Hermione's instincts kicked in. She grabbed her wand and went after Harry. She did not care that she was only wearing her nightgown. Right now her mind was only set on the fight that was going to take place. When she arrived downstairs, the whole family Weasley was there. The whole family except Charlie. She had no time to think about him they had to get moving.
"Does someone know what is going on? Bill and Fleur what are you still doing here? Take Victoire and flee!" Hermione said, taking command. Her mind was racing and free of disturbing thoughts.
"We can't… It is impossible to apparated and we can't get walking. As to what's going on Charlie warned us that they were under attack" replied Bill. He looked directly at her, ready to hear what she was going to say.
"Ok then go in the basement. I want Victoire protected at all cost. Fleur stay guard there. Bill we will need you. Do you have any mean to know where Charlie is?" she was not hesitating. She was already casting wards, in order to protect Victoire. She was happy to see Fleur running with Victoire to the basement. Fleur casted a disillusionment charm on Victoire then some protective charms and finally she disillusionated herself.
"We can't find him. At least while he is alive. What should we do?" Bill was as serious as Hermione. The other were just watching them talk, knowing that they would come with a plan sooner than them.
"Then we will go into two groups. One will try to go out the reserve and alert the authorities. Bill you go there in case there are spells avoiding you to go out. Mrs and Mr Weasley go with him too. Percy go with them, I trust you will know what to say to the Ministry. Audrey you too. The rest of us is going to the main building. We have to understand what's going on. Remember trust nobody except ourselves. And be cautious." Arthur wanted to protest but his sons took him by his arms. Hermione met Bill eyes and told him sternly "Go back as quickly as possible and take Victoire with you"
"Don't worry Hermione. Take care and find Charlie"he whispered to her. She nodded and went outside.
She ran with the other to the main building where they could see some lights. When they approached Hermione quickly asserted the situation.
"Harry and Ginny you go behind, I want a clear perimeter, George and Angelina stay here and hide. If someone tries to go behind our back you disarm them and knock them out. I will send you a patronus with more instructions later. Ron come with me, we go in frontal" As she spoke they were all nodding. They went immediately in position.
Ron and Hermione charged at the same time that Harry and Ginny. Inside the building it was a real mess. Hermione quickly stunned two guys. Ron imprisoned another. Ginny and Harry went having a duel with two other opponents in the backside. Hermione was throwing spells after spells, she did not think she was pure adrenaline. She protected Ron from a vicious spell and in exchange he sent a metal hose to one of her opponent.
They were deadly. In a few minutes their room was clear of any opponent and they ran to the dragon tamer that had been fighting when they entered the room. He was lying on the floor. Hermione quickly checked his vital functions. He was still alive so she applied some medicine spells and went to explore the building.
They encountered many opponents but their experience prevailed. Ron was studying to be an Auror so he was more dangerous than when they had fought against Voldemort. Hermione never let her guard down and had been practicing since they had defeated the dark lord. When they entered the canteen Hermione finally caught sign of Charlie. He was bravely facing five wizards.
Ron stunned one of them and Hermione enjoyed putting down two others. Charlie was surprised to find them there but that did not disturb him and he finished his other opponents.
"What are you doing here? You should leave!" Charlie was clearly afraid for them. This was even worse than a thief. Someone was trying to take over the reserve. And they had an awful good plan. With only ten dragon tamers it was impossible to efficiently protect all the dragons.
"We are here to help you. We send the others to alert the ministries. Now what is the most important?" Hermione was set. She was not going to back down.
"I vowed to protect you, I can't let you fight!" Charlie was having a mental fight. He did not want her to be harm and that was more than likely to happen if she fought. Those guys were no joke. He felt Ron's hand on his shoulder, restraining him.
"We are here and we are more than able to fight. Either you lose the reserve or we save it. Now speak." Declared Ron. Hermione was actually surprised that he handled the situation so well. Ron was often impulsive and she was proud to see that in such stressful situation he managed to stay calm.
Charlie was going to speak when suddenly the doors were open. All three of them were ready to stun whoever was coming from the door. They quickly put their wands down when they saw Harry and Ginny. They were all relieved. The two lovers were not alone, they had found another dragon tamer, Alexander.
They had no time for introductions but Hermione still recognized the tamer Charlie had warned her about. But she had other things in her mind.
"We were going to set up our next attack. What should we do? Charlie and Alexander what are the main point?" Hermione went back to business quickly. The more the merrier, she thought.
"How many are we? All the Weasley family?" asked Alexander. Hermione was not sure why he asked that but she figured that he had a plan and depending on their number they could do it or not.
