dance as a couple and Hermione was struck by how lovely the image was - Bill with his scarred, yet handsome face and Fleur in all her ethereal glory, swaying softly to the music and giving the picture of a perfect couple in love. All the guests applauded as they finished their first dance as man and wife and soon more people had moved to the dance floor. Hermione watched as Harry spun Ginny round, Arthur held out his hand to Molly and Remus waltzed with Tonks (rather slowly and wincing as she stood on his feet).
She was just giggling behind her hand as Remus had to use his werewolf reactions to grab Tonks as she tripped when Sirius appeared next to her, "laughing at poor Moony are you Hermione?" he asked with a grin.
She shrugged, "it's funny, though I do feel sorry for Remus, Tonks isn't the most graceful dance partner."
Sirius laughed, "I think that's putting it lightly Mione, but that's beside the point, I came to ask whether you would care to take a spin round the dance floor and show these amateurs how its really done?"
A sparkle appeared in Hermione's eyes, she had learnt ballroom dancing between the ages of six and eleven and had continued to practice regularly even after she'd gone to Hogwarts. This had been made even easier after the Room of Requirement was discovered in their fifth year because she could sneak away to practice and the room would give her music and an animated mannequin for a partner to practice with. Sirius had also had dancing lessons when he was younger, mostly because his parents deemed it 'proper' for their two sons to learn as they should have attended many pureblood balls. Though Sirius had never put his lessons to much use, getting out of the balls as much as possible, he could still remember it all perfectly.
Hermione nodded, took Sirius' offered hand and he led her onto the dance floor, where she waved her wand at the orchestra and it began playing the Viennese Waltz. As the music started, Sirius placed one hand round her waist and grasped her hand with the other, while she placed her free hand on his shoulder. Then they began to rotate, moving round the dance floor at a fairly fast pace, their moves flawless and Hermione's dress swirling round her ankles. They barely noticed as the floor cleared, everyone too entranced by the brilliant moves displayed by the playboy marauder and the Gryffindor Princess - very few people knew Hermione could dance like that. When the dance was finished, the pair found themselves being applauded and Hermione blushed pink as she realised how much attention had been on her.
She broke apart from Sirius and kissed him on the cheek to thank him for the dance, before attempting to find an appropriately dark corner to hide in. However, she was soon dragged away by Fred to dance to a rather lively tune, before finding herself twirled to each of the Weasley brothers in turn. George complimented her dancing, Ron commented on how she "finally looked like a bloody girl" and Charlie spent a few minutes telling her of his recent adventures with the dragons in Romania. Finally, she found herself spun into Bill's arms as Fleur danced with Charlie.
She smiled up at him as they swayed in time to the music, "so … how does it feel to be a married man Bill?" she asked.
He grinned at her, "it feels fantastic Mione, Fleur is just so amazing, so perfect for me. I guess I know how Remus feels about Tonks - to have someone who loves you so much despite the scars."
Hermione gave him a gentle smile, "everyone loves you Bill, they love Remus too, no one cares about any werewolf gene because it doesn't change who you are."
Bill gave her an affectionate smile, "thanks Hermione, that means a lot, but anyway, I've been wondering - you and Sirius, you seem awfully close, especially after the dance we just witnessed."
Hermione laughed, "don't even go there Bill, Sirius is one of my best friends, but so are Harry, Ron, Remus and Kingsley - he might be a little more flirtatious but I have no romantic feelings for him. Even if I did, I doubt I'd ever reveal them for fear of giving your poor mother a heart attack," she said with a little smile.
He nodded - Molly was fond of Sirius, but she didn't approve of a lot of the elements of his lifestyle and would probably hex him if he showed any interest in Hermione that wasn't purely platonic.
They finished their dance soon after and Bill went back to Fleur, while Hermione sat down and massaged her sore feet for a while. She was unused to wearing heels, not being overly girly, and she swore to herself that she would never wear them again unless the situation truly demanded it. However, despite her sore feet, after she had eaten a little she was back on the dance floor with Harry with plenty of cushioning charms on her shoes. Her best friend's dancing had improved a fair bit since the Yule Ball, mostly thanks to help from Ginny, so Hermione didn't have to suffer getting her poor feet trodden on as Parvati had in their fourth year. Harry's mood was fairly jubilant, thanks mostly to the excitement of the wedding and Sirius' return from the veil. It made a nice change from the surly moodiness he had adopted during the short time between Dumbledore's death and Sirius' return.
