Here it is chapter 10. Hope you enjoy it.
As always, many thanks to Kathy for being the best beta in the world.
PART I
TALES OF NEW MYSTERIES
Chapter 10
Dark Christmas
Hermione was sitting on the couch, at The Burrow, next to George and Angelina. Her parents were sitting in two chairs near the fire. Ginny seemed to be unable to stay still, though, and was pacing the living room back and forth.
After Harry, Ron, Julie, Terry and Justin had left; Hermione had given the other attendants a small piece of parchment that would allow them to communicate with one another. Then, everyone else had left, asking to be informed when Hermione and Ginny knew what had happened. Then, the two of them, with George and Angelina, had closed and sealed New Home and gone back to The Burrow, where they were now, nervously waiting for news.
Mrs Weasley and Fleur came from the kitchen, carrying dishes with tea and mugs for everyone. They were giving each person in the room theirs when Ron's Jack Russell Terrier came through the window, startling them all, and spoke.
"We're at the Ministry. We're okay. No one died. The Ashtons are safe. We caught two of them and we're going to question them. Don't know when we'll be home."
Hermione let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, relieved and happy. Mrs Weasley let out a happy shriek, and Ginny, finally, dropped beside Hermione, sighing in relief, and embraced her.
"They're okay, they're okay!"
"I know," said Hermione, returning the hug. "I know."
Ginny drank half her tea in a gulp, and said that she was going to check on James.
"Can you use the parchment to inform the others?" asked Hermione. Ginny nodded and left.
"Two of zem," commented Fleur happily, sitting on Bill's lap and beaming at Hermione. "You should be so proud!"
"I am," said Hermione.
"I hope they can get the necessary information to stop this madness," commented Mr Weasley, "and we all can go back to how our lives were."
"Well, as they're fine, I think we should go home," said George, grabbing Angelina's hand, and they both stood up. Mrs Weasley looked at them.
"Surely you want to stay?"
"No, thanks, Molly," said Angelina.
"There's more than enough people here, Mum," added George. He looked at Hermione and ruffled her hair playfully, "Besides, I'm sure that, when we get up, Hermione's boys will have put all these Dark wizards in jail."
"I hope that, too," said Hermione trying to tame her hair.
George and Angelina waited a few seconds until Ginny was back, announcing that James was deeply asleep, said goodbye to everyone and left by Floo.
Hermione finished her tea slowly. She was a bit tired, and yet she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep until Ron was back or she had more news. If they finally get the information they needed from the prisoners, they could be embarking on a new mission tonight, and she wanted to be aware of it.
As the minutes went by, though, she began to see more and more stifled yawns, and, one hour after the arrival of Ron's Patronus, Mrs Weasley announced she was going to bed, but not before demanding to be informed of anything the moment the news came. Bill and Fleur followed her example and, after bidding the others goodnight, disappeared up the stairs. Hermione's parents got to their feet, too.
"Do you want us to stay?" her mother asked her, putting a hand on her left shoulder.
"No, go to bed if you're tired," said Hermione, putting her own hand over her mother's. "Everything's all right."
"We're going, then," Hermione's father said. "Tell us if there is any news."
The Grangers kissed their daughter good night and left the room, leaving just Mr Weasley, Ginny and Hermione in the living room. Mr Weasley took a book and tried to distract himself by reading; Ginny began to play with a stack of exploding cards and Hermione just stared at the fire.
After a while, she grew bored, so she got up, grabbed the dishes with the empty mugs of tea, took them to the kitchen and put them in the sink. She was going to use her wand to wash them, but, a moment later, decided against it and began to do it the Muggle way. It wasn't as if she had better things to do.
She was nearly finished when she heard the distinctive sound of someone arriving via Floo, and, without bothering to dry her hands, she ran to the living room, where Ron and Harry, both wearing serious and weary expressions on their faces, were brushing the ashes off their robes.
"What happened?" Ginny asked them. "We didn't expect you so soon. Didn't you question the prisoners?"
"No," answered Ron in an uncharacteristically sour and dejected tone.
"Why not?" asked Hermione, getting close to them and checking their bodies to make sure they were all right.
"Because they're dead," explained Harry.
"Dead?" repeated Mr Weasley, dumbfounded. "But — hadn't you caught them alive?"
