Chapter 10
Friday night rolled around with nothing notable happening. Hermione felt her anxiety grow with each passing day, waiting for the attack on the Burrow. When Thursday came and went without any incident, she felt her stomach turn itself into knots. The attack would then have to happen on Friday, unless Voldemort had a change of plans, but being unable to contact Draco she could do nothing but wait.
She sat on her bed in Gryffindor tower, her DA coin lying on the sheets in front of her. Harry was supposed to alert her as soon as the attack on the Burrow started, but the sun was already setting and her coin remained inert.
Her door creaked open, and she felt Tom walk into the room after a brief knock on the door frame. When she had told him of the impending attack on the Burrow, he had listened calmly and continued their daily practices, not mentioning anything about the upcoming battle. She was fairly confident in her dueling skills, but she knew that one misstep can mean death even for the most powerful witch or wizard.
"You're anxious," Tom said, coming up to sit beside her on the bed. "Still no word from your friends?"
She shook her head. "Maybe Voldemort changed his mind."
"Maybe," he said, but the way he said it made it clear to her that he thought it unlikely. "No need to be anxious, Hermione. You're good at dueling, and you've got a smart head. That means you won't do stupid heroics that would get you killed."
"I know, I'm confident, but even the best can also fall," she said. She knew he was aware of this, it was what he detested about life... that it was finite.
"Not if they can help it," he said, taking something out of his pocket and holding it out to her.
She looked down to see the Gaunt family ring cradled in the palm of his hand. It's stone was gone, Dumbledore having removed it, but the gold band was intact and still shiny in the afternoon sun. "Your family ring," she said.
"I took it from Dumbledore's office," he said. "I put a charm on it." He gestured for her to take off her necklace, which she did, and he slipped the ring onto the chain and deftly fastened it back for her at the nape of her neck. "There is no such talisman that can protect anyone from curses like an automatic shield, our magic doesn't work that way. This won't protect you from death either, but if you get seriously injured, you just hold the ring between your fingers and say the incantation 'tutus locum' and it will transport you here to the chamber of secrets. You get yourself back to me, and I can heal you, if needed," he said.
"Oh," she said, fingering the ring lightly, touched by the gesture. "Thank you." She slipped the ring under her shirt, feeling the cool metal against her skin. "But I'll be careful anyway."
He still looked a little stern. "I am actually not pleased to be left behind this time."
She automatically put a hand over his, and for once he didn't shy away from the physical contact. "Both Harry and the Death Eaters will be after your blood if they see you there. If we manage to thin their ranks tonight, then Voldemort will be further weakened and Draco and I will find a way to get you close enough to kill him. But not tonight."
He was about to answer her when Hermione saw the DA coin glow. Attacks starting. Calling all DA to the Burrow.
Hermione saw the coin, and for a second she felt a shiver run through her body before she got her bearings. "I should go," she said to Tom, but he had turned his hand palm up to grasp her fingers with his, forcing her to look at him.
"No heroics," he repeated.
"No heroics," she agreed. "I need to go out through the gate and apparate to the Burrow."
He didn't say anything, but he stood up and hauled her to her feet with such force that she stumbled into his tall frame. He wrapped a hand around her arm and held her firmly as he apparated them both to the Hogwarts gates. He opened the gate for her, and as she walked past him, he reminded her again.
"Remember the charm. I can't do anything if you come back to me dead," he said.
"I'll be back," she assured him, and turned on the spot, wondering what she would see once she got to the Burrow. She apparated in an empty field a distance away from the Weasley home, and against the night sky she saw several intermittent flashes around the house that signified an ongoing battle. She took a firm hold of her wand and made her way to the commotion, her senses alert for any attackers who might notice her.
It was George Weasley she first saw. He was locked in a fast-paced duel with a masked Death Eater who had managed to send him flying into a tree. Hermione put up a cushioning charm to lessen the impact just before George hit the tree, and she stepped in to engage the Death Eater, taking him down with a simple Stupefy. She bound the Death Eater with an Incarcerous and, after checking to make sure that George was all right, she pocketed the fallen Death Eater's wand and ran to look for the others.
She saw Hannah Abbott and Neville Longbottom fighting back to back with each other, holding off one Death Eater each. A few paces away, she saw Bill and Percy engaging three Death Eaters simultaneously. They didn't look like they needed any help, so she continued to run past them. She saw Kingsley and McGonagall, but she passed over them, looking for Harry and Ron.
