New chapter, new chapter :D this is going wonderfully. Unfortunately I may not be updating as quickly as I have been because I have also picked up on my other unfinished stories, so please don't hate me and enjoy reading! This song is 'The End Complete III' by Coheed and Cambria.
Chapter Ten – The End Complete
You've been stealing my lines, now go on living your lies. For on your knees you will find you'll face a jury in hell…
Hermione had in fact booked them a separate motel room, but she wasn't there when they arrived. She left the key in a small envelope at the front desk, and the lady at reception knew to give it to them. However, it did not go quite as either of the brothers thought it would. They didn't even have to ask for a room before the woman's eyes glazed over, and she simply handed them the envelope.
Dean glanced at his brother, before looking back at the woman. She smiled at them, eyes unfocused and looking like she was on something, but as soon as Sam had tentatively reached out and taken it from her, she snapped right out of it. She shook her head, before glancing at them and saying, "Sorry, what was I saying?"
On the way to their room, Dean said, "Man, I do not like this."
"What?"
"This whole magic thing," he explained. "I mean, that woman was under some sort of spell. That just ain't right."
Sam laughed. "The first time you don't use a dodgy credit card to pay for a room – the first time you don't pay at all, and you're actually complaining?"
"Come on, Sam. Stealing money from big banks isn't the same as screwing with somebody's brain."
"It's not screwing with someone's brain," said a voice from behind them.
Both of the brothers jumped and turned, and just as Dean was reaching to get his gun, he saw exactly who it was.
Hermione looked a little smug at their reaction. "It's just a bit of innocent bemusement," she finished. "Have a nice drive?"
Dean let out an exasperated sigh, and images of the dream he'd had flicked through his mind. He scowled at her instantly, and said, "Take it you didn't get knocked off your broomstick, then?"
Hermione laughed as she brushed past him, saying, "Oh come now, Dean, I'm nowhere near reckless enough to ride my broomstick during the day."
Taken aback by her response, Dean glanced at his brother and hissed, "She actually has a broomstick?"
Sam shrugged and said, "What do you expect? She is a witch."
Dean moved to follow Hermione, scowling at his little brother as he did so. "I can't believe you're so cool with all this."
The three wasted no time planning the operation. As soon as the boys had arrived in their room, Hermione told them to start getting their gear ready. It would be one more hour, maybe an hour and a half until sundown, and she didn't want to waste a moment of time after daytime ended, because the attacks almost always happen at night.
The Death Eaters wouldn't dare attack during the day, simply for fear of being caught.
Hermione had already narrowed down the location of the Death Eaters to a small area of a nearby forest, and she explained her thoughts while the brothers began to load up their weapons and organise their backpacks.
"I am almost certain they'll be hiding somewhere in this region," Hermione said, tapping her finger on the circle she had drawn on a map.
"Almost certain?" Dean asked.
"I can't be totally sure," Hermione said, showing her frustration at his constant second guessing via the small twitch at the corner of her mouth. "I've tracked them to the edge of town and their trail leads away into the forest. Once we get there, I can scour the area and be sure. I'm positive they won't leave town via apparition, because all of their wands are on high alert."
"I'm not even going to try to understand that crazy talk," she heard Dean mutter under his breath, but she didn't need to glare at him because Sam did it for her.
"Try to cooperate," he said. "Hermione is letting us help out."
Dean shut his mouth, but he rolled his eyes. Hermione didn't know what was more annoying.
The dirt track was horrible for walking, especially considering it had rained the day before so the track was muddy and it hurt Hermione's calves every time she pushed her foot off the ground. However she was far too proud to admit that she was hurting at all, so she simply clenched her teeth and kept going.
Until they hit a fork in the road, and she had to figure out which way the Death Eaters had gone. Dean didn't miss the opportunity to question her methods, asking her where she would be going a little too merrily as though he expected her to fail miserably at tracking. Fortunately, Hermione was an exceptionally bright witch and if Dean was going to try to outsmart her, she would always win.