"They were alive when we took them to the Ministry," said Ron, dropping onto the couch.
"When we were about to question them, they — they simply burst into flames. We were fortunate to survive. It was like cursed fire, or something like that."
"Personnel of the Department of Mysteries are going to analyse the bodies," added Ron. "We don't understand why that happened. I — I had never seen something like that."
Hermione sat down next to Ron, feeling a bit revolted and glad she hadn't had to see that after how sick it had made her just smelling Thydeen's body, and clutched his hand in hers. Her head was spinning, thinking about it all.
"Not even Voldemort cursed his followers this way," commented Ginny, horrified. "But why these two and not the others?"
Harry and Ron shrugged. "No idea," Harry answered.
"It didn't happen the moment you caught them, nor when they entered the Ministry," said Hermione thoughtfully. "What did exactly happen before they were set on fire?"
"I told them I was going to get Veritaserum to —" Ron stopped abruptly, his eyes opening wide as he exchanged a look with Hermione. "That was it," he said. "Veritaserum."
"Yes, I think so," nodded Hermione. "It makes perfect sense. We found out about the cave when the others were given Veritaserum. It is obvious that, whoever is behind this, didn't want that to happen again."
"So they put a curse on their followers, and they don't know about it?" asked Ginny, horrified. "How can they obey a — a person who does that?"
"I don't think they knew," Harry reckoned. "They would have fought harder if they knew they were under the risk of being burned alive. And before Ron mentioned Veritaserum, the woman was acting very defiantly."
"Then maybe this is a good thing," commented Ginny, and, when everyone stared at her in shock, she explained, "I mean, if word spreads of what happened, other followers could chicken out and give the Ministry information willingly."
"Or they will be even more savage and ready to fight to the death, knowing what might happen if they are captured," argued Hermione.
Ginny didn't know how to reply, so she stayed quiet.
"Anyway, there's nothing more to do. The Aurors on guard will keep the room and the bodies safe until morning. It's better if we go to bed."
"Yes, good idea," nodded Mr Weasley tiredly. "I'll tell Molly, Bill and Fleur that you're back."
"And I have to inform the others, too," remembered Hermione. "We already told them you were okay, but they'll want to know about this."
The five of them climbed up the stairs. Ron went into the bathroom, so, while she waited for him, she took out the enchanted parchment and wrote a brief note for the rest of the group.
"This is a complete nightmare," commented Ron a while later, when they were snuggled underneath the blankets. "That fire ... it was like the Fiendfyre Crabbe cast in the Room of Requirement, do you remember?"
"Yes," said Hermione, caressing his chest under his shirt with slow and soft strokes.
"The fire turned the table into soot in seconds, and the walls cracked and blackened. If we hadn't cast four Shield Charms, maybe we would be dead, too."
Hermione hugged Ron more tightly against her upon hearing this.
"We thought we had something, you know? That finally we would get more information..." Ron's voice faded out, and she heard him sigh. "One of them was younger than us, you know? A Ravenclaw. Julie recognised him."
"Ravenclaw?" said Hermione, raising her head to look at him. "That's odd."
"I know," he said, his gaze fixed on the ceiling. A moment later, he pressed her more against him and kissed her forehead. "I love you, Hermione. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Ron," she responded, resting her head on his warm body, and soon they were asleep.
— — o — —
The investigation led by Unspeakables of the Department of Mysteries didn't reveal anything. It was concluded that some powerful and strange magic had been used; though, what kind of curse it was, no one knew. The final agreement was that, probably, it had been a recently developed curse. The fact that someone was spending their time developing such terrible spells didn't do anything to improve the morale at the Ministry.
Harry and Ron had had to strengthen the charms protecting the Muggleborn houses in the country. Meanwhile, Moebius Dumbsey's roommates during his time at Hogwarts had been questioned, but it seemed that Moebius hadn't been a particularly friendly person at school. In fact, some of the people asked had declared that they had thought, at the time, that Dumbsey would have been better off in Slytherin. The only person he had been relatively close to was completely shocked to know that Dumbsey had become a Dark wizard, and had declared that he hadn't seen him in nearly three months. He had told them, though, that his parents lived in Belfast, but, as far as he knew, they weren't very close to their son, so maybe they would know even less than he.