Hermione steered clear of any conversation involving their deceased headmaster or Professor Snape. She knew Harry was still incredibly angry at their ex-Potions Master for what he had done, though at least he'd stopped throwing things every time he was mentioned. Hermione still believed there was something a little fishy about the circumstances surrounding Snape's murder of Dumbledore, there were just so many things that didn't make sense. However, Hermione wasn't stupid enough to mention this to most of the Order, who tended to act with their hearts rather than their heads a lot of the time - Harry and Ron especially. Remus, Kingsley and Minerva McGonagall were the only people Hermione reckoned might believe anything good about Snape and even they were pretty unwilling to discuss it - Dumbledore's death had affected everyone. Therefore, Hermione steered the conversation onto safe topics; what Harry had thought of the wedding, how sweet Remus and Tonks were and what sort of mischief Sirius was likely planning with Fred and George.
The song finished and Hermione was about to sit down again, but was blocked as Kingsley held his hand out and asked her to dance. She accepted with a smile and they moved to a thankfully slow song - cushioning charms or not, Hermione's feet could only take so many fast songs. They chatted about inconsequential details for the first minute or two, before Hermione felt her attention drift a little as she remembered good times at Grimmauld Place. She was brought out of her reverie by a hand waving in front of her face and found herself looking at her dance partner, "sorry Kings, I was just stuck in memories."
He gave her a quizzical look, "anything good?"
She shrugged, "in a way, I was thinking of staying in Grimmauld Place the summer before fifth year - it was bad because Voldemort was truly back, but good because we were all together for a while. I was remembering that night before the Weasleys or Harry got there, when I came down to the kitchen in the middle of the night, expecting it to be empty."
Kingsley laughed, "and you found Sirius, Remus and I there drinking all of the Black's finest vintage and remembering the good old days when we were young and at Hogwarts."
Hermione sighed wistfully, "such good times. I tried to apologise but Remus made me sit down, Sirius teasingly offered me some whiskey and then you made me some of your amazing hot chocolate because you refused to let Sirius corrupt me by getting me drunk. Then of course Remus, our resident chocoholic, had to have some hot chocolate too and we ended up sitting up till four in the morning talking about the marauder era at Hogwarts and your work as an auror."
Kingsley pulled her close into a hug, "those were the good days Mione, before people really started dying. I was actually rather flattered by your questions, many young people are interested in becoming aurors, but not many have the sense to ask the important questions - they just want to know what our pay checks are like and how much holiday time they'll get."
Hermione smiled, "well since when have I ever been normal. Turned out to be a pretty useful conversation, I've been thinking about becoming an auror once this is all over, presuming I survive it all."
Kingsley gave a frown at the casual reference to her possible death, "really, I'd have thought that after everything you, Harry and Ron have been through that you'd just want a rest."
His dance partner shook her head, "I think that's really what the other two want. Harry wants so desperately to be normal and I know Ron would love to play quidditch or work in Fred and George's shop - something less violent than war. Me, I want to make a difference, so maybe I'll be an auror for a few years, to ensure there's no death eaters left, then I'll do something really worthwhile, like trying to tackle corruption and inequality at the Ministry."
Kingsley gave an approving nod, "good goals, it's heartening to see you thinking of what you'll do after the war, means you have some vision. I do think you're right about Harry though, perhaps he might try professional quidditch, that's probably what James would have done if it wasn't for the war, he was an excellent chaser."
She danced with Kingsley for two more songs before finally being released to take a breather at one of the tables. She sat down next to Remus and Tonks, who were having an animated conversation about the funniest dancing at the wedding (so far Charlie's chicken dance was winning). She smiled at them both and joined in the discussion for a while, until Tonks got up to browbeat Kingsley into dancing with her.
Hermione then turned to Remus with a spark in her eye, "care to dance Remus, I promise I won't step on your toes."
He laughed, "are you sure Mione, I doubt it can compare with the show you and Sirius gave us."
