A/N: I own none of this magical world and make no money from this...
Also, just a reminder that there may be a few more gory details in this chapter, but nothing too bad.
"Oh, Remus!" Bellatrix called from the top of the stairs. There was a sort of archway between the vast open space that we were in and the office. We had moved, over the past hour or two to a spot out of sight of all of the Death Eaters near that archway. Remus stood and nodded to us. We nodded back. This was it, time to attempt our escape plan. We listened to Remus's deliberately loud footsteps across to the staircase and up to the office.
This plan required complete trust in one another, fast reflexes and impeccable timing. The moment we heard the door close, Ron squeezed my side and walked through the archway as well. I hugged the wall, listened and waited.
"I want to talk to Bellatrix." Ron said with authority. Someone sniggered.
"Oh do you, now?" Mulciber sneered. "Well no one sees her without an invitation."
"I want to join the Death Eaters." Ron spoke louder. This elicited laughter from both of the guards.
"That's rich! Why would the Dark Lord ever want you?" An unfamiliar voice asked.
"I'm a pure blood." Ron said, his voice sounding a bit less confident. "And...and I have brothers...who I could convince to join me." I heard some hushed words and footsteps closer to the wall. Moving as quietly as possible, I inched as close to the edge as I dared and craned my neck to hear them better.
"He could be good bait. Lure Charlie Weasley in." Mulciber said quietly. It sounded like Greyback grunted in approval.
"Alright, Weasley." Mulciber's voice dripped with disdain. "Let's go." I heard their footsteps ascend the stairs and realized with a heavy heart that it meant I'd be left with the werewolf. We had hoped that he would have been the one to take Ron upstairs. However, I also realized that Remus and Ron would have three Death Eaters to deal with and I only had him. I gave myself a quick pep talk. There was the sound of the office door being closed. Time to move.
As I rounded the corner, a shout of surprise sounded from the office. This distracted Greyback just long enough for me to rush him with a twisted crowbar I had found in the rubble of the warehouse. There was a sickening crunching sound as the metal bar connected with his cheek. He fell, but didn't black out. I saw his wand in his right hand, but his grip was loose. In one swift movement, I snatched it up and cast a body bind. He was yelling incoherently but not loud enough to be of any concern. I dashed up the stairs to help the men.
As I opened the door a jet of red light hit the wall beside me, barely missing my left arm. I ducked and let the door close behind me, barricading myself behind an overturned table. A quick glance around the other side told me that Mulciber was lying still on the floor. Ron was crouched behind an armchair, blood smeared across his face, and he had his arms around the child he had seen upon our arrival.
Remus was a few feet away behind a desk, casting spells over his head at Bellatrix and the masked Death Eater. A pair of feet were visible also, but I couldn't see who they belonged to.
"Hermione!" Remus yelled. I turned quickly to my left but didn't raise my wand in time. Bellatrix had made her way around the room to me and kicked out her leg, the heel of her shoe connecting painfully with my cheekbone. I twisted and fell over backwards, dropping Greyback's wand in the process. I heard the door open and knew it was because of my mistake she had escaped.
I grabbed the wand, let out a cry of frustration and cast a powerful expelliarmus across the room. I hit the masked figure head on, sending him crashing into the back wall. Breathing heavily, Remus and I moved slowly towards him. The figure squirmed in pain, his upper body hidden behind a pile of boxes. As we got closer, however, there was no mistaking that brilliant white hair.
"Lucius." Remus growled. It was the most unnerving sound I had heard come from him – ever. After a moment of thought, I decided to leave him to it, and went back to help Ron get the child away and look for the others.
It turned out that the feet I had seen belonged to one of the men who had been a casualty of our plan. The woman was lying unconscious beneath a pile of paper and debris. Ron picked her up and I lifted the child - a scared looking young girl with brown hair and wide blue eyes. We made our way downstairs and out the door. I noticed that Greyback was nowhere to be seen – most likely Bellatrix had taken him on her way out. No doubt Voldemort wouldn't be keen on losing the one werewolf he did have.
Once she woke, the woman informed us with a thick French accent that the child's father was the one we had found upstairs and the other man had been taken to Voldemort. After some discussion, she told us she would take the child with her to find her family. They thanked us and wished us well. We watched them go and waited for Remus by a clump of trees, keeping a lookout in case Bellatrix came back with reinforcements.
"Oh, 'Mione," Ron moaned, gently touching my chin with his hand. "That looks terrible." My hand flew to my cheek – it was quite swollen and painful to touch.
"It's all right, we're free. That's all that matters. Are you all right?" I asked. He nodded, wiping his face with his sleeve.
"It was from the little girl's dad." He said quietly. I nodded, silently wishing there was something we could have done differently to get them all out alive.
It was quite some time until Remus finally emerged from the warehouse. Looking grim and covered in substances I'd rather not identify. He shed his button-up shirt and used the inside to wipe himself down, which helped considerably. He then tossed the shirt on the ground and walked over to us, handing Ron and I our own wands.
"These were on Lucius." He said simply. We nodded and tucked the stolen wands away, keeping our own wands out just in case.
"Well," Ron said, breaking some of the tension, "Cornish Coast, then?"
*/*
We walked along the coast with far too little caution. We could be seen by anyone, but Remus's relaxed demeanor was too contagious. He had been in much better spirits since we left the warehouse over 24 hours ago. It would have been a bit unnerving if we didn't know he would do anything for Tonks. I didn't want to know what had happened in that office with Lucius; but in my eyes, whatever it was, he had deserved.
"I didn't kill him." Remus said, suddenly beside me and reading my thoughts. My steps faltered for a moment in surprise. This made him chuckle a bit.
"Oh I wanted to," Remus said earnestly. "But I couldn't let myself sink to that level. Dora wouldn't have wanted it."
"You're right." I said, my respect and admiration for him growing. "Though I wouldn't have blamed you for it." Remus gave me a half smile and nodded over at Ron who was walking closer to the water line, a few yards away.
"I daresay you'd do the same for him." I looked back at Remus, confused.
"I'd probably want revenge on anyone who hurt my friends. I certainly want revenge for Harry." Remus's brow furrowed as he glanced between me and Ron.
"Oh, well I… I thought… never mind." He trailed off and looked down. I was about to ask him if he thought Ron and I were together when Ron's voice sliced through the sea breeze.
"Oi! Over there!"
We looked where he was pointing – several yards down the beach was a gap in the rocks. A cave entrance. And beside it, glinting in the soft sunlight was a tiny emerald.
"Severus." I breathed.