She found her two friends in the middle of the fight. Ron was dueling with a tall and burly Death Eater which she suspected was McNair, and Harry was dueling with two Death Eaters, his seeker reflexes coming in handy as he parried hex after hex.
"Hermione!" Ron cried as he spied her.
She gave him a quick nod before sending a slicing hex to his opponent, causing the tall Death Eater to stumble. She pointed her wand at the fallen man with the binding curse on her lips, but she caught a flash of green light at the corner of her eye and she instinctively dove into Ron, knocking them both out of the way of the killer curse.
"Expelliarmus! Incarcerous!" She disarmed and bound the fallen Death Eater as her eyes roamed the field, searching for the caster of the killing curse.
Her blood chilled when she locked eyes with a wild-haired witch. Bellatrix Lestrange, Voldemort's strongest supporter, had come to join the battle. The mad witch looked at Hermione tauntingly, running a hand along her left arm as if to remind the girl of the scar she had.
"Mione," Ron said beside her as she scrambled to her feet.
"I got this, Ron," she said, setting her shoulders back with determination. "It's time for her to learn that being a Mudblood doesn't mean anything at all."
She ignored Ron's protests that the older members of the Order handle Bellatrix. She heard Tom's voice in her head. No heroics, he had said, but she wasn't playing hero. She knew that this time, she could handle Bellatrix.
The older witch let out her signature manic laugh, but Hermione wasn't caught off guard when Bellatrix threw a slicing hex her way. Hermione quickly put up a shield, and decided that she wasn't going to waste time with Bellatrix. Right after she conjured the shield, her wand flew into hexes and curses that were by now very familiar to her. "Impedimenta! Reducto! Confringo!"
She held back a smirk as Bellatrix stopped laughing to effectively block her spells, and Hermione used the opportunity to step to the side to get a new line of fire to Bellatrix. The Death Eater was still holding up her shield when Hermione used a new curse from Tom, sending a spray of clear liquid from the tip of her wand that seemed to corrode areas of Bellatrix's shield. When Hermione saw the shield waver she fed the spell more of her magic, only stopping when Bellatrix was forced to give ground in order to avoid her attack, her shield already broken.
"Avada Kedavra!" Bellatrix screamed, but Hermione had jumped out of the way well ahead of the curse.
"Conjunctivitis!" she said, pointing her wand and connecting with the simple spell.
As Bellatrix clawed at her eyes before reversing the spell, Hermione used the pause to summon a shield charm and, pulling her magic around her, she silently disapparated only to reappear in another part of the field, putting herself in Bellatrix's blind spot. "Expelliarmus," she hissed, and she successfully disarmed Bellatrix. "Stupefy. Incarcerous."
She caught Bellatrix's wand in midair, pocketing it as well. She walked over to the stupefied Death Eater, cautious as she got nearer, only to make sure that she was indeed out of the fight.
"Blimey, Mione, that was great!" Ron said, coming over to her.
She was a little winded from the rush of fighting Bellatrix, but she looked around, quickly taking stock of the situation. Harry was still battling with two Death Eaters, and she counted how many remained on either side. Kingsley and McGonagall were still fighting their respective opponents, and so were George, Percy, and Bill. Neville was still moving around with Hannah, but Hermione's heart quickened when she saw Molly Weasley lying prone on the ground, with her husband valiantly fending off three Death Eaters.
Hermione strengthened her shielding and apparated next to Arthur, stepping in to engage one of the Death Eaters. She glanced at Molly on the ground, noting with a measure of relief that she was still alive, and that Ginny was kneeling next to her, tending to her. She cast a quick protego over the mother and daughter as she moved away from them, taking the Death Eaters' attention away from the pair.
She cast a slicing hex at her opponent, followed by a stinging hex as she sent her magic in a wave that forced the man off his feet. "Expelliarmus!" she cried out, disarming him. She turned back to Arthur, who had defeated his opponents as well and she tossed the free wand to him. "There's only a handful of them left," she said hurriedly to the Weasley patriarch. "Bellatrix is down."
Arthur nodded grimly as he looked at his wife. "Let's get this finished, then."