On the other side, the investigation about Healer Gerrick had yielded the same results. His only living relative was his mother. When she had been questioned, she had said that he had visited her the weekend before the first attack and had told her he was going to move abroad, to Rome. Since then, she had not received any news about him, and was starting to get worried. Gerrick's house had been registered, but there was nothing there. The Italian Ministry had been contacted, but they knew nothing about him. He hadn't moved into the city, as far as they knew, and certainly was not working at their hospitals. Gerrick, it seemed, had vanished, but whether it was intentional or not was a mystery.
The lack of information didn't mean a lack of attacks, though. As weeks passed and Christmas got nearer, reports of Muggle killings had started to arrive from France, Ireland, Germany and Spain. At first, the Ministry had ignored them, leaving the ministries of those countries to deal with that. But, as more nasty events kept happening, it had become obvious that those incidents were related, and had, probably, the same source.
But the fact that the problem had acquired an international dimension now didn't mean that things had stopped happening in Britain. No, the attacks on Muggles had continued, though it hadn't been massacres like the one at the hotel. And attacks on Muggleborns kept happening. Fortunately, in none of the four attacks on Muggleborns had any of the targets been killed; but none of the Attackers had been captured, either, and another Auror had lost his life due to a well-aimed Killing Curse.
Fear was starting to grow again in the Wizarding world as it once had happened when they were at school, and that became evident to Hermione one day when Ginny and she had gone to Diagon Alley for a bit of Christmas shopping. The usually loud and crowded street, despite being watched by Aurors and members of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad, was almost deserted, and the few wizards and witches she saw walked quickly, throwing nervous glances everywhere, clearly afraid. The worst of it all was that no one knew what the organisation behind the attacks or that 'master' Mathery had told them about during his questioning wanted. It seemed that their only objective was to spread fear and terror, and, certainly, they were achieving that goal.
On Christmas morning, Hermione found herself looking at her reflection in the mirror Ron and she had put in his old room. She was just in her knickers, caressing her slightly protruding belly. She was now three months pregnant, and it was starting to become noticeable.
"If you're thinking you look fat, forget it," said Ron from the bed, stifling a yawn. "You look lovely and sexy as ever. Maybe even more."
"I wasn't thinking about that," said Hermione. "But thanks anyway."
"Are you feeling okay?" Ron asked, getting out of the bed and embracing her from behind, putting his hands over hers.
"Yes," Hermione nodded. "I'm so glad we don't have to work today and can spend the day together."
"Me too," Ron said, kissing her on her right shoulder and then leaving a trail of kisses towards her neck. "We've had very little time for us these last weeks."
"I know," she answered.
Ron pressed himself against her and Hermione could feel his hard cock against her arse.
"I want you," he said, and bit her neck softly.
Hermione spun around in his arms and kissed him long and hard.
"Don't you want to open your presents?" she asked him between kisses.
"I was hoping for a special one first," he replied, grinning mischievously.
Hermione didn't say anything more. She wanted him, too. They had had so little time for each other lately, and she needed to feel him, to have some sense of normality, to have him, absolutely and completely. So she began to leave a trail of kisses down his naked chest, while caressing his sides with her hands. She wasn't in the mood for something slow, though. She knew that soon the house would be bursting with activity, and she needed Ron and needed him right now, so she dropped onto her knees, lowered his pants, releasing his hard cock and engulfed it almost immediately.
"Hermione — Ah, fuck!"
Hermione began to suck in earnest, feeling an almost overwhelming hunger for him. One of her hands started to stroke his thighs, while the other went to his balls, cupping and kneading them.
"Merlin, Hermione," he moaned, and tangled his hands in her wild hair, while his hips started to buck slightly. "This is too good."
Hermione looked up, at Ron's face. His eyes were closed, and his face was contorted in pleasure. She wanted to see that expression on his face always, instead of the worry that had been filling it lately. She didn't let him come in her mouth often, in fact, it was very rare. It was something she didn't particularly like, and he had never asked for it, but right now, she wanted to do it; she wanted them both to get lost in the world of their pleasure and not think about anything else.
So she kept sucking, hard and fast, consumed by her own need and lust, until Ron, almost on the brink of orgasm, made her stop, took her in his arms and threw her on the bed before taking off her knickers hurriedly.
"Fuck, Hermione, I need you!"