"Yes the whole Weasley's family plus their boyfriend, girlfriend. Some are trying to go out, to warn the Ministries. The others are here. We are a total of six fighting right now. What is your plan?" They had to get moving and fast. The more they waited the more time their enemy had to prepare a counter attack.
"My plan? Well it's simple, really." Alexander smiled and Hermione frowned. He was enjoying this too much. "Bandario" he exclaimed, his wand drawn. Hermione was confused. What was he trying to do?
Suddenly fifty men apparated. Hermione understood they had been betrayed. She expected her friends to react but none of them moved. What was happening? She raised her wand, ready to fight. Alexander saw her and laughed.
"Someone did not breakfast this morning? It's too bad…" He looked devilish. Hermione decided to stay silent and to hear him. She was nearly sure he was going to explain what was going on. "You see Hermione, can I call you Hermione? No? That's too bad, Mudblood. " He spitted. Hermione was surprised to hear such an insult after such a long time but that did not rattle her too much. "Everyone that ate breakfast has unconsciously ingurgitate a very powerful potion. Now they are completely brainless. They won't help you. It is way better than the Imperio because we don't have to control them." Hearing him, Hermione scanned the eyes of her friends. They were all blank, looking to nowhere. That was bad, really really bad. She began panicking but she found Charlie's eyes. His did not look like the other. She sensed that he was not under the spell. That brought her courage.
"It seems your big plan failed. I am still up and running. And aren't I the brightest witch?" Hermione decided that bragging was certainly the best thing to do.
"What are you one against all of us?" She used wandless magic to knock out two opponents at the other end of the room. She then smiled, proud of the terrified glance he sent her. He was slowly walking between her friends and she was focused on him. She knew he was trying to distract her. He randomly punched in the stomach Charlie who could only huff in response.
"What are you going to do, whore? I can beat him as I want and you won't be able to move." Alexander was so proud of himself. He was so busy bragging he had no time to react when Charlie stood up and petrified him. Hermione knew that Charlie was going to try a trick like this so she casted a powerful Protego around them and their friends before the others had time to attack.
She smiled at Charlie, happy to have him at her side. They took a long breath and began attacking. The odds that they won were slim but they were skilled. Charlie was fast; he dodged nearly every spell sent his way. Hermione was efficient, each spell founding his victim. They were working in line so that they could not touch the other by mistake.
Hermione took a vicious spell, she could not speak anymore. But that did not stop her, only slow her. Seeing that, their opponents began to flee. Charlie quickly finished them. Then he helped Hermione. They looked at each other, relieved to have survived. They fell into each other arms and took a long breath.
"I was so worried, I thought I really was alone" whispered Hermione.
"I never thought that in order to protect you I had to not eat breakfast, but I'm glad I did" joked Charlie. She smiled. Her smile vanished fast as she realized all the implications of what Alexander said.
"Charlie, nobody is going to warn the Ministries! They are all under the spell!" she exclaimed, panicked. They had to find a way out of this mess.
"Focus Hermione! We need to think… We can't go outside and we don't have enough time to find an antidote to deliver the others. That leaves only us two." Charlie was trying to summarize the situation, hoping that Hermione's brilliant mind was coming with a solution.
"They have to communicate! They must have a mean of communication" Hermione's face brightened. If they could communicate with the outside that was good for them but Hermione highly doubted it. But they could still catch the others conversations. They immediately began looking for earpieces.
Hermione found one first and when Charlie found one too they tried to understand the language their assailants were using.
"Do you understand a damn word they say?" asked Hermione, annoyed.
"It must be a code. We can't use that so I suggest we put my family in a safe place and then we will try to deliver at least one dragon" Charlie knew it was going to be dangerous but the dragons were their best chance to defeat their enemies.
"Ok. Let's put them all in this wardrobe and close it. We can't afford to lose time. Why do you think they are doing it?" Hermione was back to business. If she could understand their motivation then she could overtake them.
"They want the Reserve, I don't know how they planned to fight the ministries… As soon as they would hear about it they will send their best fighters and take it back." Charlie was lost, he did not understand why someone was willing to sacrifice so many people for nothing.
"It will be useless if the dragons are not there anymore. That means they are going to either kill them all or move them. I would bet the second" She met his eyes and was surprised to find admiration in his eyes. Then a spark of understanding glistened in them.
"They don't need all the dragons, we have plenty of eggs. We were so happy to have so many… They are going to kill all the dragons and take the eggs! We have to stop them!" Charlie's voice was full of anger. Dragons were his life. Knowing that someone was planning to butcher them all angered him to no end.