"Occultus aperio," she whispered, pointing her wand at the thin forest path, and a moment later there was a faint glowing on the ground. Hermione leaned down, following the glow to the left hand path, and she could see the magic faintly outlining a trail of footprints in the dirt, leading up towards the cabin.
"Just as I thought," she muttered to herself.
"What was that?" Dean asked, sceptical as ever. While Hermione didn't mind Sam's questions because was genuinely curious, Dean's were annoying because it felt more like interrogation.
"That was a spell to reveal if magic had passed this way," Hermione said, trying to keep her explanation simple. "It doesn't always work, but one of the Death Eaters must have used a spell to polish their boots. And it's left the slightest trace of magic."
She turned to face them, and she said, "Alright, I've already checked the map, and the only thing up here is a log cabin holiday inn. If we get there fast enough, we might be able to save some civilians which is what you do best, right?"
Sam nodded as Dean replied, "Right. So what do we do?"
Hermione knew her next proposal wouldn't be well received, so she braced herself. "Well, I'd like for you to take care of getting the civilians out of the way."
Dean stared at her with a strange frown, and then said, "Excuse me?"
Taking a quick breath, Hermione said, "These witches are dangerous. I'll distract them while you two get the people out."
"I didn't hike all this way to save some damn tourists," Dean said, taking a step towards her, his eyes flashing angrily.
"I'm sorry, Dean, but you can't just run in there, all guns firing," Hermione said. "You have to trust me on this. These witches and wizards are out of your league."
"You don't even need us, then?" Dean asked, voice raised. "Why are we here at all?"
"Dean, stop," Sam began to interrupt him, but Dean didn't listen to him.
"No, Sam, I'm sick of this," he snapped, turning to glare at his brother. "I'm sick of this, and we're wasting our time being here. I mean, seriously, I don't get why she needs us here at all."
Hermione swallowed her angry response and she said, "Dean, I need your help."
He blinked, before raising his eyebrows as though inviting her to dig a bigger hole.
"I need you to help me," she said again. "I can't take care of the Death Eaters and get the tourists out at the same time."
"And why not?"
"I can't just go running in there asking everybody to evacuate because of witches," Hermione said, exasperated. "Nobody would believe me. They'd call the police."
"So what are you going to do?" Sam asked, frowning.
Hermione grimaced. "Usually, I set fire to something."
There was a moment of stunned silence before Dean said, "You what?"
"I set something on fire," she said again. "It gets everybody out, throws the Death Eaters off guard."
"Isn't that kind of dangerous?" Sam asked, looking a little less eager to go along with the plan.
Hermione shook her head, and replied, "No, it'll be fine. I can douse the flames if they get too big."
"You're going to set fire to the hotel?" Dean said, still bewildered by her plan of attack.
"Yes, for goodness' sake!" Hermione exclaimed as she began to trek along. "Stop making me repeat myself!"
When they finally reached the log cabin inn, the situation was a little further progressed than Hermione had imagined. She could see flashing lights coming from the clearing near the inn, and silhouettes of cloaked figures. She heard a scream, and she felt adrenaline rush through her as she realised they would have to act fast.
"Okay, change of plan," she said over her shoulder to the Winchester brothers. Sam was peering around the other side of the tree and Dean was leaning over her shoulder.
"Party's already started, huh?" Dean asked, as he took the safety latch off his .45, holding it steadily in his hand.
"Apparently so," Hermione replied quietly. She turned to stare at him and she said, "You need to move quickly, Dean. I can only distract them for so long."
To her surprise, Dean didn't taunt her or question her. He simply nodded, dark green eyes totally serious and he said, "We'll go to the emergency exit, it'll be round the back. Sam can direct the tourists out and I'll guard the doors." He glanced around the area, and he said with a small frown, "Just out of curiosity, what is it that you plan on setting fire to?"
Hermione looked back towards the inn, and she said, "The maintenance shed. I've already checked and there's nobody inside. You need –"
Before she could say anything else, Hermione heard the unmistakable casting of the Cruciatus curse, and she heard the strangled screaming of a tortured muggle let loose into the night, mingled with undertones of maniacal laughter of a Death Eater.