He moved to help his sons against several Death Eaters, and Hermione searched for Harry. He was still battling with two Death Eaters, their wands flying in all directions. She brought her wand up and slashed at the air, hitting one of Harry's opponents with a stinging hex. The man's mask fell off to reveal the arrogant face of Antonin Dolohov, proud even as his arm was bleeding from the stinging hex he had just received.
"Your Mudblood friend has come to rescue you, Potter," Dolohov said with a sneer.
Hermione hurried over, sensing that Harry was at the end of his limit. "Surrender or leave," she said firmly. "I already took down Bellatrix Lestrange. You've clearly lost this round."
Dolohov's face tightened as he saw Bellatrix lying on the ground, with Ron watching over her. "No, I wouldn't exactly call it a loss," he said. He pointed his wand at the Burrow, casting Fiendfyre on it.
"No!" Harry yelled, forgetting to use his wand and coming at Lucius with his fists.
Dolohov waved his hand at Harry, sending him flying into the air. He raised his arms, telling the remaining Death Eaters to continue the fight as the Weasleys were looking at their burning house, stunned.
Hermione clenched her fists, telling herself not to think about the Weasley home burning, but to focus on the Death Eater who was in front of her. She was about to start dueling him when she was distracted by a scuffle across the field. She looked over to see that Ron, who had been guarding over Bellatrix, was too shocked to see his house burning that he had loosened his grip on his wand. Bellatrix, proving that she was a highly skilled witch, had overcome the stunning spell Hermione had put on her and had reached up to grab Ron's wand right out of his hand. She sent him flying into a tree and before he even landed, Bellatrix had shot a curse at Hermione.
Hermione fell over as the curse connected with her, and she felt immeasurable pain from all over her body as her skin opened in several places and her blood started to leak out. She gasped as she gripped her wand, seeing Dolohov step in front of Harry to stop him from helping her. Harry and Dolohov resumed their interrupted duel as the second Death Eater that Harry had been fighting knelt next to her.
"Granger," he said.
Hermione looked up into a pair of concerned gray eyes. It was Draco. "Don't blow your cover," she hissed, gathering the last of her strength to send a forceful blasting hex at him. He was flung away from her, and Hermione turned her head to see Bellatrix striding towards her, a gleeful look on her face. Hermione summoned barely enough of her will to force her hand to frantically pull out the chain of her necklace, her fingers finding the ring and pressing it. "Tutus locum," she whispered, and the last thing she saw before her consciousness started to slip away was Bellatrix's enraged look.
Hermione felt like she was pushing against mountains. She wanted to open her eyes, but her eyelids were to heavy, so she tried to wiggle her toes instead. She felt like she couldn't move, and she was starting to panic, her breaths becoming quicker, until she felt a hand on her arm.
"You're back at Hogwarts," Tom's cool voice washed over her. "You came back practically dead and it took a great deal out of me to heal you. You're not completely healed yet, so rest some more."
She felt his hand come up to rest on her hair, and the gesture was too kind and too tender that she finally forced her eyes open to see his face. He looked like he had suffered through a battle as well. His face looked wan, and his eyes looked a little sunken as if he had little sleep. His jaw was set with that firmness that he usually had when he was not pleased with something. They were in his bedroom in the chamber of secrets, she was lying on his bed and he was perched on the edge of it, his knee almost touching her hip.
"I was hit by a spell I didn't recognize," she said, her voice coming out dry. She licked her lips.
He drew back his hand and looked over to the table. He levitated a glass of water towards them, shifting so that he could support her with a hand at her back as she sat up to take a sip. She leaned into him after drinking, for he was warm and she was cold.
"It was an old dark curse, from what I gathered," he said, sounding a little hoarse. "I talked with Draco last night. It's Sunday afternoon, by the way. You were out for almost two days."
"Draco was there," she mumbled, turning her head into his shoulder.
He waved his hand to the fireplace, turning up the heat, and at the same time he performed a warming charm on her. "I met with him in your place last night. It was a Saturday night, remember? He didn't expect you to show after being injured as such, but I went in under disguise."
She tilted her face up to catch the corner of his mouth turn up. "You were disguised as a girl?" she asked.
He threw her a look. "Don't be absurd. I just used some simple glamours instead of the Polyjuice Potion you keep in stock."
She pushed away from him, leaning back against the headboard, warming up enough with his spell. "Thank you for healing me," she said.