"Me too, Ron. Make me yours. Now!"
However, Ron didn't plunge into her immediately, perhaps because he was too close to coming; instead, he buried his head between her legs and began to suck and lick her, fingering her with one hand while with the other kneaded her breasts, making her squirm on the bed.
"Oh, Ron, Ron, please, please, don't stop!"
Hermione was near heaven. The whole world was nothing except her and Ron making love in his childhood bed. She felt the pressure inside her growing, dragging her towards the inevitable explosion of pleasure.
"Ron, please, inside me. Fuck me now!"
A moment later, Ron's licking and sucking stopped. She opened her eyes, and saw Ron lying next to her. Then he took her in his arms and put her over him, his hands going to her hips.
"Ride me, Hermione. Ride me fast and hard."
Hermione moaned, and, raising her hips a bit, she impaled herself on his cock, causing new moans from both of them.
"Hermione, you feel so bloody good."
"You too, Ron, you too," Hermione moaned as she started to move up and down on his cock while she gyrated her hips.
They both were so close to the edge, so needy for each other, that it wouldn't take long for Hermione to reach her climax. Her movements became more frantic and desperate; she began to pant harder and moan louder, and, when Ron took her breasts in his hands and kneaded them a bit roughly, she came undone, her body trashing out of control above his.
"Oh, God, RON!" she yelled, enveloped in absolute bliss. Ron, sensing her orgasm, started to thrust upwards even more forcefully, prolonging the feeling, until she was completely exhausted and drained and fell above him, breathing heavily.
"Fuck, Hermione, you look so hot when you cum."
"Mmh ..." she said.
But Ron had not finished, and she knew it, so, a few seconds later, she moved off him and got onto her hands and knees, looking at him as seductively as she could.
"Come here, Ron. Come here and fuck me until you've come inside me."
"Merlin, Hermione..." he whispered huskily, getting behind her so quickly he could have Apparated. Hermione felt him grip her hips and caress her arse, and then she felt his cock entering her in one swift motion.
"Fuck, yes!" he shouted.
"Aah, Ron!"
Ron began to pound into her as hard as he could, his hips slamming against the round globes of her arse. She felt the grip of his hands on her hips get tighter, and knew he was close.
"Fuck, Hermione, love, I'm — I'm cumming! I'm cumming! FUCK, YESSSS!" he hissed, thrusting into her as deep as he could and coming hard.
A few moments later, both of them fell on the bed, together, panting and sweaty but with big smiles on their faces.
"That was amazing, Ron."
"Bloody brilliant," he added, giving her a loving kiss.
Hermione closed her eyes and sighed contentedly. "I think we should go downstairs, but right now I don't want to move."
"Me neither," said Ron. "I love you, Hermione."
She smiled dreamily at him. "I love you too."
They lay there for a few minutes, enjoying the afterglow of their lovemaking, until the house became too noisy and they knew they had to get up. So, a bit reluctantly, they got dressed and went downstairs, to the already crowded kitchen.
"It was time, you two," Mrs Weasley greeted them. "We were waiting to open the presents!"
"Sorry," said Hermione, trying not to blush.
"Surely it was Ron's fault," said Ginny with a smirk. "Probably took Hermione ten minutes to wake him up."
"Shut up, Ginny!" said Ron, glaring at her, while he began to put eggs and bacon on his plate. "If you want to know, I've been awake for a while," he stated. "Wasn't I, Hermione?" he added, looking at her.
"Yes — yes, you were," confirmed Hermione, trying to avoid direct contact with any eyes. However, her mother caught her gaze and she grinned slightly. Hermione tried not to blush.
After breakfast, they went to the living room to open the presents. They were still opening boxes and parcels and saying thank you to one another when the fire turned green and Andromeda Tonks and Teddy came out of it. Hermione saw Harry's face light up at the sight of his godson.
"Daddy!" Teddy yelled, running into Harry's arms. He knew that Harry was not really his father, but he had grown accustomed to calling him 'daddy' and Harry didn't mind in the slightest.
"Hey, big boy!" Harry said, lifting him into the air. "How are you?"
"I brought a gift for you, Daddy!"
"You did?"
Teddy gave Harry a little package that contained a bottle of cologne. Harry opened it, sniffed its contents and smiled. "It smells fantastic! Thank you, Teddy," he added, kissing him on the cheek. "I have a present for you, too. Do you want to open it?"