"All right Charlie. What do we do? We go for the eggs or for the dragons?" Hermione's eyes were Charlie's anchor. He was panicked and furious but she was still there, ready to follow him.
"We go for the eggs. The dragons aren't easy to kill. We can't let them take any baby" Hermione hesitated a bit before speaking.
"If Alexander betrayed you, don't you think he told them how to kill a dragon? Or even poisoned them?" She hated saying it, but they had to face all the facts. His face decomposed. He had not thought of this possibility…
"We still go for the eggs. They are the future of the Reserve" he said with reluctance. He was glad that Hermione was so bright. They did not waste any more time and ran to the nursery. They were lucky to not meet anyone before entering it.
They had decided during their run that Hermione will protect them when they entered so that they could assert the situation and Charlie was going to attack as soon as possible. Their plan worked perfectly as their opponents were caught by surprise at their arrival. It was a real butchery, spells flying everywhere. They came out exhausted even if the adrenaline was flowing through their veins.
When everyone except them was down they went to see the eggs. Charlie counted them rapidly and could see that two were missing. "Shit!" He exclaimed. Two future dragons were merlin knows where. Hermione being so responsible one, began hiding the others. Seeing that Charlie looked defeated she spoke
"Charlie, I know that you are upset but we have to save the other eggs. And the dragons. Do you want to save this reserve or not? If yes move your ass! I know nothing about dragons!" she knew that the best way to elicit a response from him was to push him and so she did. She was happy to see him going out of his trance. He began helping her and ten minutes later the eggs were hidden in a safe place. They had been interrupted once by a group of five wizards but they had quickly eliminated them. But they knew they were going to be discovered soon. They had to get moving.
"Which dragon do we go first?" Hermione was tired but she knew she still had enough energy to fight the whole day.
"Hermione I have thought about it…" She could hear the tone of his voice, and she knew she was not going to like what he was going to say. "You never went close to a dragon… It would be safer for you if you tried to contact the ministry" She could see part of his point but right now he was being a dumbass and he knew it.
"Charlie you know perfectly well that this is the worse move we could do. Besides I was close to a dragon before, I even rode it. Don't you remember Gringott?" her eyes held all her fury "And don't go another time about how you want to protect me. I am staying whether you want it or not." He could not deny her, she was so breathtaking. And she was right. They couldn't risk splitting up.
"Ok let's go. I know exactly what we are going to do" he took her by the hand and they began running to the closest enclosure.
As Hermione had predicted, Alexander had poisoned the dragons. But he had not the courage to kill them so he had just made them groggy. As if he was feeling guilty and wanted to give them a chance. Nestor, the dragon closer to the reserve was the most dangerous and that's why they put him closer, so that they could intervene fast if something happened. There were currently twenty wizards around him, trying to calm him.
Charlie smiled, happy to see his most fierce dragon put such a fight. Nestor might have been tied by the hind legs but that did not stop him to throw his fire every chance he had. Charlie stepped in the fight, distracting the wizards long enough to allow Nestor to escape from his links.
Hermione was ready when Nestor began flying away. She jumped on his neck and tried to guide him, as they had done in the bank so long ago. The dragon was angry that someone was riding him and she had some difficulties staying on his neck. She was too busy trying to avoid Nestor 's attacks on her and to protect Nestor from the others to look for Charlie. She just hoped he was okay. But suddenly Nestor seemed to understand she wanted to help him. She had just stunned a wizard that was trying to put him down, when suddenly she was flying a very angry dragon, burning everything that was on his path. She had only a few seconds to protect Charlie from an imminent death. She casted as many aguamenti as she could and hoped he was ok.
Charlie had enough experience with dragons, especially with the nasty Nestor, to know when they were going to fire. He quickly stepped out of his way and protected himself with the usual spells in that case. He could also feel Hermione's Aguamenti and he was happy to have her with him. He looked up at her.
The sun was rising and here she was, riding a dragon. It looked like a movie he realized. He tried to etch this moment in his memory. She was stunning and Nestor was perfect. His wings completely deployed he was more than impressive. Hermione's hair where everywhere and she looked like an amazon, riding for battle.
But they had a reserve to save, so Charlie quickly took a broom and flew with Hermione on Nestor to the nearest dragon. To say the wizards were surprised to see them was an understatement. Even when you are attacking a dragon's reserve you are not ready to see a dragon charging with a witch riding him. When they delivered the second dragon, they knew the rest of the assailants knew they were there. They had caused too much havoc to hope being anonymous.
As Hermione was doing a great job with Nestor, Charlie decided she had to carry on and try to free as much dragons as possible. He was going to try to join the ministries. They had done a great job at saving the maximum and he knew that the reserve was going to survive. But they needed bigger help if they wanted to definitely stop this invasion. They separated, hoping to see the other alive at their next encounter.