He cleared his throat. "It's more complicated than that," he said slowly. "I had to use ancient rune magic to sustain you and to keep your soul from leaving your body. Then to heal your body, I used my own magic. But you've lost a large amount of blood and we don't have blood replenishing potions in stock anymore, so I had to use my own blood to replace that which you've lost."
He let his words sink in. Hermione turned her head to him in surprise. "But... your own blood?"
He nodded and he held up his right hand, showing her a healing wound on his palm. "I told you before, blood magic is strong, and blood itself is powerful, especially if given willingly. You have some of my blood in you now, and in effect, some of my power." He paused, holding her gaze. "How do you feel about that?"
She reached out and traced his wound with her finger. She didn't know how to feel about it. She knew little of blood magic, but to give someone something so personal was a big deal, especially for someone like Tom. "I don't know," she said. "How do you feel about it?"
"How I feel about it is irrelevant," he said. "I already know its significance."
"But I don't want you to begrudge me because of it," she said. "I know you value your own blood and your power, and I don't want you to regret giving me your blood."
He seized her hand and he pressed his palm against hers so she could feel the wound. "It wasn't a decision I made lightly," he assured her. "Now that the danger to your life has passed, I still don't regret it. Not if it meant saving your life. Now, how do you feel about it?"
She looked at their joined hands. "I... I don't know. It just seems so… intimate."
"It is," he agreed. "Is that good or bad?"
Her breath caught in her throat as she felt his pulse against her skin. Suddenly, she felt that he wasn't asking her just about the blood magic. She bit her lip. "Nothing is entirely good or bad," she said slowly, weighing her words, thinking about their previous conversation about light and dark magic. "I suppose we shall just see how it unfolds. I am, however, glad to be alive. Thank you, Tom."
He nodded, giving her hand the lightest of squeezes before releasing it, satisfied with her answer. "You are still weak," he said, standing up to transfer to a bedside chair.
"So are you," she observed.
"Yes, the magic drained me a bit," he said. "But I will be back to my full strength by tomorrow. You might take a couple of more days before you could move around without restriction again."
She clasped her hands together and bit her lip. "Tell me about your meeting with Draco?"
"Your Order managed to catch five Death Eaters, one of them was McNair, who was part of the Inner Circle. That woman who cursed you, Bellatrix, managed to get away and so did Lucius Malfoy, so the Inner Circle is still pretty much intact. However, Draco said that you have caught Voldemort's attention, because you were able to put Bellatrix down the first time. Perhaps he senses that your dueling style is similar to his... to mine, though your curses are tame. Draco said you never used the killing curse."
"No, I only disarmed and stunned."
"If you had killed Bellatrix the first time you wouldn't have gotten hurt," he told her, the tiniest hint of exasperation in his voice. "Would you rather lose your own life than take someone else's?"
"It's not something I think about," she admitted.
He let it go at that. "Draco and I have worked on a plan to get me close to Voldemort. With McNair gone, Draco has been included in the Inner Circle, and because of the relatively successful attack on the Burrow, he has gained more favor with Voldemort. The next time Voldemort calls for a meeting with the Inner Circle, I will go in Draco's place with the Polyjuice potion, and I will kill Voldemort before the other Death Eaters arrive."
"You're going in alone?" she asked, not pleased with the idea.
"Draco will be there, though out of sight. He needs to take down the manor wards as soon as Voldemort is dead. This is where your Order will come in. If they want to finish the Death Eaters, they can storm the manor when the wards come down."
She thought about this. "If Voldemort calls for a meeting of the Inner Circle, it would mean that his top Death Eaters will be there. It will be a tough fight. Do you know if the Order members managed to escape from the Burrow unscathed?"
"They must have, because they are here," he said, frowning.
She raised her eyebrows. "Here?"
"At Hogwarts. I presume that since their present headquarters was destroyed in the Fiendfyre, they had no other safe place to stay in."
"You've been steering clear of them, I hope," she said.
He pretended to look insulted. "Do you think me foolish? It's bad enough that I had to nurse you back to health, but to do it tiptoeing around the castle like a common thief grates on my pride. Those Weasley boys tend to dominate the kitchens so I had to resort to asking the house elves to just bring me my meals here."