"Yes!"
"There you go," said Ginny, giving him their present: a toy broomstick. Upon seeing it, Teddy's eyes became the size of saucers.
"Thanks, Daddy, Mummy Ginny!" Teddy yelled, utterly happy.
"You're welcome," said Harry. "Just be careful, okay?"
Andromeda didn't let Teddy use the broomstick in the crowded house, however, so, after pouting for a bit and still not getting permission, he began to play with Victoire in one corner.
Percy and Audrey and Angelina and George came for lunch. As there were so many people there, Mr Weasley and Bill put an Enlargement Charm on the living room, vanished the sofas and armchairs and conjured a table to transform the room into a dining room.
After a delicious meal that resembled those of happier times, though not completely, Neville and Hannah came for a visit, as did Luna and Julie.
Bill and Mr Weasley turned the living room back into what it was before, vanishing the table and making the couch and armchairs reappear, though without lifting the Enlargement Charm. Some people moved to the kitchen, others sat on the couch and the eight friends gathered around a conjured table in a corner to talk.
"Has anything odd happened at Hogwarts?" Harry asked Neville after less serious conversations about what had been happening in their lives.
"No," he answered, shaking his head. "Nothing at all. The professors have been watching the students pretty closely, but, apart from the whispers and fear that you can see everywhere, especially when more bad news appears in the Prophet, there's nothing."
"Have you seen anything strange in the pub, Hannah?" Ron asked then.
"No," said Hannah a bit gloomily. "The only thing I've noticed is that there are fewer clients than usual. I'm having a really bad month. But it's happening everywhere, so ..."
"Tell me about it," said George, who had heard their talk. "Our sales have decreased, despite being Christmas."
"I really don't get this," piped in Julie, frustrated. "We are looking everywhere, sharing information with the other countries affected by this, and nothing! And the worst thing is that no one has demanded anything! What do they want? At least, when You-Know-Who —"
"Voldemort," said Harry and Hermione at the same time.
"Yeah, well, Voldemort. When he was the enemy, at least we knew what he wanted."
"Well, according to what those men told Hermione, this new group wants the same, don't they?" interjected Ginny.
"I'm not so sure," said Harry. "In France they killed that family of purebloods. And besides, Fleur always tells us that there, this thing about blood purity was never important except to very few people."
"Then what do they want?" asked Ron. "Just to cause fear? What for?"
"And there's the case of Hermione's file and the interest they expressed in Ron's and her baby."
"I don't know," responded Harry. "I don't know."
"Speaking of that," said Neville. "Did you find anything in the Hall of Prophecy? Weren't you going to look there?"
"We did, but, apparently, there's nothing," answered Hermione.
"Don't you have any theory, Luna?" asked Ron. "Right now, I'd pay even for the most random idea."
Hermione stomped her foot onto Ron's to scold him, making him yelp, but Luna didn't get offended at all.
"No," she said. "Dad and I have talked about it, but —"
BOOM!
The entire house shook from top to bottom. At once, everyone got to their feet and drew their wands, except Bill and Fleur, who grabbed Dominique and Victoire; Andromeda, who grabbed Teddy; and Mrs Weasley, who grabbed James. "Use the Floo and take the children to Grimmauld Place," ordered Harry. "It is ready to be used. We'll take care of this."
They did as told, with Bill and Fleur asking the Grangers to take Victoire and Dominique. Meanwhile, the others ran towards the windows and looked out of them. Through the curtain of rain, Hermione saw flashes and streaks of light hit the barrier that surrounded and protected The Burrow.
"It seems that there is more than one out there," said Angelina, fear evident in her voice.
"Percy, call the Ministry for reinforcements," ordered Harry. "The rest, get ready. We're going to fight them."
"We already are," muttered George, his face serious, his eyes filled with determination.
"Shield Charms ready," said Harry, opening the door. "Let's go!"
Wands aloft, they exited the house and ran, under the rain, towards the fence.
Hermione cast a spell around herself so the rain wouldn't touch her. It was freezing cold, and, being pregnant, that was not what she needed.
On the other side of the fence and the protective charms, six cloaked figures were throwing hexes and curses towards them, but all the spells were being deflected or absorbed by the charm that surrounded them.