Hermione was surprised that Nestor was reacting to her commands. Maybe he understood she was just willing to help. She would never have taught she was going to ride a dragon again. But here she was and she felt powerful. And afraid. Charlie had left her and so she was alone. She hoped he was okay. They had managed to do so much that she was proud of their work. But a lot was still to be accomplished.
Charlie flew to the border without any problem but as he was going to go through it he was brutally pushed back. Damn, they had changed the wards as he feared. He was going to inspect them when suddenly twenty wizards faced him. He tried to fight them off but he had no chance. He soon found himself tied and beaten up. To say that his opponent s were not happy that he had fought was an understatement. He could feel one of his rib breaking. He just hoped they were stupid enough to bring him back to their headquarters.
And sure they did. They had invaded one of the numerous cabins around the lake. He soon found himself in a cage, waiting. He hoped Hermione was doing a good job and prayed for her safety.
Hermione could not ease the disturbing feeling she had. She was nearly sure something happened to Charlie. If that was true then she truly was alone. She was going to free a fourth dragon when she saw that there was too many persons for her. She had no chance to fight them. She thought hard and did the only think she could. She asked Nestor to fly up, as high as possible. She was silently praying that they were stupid enough to have forgotten to put wards on the sky.
She knew that flying with a dragon outside of a reserve was one of the biggest crimes in the world but she had no choice. She was not safe, already some wizards had recovered enough to try to chase them by brooms. She could feel Nestor's fire building and she raised her wand to help him get rid of their pursuers.
They managed to fly out and Hermione released a breath she did not know she was holding. She was exhausted, her adrenaline rate was going down but she had no choice than carry on flying. The reserve and her only friends, her second family, were counting on her. If she failed this was the end. So she carried on guiding Nestor until she finally saw Bucharest.
As she approached the city, she saw a cloud of wizards coming to her. Of course, there was a delegation trying to stop her. They did not know that it wasn't a wild dragon and so, when she saw her on his back, they stopped. Hermione barely prevented Nestor to set them on fire too. She screamed that the reserve was under attack and she could see her welcoming group thinking whether to believe her or not. Finally they opted for believing her and soon she saw another group joining them.
They explained to her where she could safely land so that they could discuss what was going on. She followed their instructions and collapsed on the floor as soon as she set foot on the ground. Nestor immediately flew back to the reserve, at least that was what she hoped.
A team of doctor took care of her, while she narrated her whole adventure to the whole ministry's board. As soon as she finished numerous delegations were sent across the world. An intervention group was soon created and she assumed the lead. She might have been beyond tired but she was the only one knowing the reserve and their opponents. They set for the reserve as the sun was going down.
Charlie was being tortured. They had discovered that the rest of the eggs had disappeared and that is family was hidden. They had no other mean of pressure than physically torturing him. He was currently suffering under a Doloris and he could feel his resolve chattering. But he had to stay strong. For the reserve. For his family. For Hermione. As long as they tortured him that meant they did not have her. He knew she had escaped when they interrogated him. They kept asking him where she was and he was happy to know that at least she was safe.
They had given up on killing all the dragons and only killed three of them before apparating away, back to their real headquarters. Charlie was currently held there and he was joyful. They had not managed to bring down the whole reserve. They were taking out their anger on him and he knew him. But that did not fade his happiness. At least part of the reserve had survived.
When they finally arrived at the reserve, Hermione knew their opponents had deserted it. She was frustrated but at least there was no more fight. She stayed awake until they found an antidote to put everyone out of their blank state. Then she proceeded to tell them what happened. When Molly learned that Charlie was missing she fainted. They were then all escorted to Bucharest where an hotel was welcoming them. Even if she was death worried Hermione fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Harry could not believe what Hermione told them. He looked at Ginny and saw her terror. He embraced her and they stayed like that the whole night: both of them wondering what was going to happen.
Ron could not stop pacing. His brother was missing and during the whole ordeal he did nothing because he ate breakfast! That was just too ridiculous! And his parents were more than worried. He knew that if they lost Charlie they were never going to live happily again. Fred's death was still too fresh on their minds. He promised himself that whatever rescue mission was going to take place he would participate. He could not stay another minute without doing anything.
And here you are. let me apologize for any mistake I wrote in a rush and that is the bigger chapter I have ever written! I really want to know what you thought... I hoped it was what you hoped... Did you like the little part about Harry/Ron and Ginny? Please review I worked really hard to bring you this chapter and hope to be rewarded :)