"Sorry about that," she said, feeling his injured pride. "With a plan in place for you taking down Voldemort, I can talk with them and tell them about you now."
"I would suggest waiting a few days," he said. "I hear them talking. They are pretty much enraged at the Death Eaters and at Voldemort at the moment so they might try to kill me on sight."
She raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't think it would be that easy to kill you."
"They can't," he said easily. "But then it would force you into a position wherein you would have to either defend me or take their side, and I want to avoid that."
"I'm not going to let them attack you, Tom," she assured him. "And I'm not going to leave you. I have a life debt. Besides, I do believe that our plan is the best way to end this war." She did not give away the fact that she saw through his words. He, who was never afraid of anything except death, was afraid that she would leave him if forced by circumstances.
"I need some food. And I need to see my friends. They must be worried about me," she added to change the topic.
"They will wonder how you could have healed so quickly," he said, hurrying to his feet to support her as she swung her legs to the side of the bed. "Just tell them you kept a stock of healing potions in a safe house somewhere. I doubt they would know the gravity of the curse that hit you so they shouldn't question your recovery with potions."
She stood up, and he stood with her, an arm on her elbow to steady her. "I think I can walk fine," she said.
"Just keep to the walls for support," he said. He released her from his grip and walked over to his bedside table, grabbing a bottle. He uncapped it and handed it to her. "Just a Pepper Up potion to help you along. Will you be coming back here later?"
"If I can get away from them," she said.
He helped her walk the stairs leading out of the chamber. "If you come back, knock five times on the sink and I'll open it for you."
She turned to him before stepping out into the girls bathroom. "Thank you again for saving me," she said. "I'll return the favor some day."
He gave her an easy smile. "I hope that day never comes."
It was almost sweet, the way he tilted his head towards her in farewell. Hermione started to make her way to her room, one hand on the wall to support her and the other touching the Gaunt family ring still hanging around her neck, hidden under her shirt. It was a little unnerving thinking that Tom had given her something so powerful and personal, but what was more curious was the way he dismissed it as something unimportant to him. She made a mental note to check on blood bonds as soon as she can.
She slowly made her way to the Gryffindor tower, and when she entered the common room she was greeted with the site of the Weasley family gathered around the fireplace. It was Ginny who first saw her, and her tired face broke out in a smile. "Hermione!" the younger girl squealed, jumping to her feet to give Hermione a hug.
"I'm all right," she said, returning the embrace.
"Mione!" Ron said, getting up to engulf her in a hug as well. "What happened? We saw you disappear right in front of us..."
"I apparated to my old house," she said. "I keep a stock of healing potions there and I just healed myself. I'm sorry if I had you all worried. What happened after I left?"
"The Burrow was completely destroyed," Harry said morosely. "We lost practically everything. We had nowhere to go, and Professor McGonagall said we could use Hogwarts until it reopens for class."
"Kingsley is setting up a new headquarters for the Order," Arthur said. "He's considering Shell Cottage, but it's nowhere as large as Grimmauld Place or the Burrow. It will have to do, though."
Hermione sat down on the couch beside Harry, who gave her an odd look. "You should have killed Bellatrix when you had the chance," he said.
"Maybe," she agreed. "But I couldn't bring myself to cast the killing curse."
"Hermione, she tortured you and scarred you for life, and you still think she didn't deserve to die?" Harry asked in disbelief.
"It's not in me to kill people so easily, Harry," she said tiredly. "Yes, it was a bad decision on my part, but I can't bring myself to do it. Ron was supposed to stand guard over her."
"I'm sorry, but seeing my home burning distracted me," Ron said heatedly.
Hermione drew back. "I'm sorry, too," she said. "I didn't mean to imply that you were to blame."
"There is no place here for blaming," Arthur said just as wearily. "We simply have to move on from here."
"How is Molly?" Hermione asked.
"Recovering," Arthur answered. "She will be fine, but she won't be joining us for duels any time soon."
Hermione pursed her lips. "Draco and I are working on a plan," she assured them. "We should be ready to move in one or two weeks. I'm hungry, though. I haven't had a proper meal since the battle. Have you all had your tea?"
"We have," Ginny said, jumping to her feet again. "But I'll go to the kitchens and have the elves make you something."
"So what's this plan that you and Draco are working on?" Harry asked.