"STOP!" yelled Harry, pointing his wand at them. "Your spells can't touch us, but ours can reach you!"
The six wizards or witches stopped at once, but didn't lower their wands.
"This is my house!" yelled Mr Weasley, moving a few steps forward. "What do you want?"
Through the sound of the rain and the wind came the answer, from one of the cloaked figures, who, like Mr Weasley, had moved a few steps forward.
"You are our enemies." The voice belonged to a woman, but it was horribly distorted, as if its owner didn't want to be recognised. "Arthur Weasley, you're friend of Muggles and Muggleborns, you have Aurors under your roof, as well as members of a group that seek to destroy us!"
Hermione felt her blood run cold inside her veins. How did they know about their secret group?
"There's no secret group!" yelled Harry. "We're just family and friends spending Christmas together!"
"I assume you don't have families, if you're here instead of being with them!" added Ron, furious.
"Don't treat us as stupid, Harry Potter!" the woman replied, ignoring Ron completely. "Our master knows! We are well aware that you've reunited some members of what you used to call 'Dumbledore's Army' during the other war. But that won't make any difference now!"
"What do you want?" Harry asked, trying to mask his frustration with fury.
"We want to deliver a message from our master," the woman answered. "Leave us alone. There's no way you can stop us. Things have changed since last time."
"Leave you alone?" replied Ron, shaking with fury. "You attacked my wife! You stole her medical file from St Mungo's! What for? What do you want? Where is Rowan Gerrick? Is he among you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," the woman answered. "And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you anything. I repeat the order: leave us alone."
"How dare you defy a Ministry official this way?" bellowed Percy. "There's no way the Ministry will let you break the law without consequences!"
"Then more people will die!" the woman said.
"What the hell does your master want?" asked Ron. "Answer!"
The woman just laughed.
"I wouldn't laugh if I were you," shouted Julie angrily. "Sooner or later we'll catch you, and when you're rotting away in Azkaban you'll curse your master's name. That is, if you make it without being burnt alive!"
"You won't catch us," the woman said defiantly, this time without laughing.
"We'll see," Hermione heard Harry say. "ATTACK!"
At once, thirteen Stunning Spells burst from the wands and soared towards the Attackers. However, they cast strong Shield charms that protected them.
A moment later, a few 'pops!' could be heard, and five or six more Aurors appeared just behind the Attackers, startling and surprising them, and a full battle commenced. The defenders of The Burrow moved towards the Attackers, who had started to use terrible curses and spells and seemed ready to fight to the death, probably knowing what would happen if they were captured.
Hermione, however, didn't follow the others outside the area covered by the protection charms. The image of her protruding belly was burnt in her mind, and she knew she couldn't risk her daughter's life, especially when she knew that the mysterious leader of this group was so interested in her. She kept firing spells, though, and noticed that, near her, Audrey had not made an attempt to leave the protected area, either. She was fighting, too, her eyes focused on Percy, and Hermione couldn't help but notice how her left hand was over her belly in a gesture she knew too well.
"Audrey ...!" she gasped, drawing the other girl's attention. "You — you are ..." Her voice tailed away.
"We were going to announce it tonight," Audrey answered, firing a new spell that missed one of the Attackers by a few inches.
Another life. Another member of their family was coming, and they had to protect him. Furrowing her brow in concentration, she focused on the battle once more. The Attackers were outnumbered, but they were among their enemies and were using their fear of accidentally harming their own family or friends to their advantage. They, on the other hand, seemed not to care who they hurt, and were using Killing and Blasting curses randomly.
At some point, one of the Attackers cast a powerful Exploding Spell that opened a wide crater in the ground, throwing mud in every direction and making Mr Weasley, Angelina and one of the Aurors fall on their backs rather hard. Exhilarated by what he had done, the Attacker laughed madly and let out a cry of victory, but that moment of distraction cost him too much, and barely a moment later, three Stunning Spells, cast by Ron, Neville and Ginny hit him, throwing him backwards and making him fall with a loud thud on the wet ground.
Hermione managed to hit another of the Attackers with a Blinding Jinx, but, far from rendering him unable to fight, he began to shoot Killing Curses left and right, not caring who was in their way, so some of the fighters — even one of their own companions — had to dodge them to avoid being killed.