Hermione grinned, "yes, well its nice to surprise people and Sirius is an excellent dancer. Be that as it may, I've danced with practically everyone else and now I want to dance with my favourite ex-Professor."
"Well how can I say no to that," Remus replied and he stuck out a hand, leading her onto the dance floor. The band was playing Celestina Warbeck now and from the look on her face, Fleur wasn't very impressed by Mrs Weasley's favourite singer. Hermione spent a few minutes teasing a blushing Remus about Tonks, but didn't bother to ask for details on the wedding. That was the sort of thing the woman remembered and she'd already got the low-down from Tonks a few days before.
They spun around the dance floor for a few minutes before Hermione spoke, "Remus, I'm worried about Harry. He's just so obsessed with making Snape pay for killing Dumbledore that I'm afraid he'll lose sight of the most important thing - getting rid of Voldemort. Then I can't help but think something bad is going to happen, what Harry saw, it seems as if there's something else, something we're missing. I don't think we know everything and it isn't helping my nerves."
Remus was silent for a few minutes, deep in thought, and Hermione was worried that she might have said too much. The pain of Dumbledore's death and Snape's betrayal was still rather fresh and she knew some (probably Moody, if he was alive) might interpret her words as belief in Snape's innocence. She was perfectly aware that Snape had cast Avada Kedavra and killed Dumbledore, she just wasn't so sure of the motivation behind it.
She was relieved when Remus spoke, "I agree that Harry might be a bit too focused on Severus and I doubt Sirius is helping, for this is just another reason for him to hate the man. As for something we're missing, I'm sure there are many things, after all I doubt Dumbledore told any one person everything he knows and suspects. I'm afraid that for now we'll just have to go on what we know and hope it doesn't lead to disaster."
Hermione nodded, glad that at least one other person wasn't taking everything they knew at face value. From what she knew of Dumbledore, there was sure to be something that wasn't as it seemed. She didn't ask any more questions on the Dumbledore or Snape vein, not wanting to depress Remus on what should be a happy day - Merlin knows they didn't get enough of those any more. Instead they just spoke of some of the books they'd recently read and laughed at all the pranks Fred, George and Sirius had been pulling lately.
They were just finishing their second dance together when the ground suddenly began to shake and Hermione had to grab onto Remus to stop herself falling. She looked to her old Professor with a mixture of confusion and worry, "Remus, what's going on?"
The look on his face frightened her, she rarely saw Remus so worried. In fact, she could remember only two other times when she had seen the expression now marring his features cross his face, when Sirius had fallen through the veil and when he'd found out about Dumbledore's death.
"It means someone, or a group of people, are trying to get through the wards and by the sound of it they may well succeed. I have no bloody idea how they found us but you need to apparate to Grimmauld Place and wait for others to get there too so we can find somewhere safe - just remember the security questions and don't let your guard down."
The words had tumbled out at twice the normal speed Remus spoke at and with an undertone of emergency she rarely heard. She nodded and squeezed his shoulder gently in the only form of goodbye they had time for. Concentrating on her Grimmauld Place and repeating the mantra of 'destination, determination and deliberation' before spinning on the spot … and not going anywhere.
She was momentarily worried, but thought that it must just be the situation affecting her determination and so she tried again … and again. When she failed to move for the third time, and noted around her that no one else was going anywhere, she swore deeply, "anti-apparition barriers," said Remus, now looking positively terrified.
Despite this, anyone with a wand pulled it out and all they could do was wait for the wards to fall and the intruders to enter. Their only choice was to attempt to fight their way out and escape that way, though Hermione knew that it was a dangerous thing to try. However, it was their only option and Hermione noticed the grim determination set on each Order member's face.
The shaking suddenly ceased and there was complete silence. Hermione felt hope well up - perhaps the wards were holding and the intruders, likely death eaters, would be unable to enter. Her hopes were dashed a moment later when there was an almighty bang and black robed, masked figures began popping into the marquee.
Hermione only had time to register that the anti-apparition barriers must not affect those with dark marks before the spell fire started. She moved so she was back to back with Remus and they began shooting off stunning spells - the quickest way to incapacitate an opponent - towards the death eaters. She was sure they were after Harry and she'd be damned if she was going to let them get anywhere near her best friend.