"Draco's been taken into the Inner Circle," she said. "Someone will have to go in Polyjuiced as Draco and kill Voldemort. When he's dead, Draco will take down the manor wards and we can go in and deal with the rest of the Death Eaters. It will be a big operation, so we need more wands, more than what we had at the Burrow."
"But what about Voldemort's soul? You said we need to kill the other soul in order to kill Voldemort completely."
"Or we could sever the tie between the two souls," she said. "I told you. I'm still working on a spell for that."
"You've been working at it for weeks," Harry complained.
She threw him a look. "You're welcome to help me research on soul magic," she said, irritated. "But no, you're just happy leaving me to do all the research while you wait for the chance to cast the killing curse on Voldemort. What made you so trigger happy, Harry? You know things don't just get resolved by simple killing."
"This war has dragged on long enough," Harry said. "Voldemort needs to die, and the sooner I do it, the better. Even if I have to go in Polyjuiced as Draco."
"Maybe burn Malfoy Manor to the ground while you're at it," Ron said bitterly.
"Not a bad idea," Harry said.
Hermione looked at them disapprovingly. "It's Draco's home too, you know," she told them. "If you burn it to the ground you'll be practically inviting him to live with the rest of you as he has nowhere else to go."
"Okay, scratch that idea," Harry mumbled, putting a hand over his eyes. "Draco was dueling me along with Dolohov that night, and everything was going too fast, but I could have sworn that he had shot a couple of shielding charms my way without anyone noticing. So you were right about him, Hermione. He did mean well when he said he was leaving the Death Eaters."
"You should have believed me right at the start," she sighed. "I do have a sixth sense about these things."
"Kingsley is coming here tomorrow. We are going to make an updated list of the Order, then we can see who we can call on for the assault on Malfoy Manor," Harry said.
"Harry, when you said we lost everything in the Burrow fire, did you mean you lost your Marauder's Map as well?" she asked.
"Yes, and my father's invisibility cloak," he said. "I would have thought the cloak at least would survive, but it was Fiendfyre so everything was destroyed. How do you stop Fiendfyre anyway?"
"It's only the caster who can control it. Otherwise if left by itself it just burns out but after a long time," Hermione answered, somewhat relieved that at least Harry didn't have his map anymore.
She looked up when she saw that Ginny had returned with a tray of food for her. She settled the tray on her lap as she ate, idly listening to Harry and Ron talk about the remaining members of the DA. Ginny sat next to her to engage her in conversation.
"We were really worried about you," the younger girl said. "Harry tried contacting you through the DA coin but you didn't answer."
"I haven't really taken a look at it," she admitted, letting the tomato soup warm her bones. "So did you all come here straight from the Burrow?"
"Yes. The battle went on for a good bit after you'd gone, in the end George and Percy fell, and more Death Eaters came on the scene so we had to flee. We've managed to catch a few Death Eaters, they've been sent to the Ministry, but the Order ended up losing more than what we gained."
Hermione put an arm around Ginny. "I'm sorry you lost your home."
"Me too," she said bravely. "But it doesn't matter to me, Hermione. I'd rather lose all my things rather than lose someone else in the family, or you or Harry." She lowered her voice. "I'm worried about Harry. Ever since the attack on the Burrow, he's been going on and on about just storming the manor and killing Voldemort. It's taking my father and Bill everything they have to keep him from going off. I think Harry feels guilty for us losing our home. I keep telling him it's all going to be all right, but I feel like he's coming to pieces."
"Which is why I'm partly glad that we've come to Hogwarts now. At least you're here. I'm worried about Harry and Ron being without you... you were always the rational one between the three of you. Maybe Harry will be better now that you're here."
Hermione cut into her steak silently. "It's not so easy as that, Gin," she said just as quietly. "Harry doesn't depend on me as much as before. It's like he's come into his own, and he has taken this fight against Voldemort on his own shoulders. I do have a plan to end this war, but it would take an enormous amount of trust coming from the Order."
"Hermione, if you could get them to trust you with Draco Malfoy, then I don't think that anything is impossible with you."
Hermione sighed. "Draco was easy."
Ginny looked at her closely. "What do you mean, Hermione?"
She bit her lip. "The next part of my plan would ask too much of the Order, and of Harry. I can't tell you about it yet, but in a few days, Gin. I'll tell you in a few days. I need to speak with Draco first."