Finally, Harry and George hit him with a Stunning Spell and an Impedimenta Jinx, leaving him unconscious on the floor. The rest of the Attackers, however, seeing that they were losing, renewed their efforts, casting nastier and more powerful curses, resulting in Hannah, another Auror — who Hermione recognised as Artemius Pye — and George falling to the ground injured.
However, the defenders managed to surround the Attackers, and they, desperate, threw four strong Blasting Curses around them, which forced the others to cast Shield Charms to protect themselves, and Disapparated.
The defenders looked all around, still wary, but, after a few seconds, they approached the fallen to make sure they were all right.
"Let's move them into the protected area!" yelled Harry. "Come on!"
Quickly, while Harry, Ron, Julie, Bill, Fleur and another Auror looked around, their wands ready, Ginny, Neville, Hermione, Audrey, Luna and Percy used their own to drag their six unconscious and wounded friends into The Burrow.
"Let's move this scum too," said Justin Finch-Fletchley, trying to wipe away the drops of water running down his face with his wet sleeve. He moved towards one of the Attackers and bound them with a magical rope. Another Auror moved to do the same to the other fallen foe.
"Bring them in," said Harry, lowering his wand and crossing the boundaries with Julie. "We'll take them to the —"
Harry couldn't say anything more, because four 'pops!' sounded at once, and the four Attackers that barely a minute ago had fled Apparated once more, two near each of the fallen. No one had time to react, and, before they could do anything, Justin and the other Auror had dropped to the ground, unconscious. The Attackers grabbed their arms and those of their companions, trying to Disapparate with them. Three of them managed to do it, but the fourth, who was clutching the arm of the Attacker that had blasted Mr Weasley, Angelina and the Auror, was forced to release him to avoid being hit by a powerful curse cast by Julie. Swearing loudly and revealing that he was male, the wizard tried to grab his companion once more, but it was too late: several spells were being thrown at him, and, unable to fulfil his mission, he Disapparated alone.
"FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!" swore Harry, kicking a stone with his feet in rage.
"JUSTIN! SAMUEL!" Julie was yelling, running towards the point where the Aurors had been abducted.
"DON'T!" yelled Ron, running after her and stopping her before she could exit the protected area.
Harry, still swearing, used his wand to lift the body of the unconscious attacker off the ground and move it within The Burrow's wards. Ron released Julie, and, using his wand, bound him. Then, as dominated by a sudden impulse, he hit him on the ribs. Hermione could hear the sound of bones cracking, but the idea of scolding Ron for what he had done only lasted a fraction of a second. Kicking an unconscious person was not right, but, in that moment, Hermione understood perfectly Ron's anger and frustration, because she was feeling it herself. These monsters had attacked their family home on Christmas, had injured some of her friends and relatives, and had kidnapped two people: one of them a good friend of hers...
Oh, Merlin!
The weight of what had just happened fell on her suddenly, and she staggered in the wet garden. Two Aurors had been abducted, and only Merlin knew what those bastards were going to do to them.
"Take — take the injured inside," said Harry. "Are ... are they okay?" he asked. His eyes seemed empty, and he looked lost and defeated. Seeing him like that brought a sudden dread upon Hermione. Harry hadn't looked that way since those days when they were on the Horcrux hunt, Ron had walked out on them and all hope seemed lost.
"They'll be fine," Fleur said, checking on Angelina.
"We have to go to the Ministry," said Ron, who, contrarily to Harry, seemed frantic. "We have to organise a search and find them, before it's too late!"
"Yes, you're right, you're right," nodded Harry, and the prospect of something to do seemed to draw him out of his stupor. "We have spells to locate any Auror, let's move and use them!"
Everyone hurried into The Burrow.
"Ginny, call Mum and the others at Grimmauld Place," said Ron. "Fleur and she are the best at healing spells. Who else is good at them, besides Hermione?"
Luna raised her hand.
"Take care of the injured, then," he continued. "Julie," he added, looking at her. "Go to the Ministry and bring as many Aurors as you can. Drag them out of their living rooms if necessary. We'll begin the search here."
"Why here?" asked Audrey. "Won't it be easier if you go to the Ministry?"
"These tracking spells work better if they're used in a place where the missing Auror has been recently," explained Harry.