Unable to restrain herself any longer, Hermione pointed her wand at the maintenance shed and cried out, "Confringo!"
A large explosion suddenly tore off one of the walls of the shed, and Hermione saw the flames for a second before she spun, hair whipping around her face as she cried at the Winchesters, "Go, go now!"
They took off, and Hermione sprinted out into the clearing. The explosion had interrupted the concentration of the wizard who had cast the Cruciatus curse, and he turned to stare at the intruder. Hermione quickly counted seven – no, six others standing nearby, and they all reached for their wands when they saw who had arrived.
Hermione didn't bother apologising for gatecrashing as she sent a stunning spell flying towards one of the outliers, saying loudly, "Stupefy!", watching as he dropped to the ground, too drunk to counter the spell. She quickly cast another but this time it was deflected, and before she could try again she had to cast a protego shield to prevent several curses which were thrown her way.
It all happened so fast, and she felt the rush of hot, angry blood through her veins as she duelled the Death Eaters. Hermione wasn't nearly as good at duelling as Harry, but she still knew more than the average witch or wizard, and indeed the average Death Eater. And really, that's all these guys were. Garden variety, piss-weak, sloppy Death Eaters.
She disposed of another with a third stunning spell, and she turned and let loose a loud, "Incarcerous!" Ropes flew from the tip of her wand, fiercely binding two of the Death Eaters who stood too close together, and they both dropped their wands as they fell to the ground, wriggling uselessly against the bonds as they tightened around their bodies.
Hermione deflected a few other curses, hissing as she was nearly hit by a sectumsempra which she had no time to block with her wand. She spun to the side but it sliced deeply through her calf muscle and she cried out in pain, trying to ignore the blinding pain as she put all of her weight on her other leg, and as she turned back she threw a curse at the wizard who had cut her leg, and he was pummeled backwards by the sheer force of the magic. Hermione didn't even know which spell she had conjured.
There were only two left standing, and as one of them raised her wand to cast a curse, lips open and teeth flashing white in the firelight, Hermione lifted a burning plank of wood from the flames of the shed and cast it towards the witch, who screamed as it broke through her shield and hit her across the neck, and a moment later she fell to the ground, unconscious.
There was only one left, and he glared at Hermione with such anger she nearly cringed. But Hermione didn't shy away from danger. She'd faced Death Eaters scarier than this has-been. She lifted her chin, wand raised and ready to fight.
And then, he spoke. His voice was tight and rasping, and he said with a sick smile, "You've grown since I last saw you."
Hermione's eyes narrowed, as she suddenly recognised the man.
"Lestrange," she whispered, and suddenly her hot bravery was replaced by cold, icy fear, memories of her torture by his wife Bellatrix flooding her mind. She tried to keep them out, but she couldn't stop the painful memories from flashing through her mind. The mark on the inside of her arm seemed to sting from the very thought.
Rodolphus Lestrange smiled evilly as he suddenly flicked his wand, casting a curse at her. The duel turned ugly very quickly, crackling spells and curses flying through the air at lightning fast speeds. Rodolphus was a good dueller, and the difference between the two was that Hermione was only trying to capture Rodolphus, while he was trying to kill her.
Hermione was on the defensive, unable to cast any spells between all of the shields she had to conjure to deflect the curses thrown at her. She cried out as she fell over a large root in the ground below her, and she crawled backwards, her chest tight and heart hammering as her wand was ripped from her hand by a disarming spell, and then he stood above her, cold eyes watching and laughing as he kicked her leg, watching her scream in agony.
"It'll be nice to finish off what Bella started," he hissed. He raised his wand, and she could hear the hiss of the killing curse on his lips, and she turned away, trying to reach for her wand, fingernails gripping the dirt...
And then, it all stopped.
Our minds divide, the past repeats; a war still brewing in the hearts of those we once bled.