She could hear everyone screaming spells, but was relieved to see that the majority appeared to be stunners. That confused her a little, why would death eaters only use stunning spells? She spun quickly and ducked, a jet of red flying over her head, before the answer came to her - it was a specific mission, they weren't there to attack the Order, they were there to capture somebody.
Hermione turned again to Harry, who was being shielded by Sirius, but there didn't seem to be too much spell fire towards him and that meant he might not be the target. It was only when Remus shouted for her to duck again that she realised an inordinate amount of spells seemed to be heading her way. She paused, her breath caught in her throat - oh Merlin, she was the target.
She grabbed Remus and pulled him behind one of the roman style pillars holding the marquee up, "Remus, the spells, most of them seem aimed in my direction. You don't think -"
Remus nodded gravely, "I'd noticed that they seem to be going for you rather than Harry, though I have no idea why. For now, we're just going to have to try and keep you safe until help comes."
Hermione sighed, "what help Remus? Everyone who could possibly help us is right here fighting for their lives. Face it, the only chance we have is incapacitating all these bloody death eaters."
The pained look on Remus' face told her all she needed to know and she turned back to the death eaters attacking her, a determined look on her face as she twirled, ducked and shot spells.
By now, most of the room had noticed the fact that the death eaters appeared to be going for Hermione and tried to help her and Remus, who were slowly getting more overwhelmed with attacks. While Sirius and Charlie stayed with Harry and Ron, Kingsley and Tonks attempted to fight their way over to where Hermione and Remus were, but their progress was slow and Hermione was unsure if they would get there in time to prevent a capture or serious injury. The spells appeared to be getting a little more dangerous as the death eaters became more desperate and Hermione cried out when someone's Sectumsempra curse grazed Remus' arm, causing blood to gush from the wound. Hermione didn't know what to do, the curse had been invented by Snape and she knew there was a counter-curse, but only Harry had ever heard it.
She looked desperately over to her best friend, who had noticed the commotion and who shouted something to Kingsley, who finally battled his way over to Hermione and Remus, who was clutching his arm in pain. Kingsley brandished his wand repeated "Vulnera Sanentur," three times, as Hermione watched in amazement as the blood loss eased up, before the wound began to knit together and it healed until there was just a faint scar. Hermione knew Remus would need dittany in order to remove the scarring and she only hoped he'd have a chance to get some.
She suddenly wondered how they'd managed to avoid any spells as Remus was healed and Hermione looked up to see Bill, Fleur, Tonks, Minerva and Arthur had been holding the death eaters back. When they saw Remus back in action they moved back to their original positions. As she fought, Hermione tried to work out who the death eaters were, but their masks prevented any positive identification. The only one she was sure about was Lucius Malfoy - she would know his long white-blonde hair anywhere and the rush of hatred she felt for the man who had such prejudice towards her caused her to send a volley of spells towards the wizard, smirking when he was knocked off his feet. She didn't notice as one of the other death eaters muttered a spell, but she felt it as the entire marquee shook and an explosion threw them all off their feet.
Hermione was thrown back and had the misfortune to hit one of the pillars, which happened to be made of marble and hurt like hell. She could hear shouts and screams around her and saw blurry figures stand up again and begin firing spells once more. She grasped her pounding head, still not quite willing to open her eyes to be seared by the light. She could hear footsteps coming towards her, more shouts, before the footfalls stopped when the figure appeared to be right next to her. She had yet to open her eyes and knew she was slipping in and out of consciousness.
She hoped to Merlin that the figure next to her was on the light side, but felt they would have identified themselves if they were. Still, there was always room for hope. She felt strong arms pick her up, still unaware of what side they were on, until she was unable to recognise the voice as he spoke, "we have the girl - let's go." In that moment she knew it was the death eaters who had her, but she had no time to think on it, for as she felt the beginnings of side-along apparition, she sank into blissful unconsciousness.
Thanks to all those who reviewed the previous chapter, it was much appreciated; LK-HoGwArTs-hEaDgIrL, villafoo and The Sexy Muggle Librarian.
The next chapter, in which Hermione wakes up in captivity, should be up in about a week.