Fleur, Hermione and Luna got to work, treating those whose injuries were worse — the ones affected by the explosion — while Harry, Ron and the other two Aurors, with the help of Bill, started to work on the Locator Spell. They were joined by Neville as soon as he was reassured by Hermione that Hannah would be all right. Just a few seconds later, Ginny came out of the fireplace with a swoosh, followed by an anxious-looking Mrs Weasley.
"ARTHUR! GEORGE!" she yelled upon seeing her husband and son, and Hermione felt a pain in her very soul at the anguish in her voice.
"They're going to be all right, Molly," she said, wanting to comfort her. "They'll be all right."
"When is this going to end?" she asked to no one. She sniffed, shook her head as brushing off a bad thought, and, with a trembling hand, took out her wand and began to work.
While she cast some healing charms on Hannah — her wounds were not severe — Hermione saw Ron put a map of the British Isles on a table. A moment later, the four Aurors and Neville began to recite the incantation.
Hermione laid her eyes back on Hannah when she heard her moan and stir, and a moment later the girl opened her eyes, blinking a few times in confusion.
"Hermione, what —?"
"You are all right, don't worry," Hermione assured her. "You were wounded, but I've healed you."
"Neville ...?"
"He's okay; he's here," Hermione answered, nodding towards the group of Aurors.
A new swoosh in the fireplace announced the arrival of the Grangers and Andromeda, who brought Victoire, Teddy, Dominique and James with them.
"Hermione!" shouted her mother when she saw her. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Mum," Hermione said.
"What happened?" her father asked, looking at the injured with a horrified expression on his face. "Can we help?"
"Can you put some bandages on Angelina and zat man?" Fleur asked him.
"Of course," Hermione's father said. Smiling at him, Fleur Conjured the needed materials and the Grangers began to work.
"Nothing!" shouted then one of the Aurors, clearly angry and frustrated. "Why does this bloody spell not work?"
"I don't know; maybe it needs more time," said Harry.
"What if they are in an unplottable place?" asked Ron. "Would it work?"
"I don't know," said Harry.
"No, it probably wouldn't," said Hermione, looking at them. "Of course, it would depend on the Locator Spell and the Unplottable Charm, as, technically, you are marking on the map the location of a person, not a place. But with really strong Unplottable or Concealment charms, it probably won't work."
"But the Death Eaters were able to know we were in Grimmauld Place, all those years ago," replied Ron. "Just because you used Voldemort's name. And weren't we under a Fidelius Charm? That's the strongest Unplottable Charm, isn't it?"
"It is, but the Taboo Jinx was not a Locator Spell," explained Hermione. "It was another completely different kind of magic. And still, they weren't able to see the house."
"Anyway, we don't have anything else, so we better keep trying."
"What happened?" asked Mrs Weasley. "Who are you trying to locate?"
"The Attackers took two Aurors hostage," answered Ginny. "They —"
Ginny was interrupted by a very loud crack near the front door. At once, everyone in the room turned towards it, their wands ready.
Harry and Ron ran towards one of the windows and looked out of it.
"I don't see anyone," said Ron.
"What are those two shapes on the ground?" asked Harry.
"Where? Ah, yeah, I see them," said Ron. "I don't know. They weren't there before."
Bill approached the door and opened it carefully. After being sure there was no danger outside, he stepped out, Harry, Ron, Neville and the other two Aurors at his heels. The others moved so they could see what was happening, and Hermione watched them, her heart beating rapidly, approach the two shapes Harry had mentioned.
"Oh, Merlin! Oh, for heaven's sake!" Bill shouted, his voice filled with horror.
"Bloody hell!" bellowed Ron.
"Those bastards!" yelled another of the Aurors.
Hermione, followed by Ginny, went out and approached the group, curious but wary. She reached them and looked.
They were Justin and the other Auror, the one Julie had called Samuel. They were inside what looked like open body bags ... and dead.
Dead, and so horribly mutilated they were barely recognisable.
Unable to stand the gory gift the Attackers had sent them, Hermione turned round, suppressed her desire to cry, and vomited.
Yeah, another nasty ending ... These Attackers are terribly cruel.
Anyway, now I'm off to the beach, we're burning here in Spain. And you would make me very happy if when I come back I find a lot of reviews.
Next chapter, next week. Around Thursday, I suppose. Enjoy your week!