J.K Rowling owns it and not me. But...Iskra is mine. .

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Chapter 11

(Same day)

I walked into the shop I usually met up with Iskra but I didn't see her in it so I walked around and debated just heading home and waiting for her there after sending her a note with Soa. But before I could turn back I felt someone tap me from behind.

"Ello, Hemi." Iskra's jubilant voice filled my ears. I grinned and turned around to face her. She was a lot taller than me especially in those spiked heels of hers. She was smiling down at me as she ran her hands through her hair. I used to wish that I had straight hair but now I loved my hair.

"Iskra, beautiful as always," I said as I let her hook her arm through mine. She knew that I didn't like anybody touching me and yet she insisted since she said that it was the only way to get over my aversion of touch. She pulled down Diagon Alley and towards the small pub that we always went into.

We went up to the bar and ordered butterbeer. We sipped silently as we watched people come and go for a while. Iskra was silent which was unusual for somebody like her. We were meeting for something she could get arrested for here in Britain.

"How have you been?" she asked as she set her mug down. I looked down at my own drink for a bit and tried to answer as honestly as I could.

"I think I'm doing better. My nightmares aren't as bad anymore. I try not to occlude as much too but right now it's kind of hard not to. With the 'guest' staying at the house and having Harry and Ron there as well is kind of hard you know. They want to be near me but also can't."

Iskra nodded as she took another sip from her drink, "I guess as much. Those boys love you from what you've told me but I did think it would make them a bit more protective towards you." She met them once before and Ron hadn't liked her one bit. Which she thought was hilarious.

I sighed and changed the topic, "How have you been?" She laughed for a bit, "Old man has been trying to get me married for about three years now and he really wants me to marry Vik but I don't want to and neither does he. He still holds a torch for you. I, on the other hand, am a free woman and I will choose when and who I'll marry. The old coot's fourth wife is the one filling his head with rubbish."

Grimacing at her choice of words I pushed the empty mug away and leaned back on the bar counter facing the crowd. Friday's was usually busy but not today from the looks of it. "Hard life of a pureblood uh?" She shoved me and almost knocked me off the stool. I mocked scowled her as I sat back up.

"I'm a bit smaller than you. One of this days you will break me and you'll have to answer to my mother." I said as I put my nose in the air while trying to hide a smile. Iskra snorted and crossed her long legs, "You're mother loves me. She would just adopt me and act like you never existed."

We grew silent and the lack of words wasn't awkward but comfortable. She pulled a small piece of paper from her robes and handed it to me. "It's the same list that Viktor sent you but I added some notes on it myself and father did too. I might not get along with my father but he does love me in his own arrogant way. Plus he likes you even though you are a muggleborn." The word mudblood was left unsaid but I knew what she meant.

Her father approved of her relationship with me but he did believe in the old ways since he was a bit older than one would think.

Lazar Georgi was not a pleasant man but neither was he spiteful. He just knew what he believed in but didn't try shoving it in your face or wanted to you believe it as well. He called me a mudblood to my face the one time I did meet him and I had responded with a cheeky remark. He had not laughed but something in his eyes told me he found me amusing.

Looking over the list I realized that it was too many locations but we would probably only go to one of them today. "I think we should head to the one with the only wizards. I feel like they would be more open about stuff. I haven't said anything to Harry or Ron since I knew they would jump the chance and bring a lot of Auror's. Plus I don't want to put you on their radar. I wanted to take a look at them first and then send them on their way if we were sure."

Iskra ordered another butterbeer from the man behind the bar and gave him a coy look. Benji just shook his head and turned back to his work. He was used to Iskra flirting so he didn't take her serious.

She gave me a small smile, "If you think that's the way to go. Although, you should have left them a note with Termaine since anything can go wrong." she said darkly before wiping it away and smiling big at Benji, who had just passed by. I shrugged, "It will be fine for tonight. Plus I always can call them without much effort."

Putting money on the table, we headed outside and completely missed the man sitting further down the counter.

"I'll take you with me first so that you can get a look of where to apparate since you have to be careful. Noctis Market is kind of like Knockturn Alley but much darker. It's a place where things that shouldn't be sold are sold freely there and it's no place for light wizards." she said as she helped mask my features then hers.

If we were seen one had to be really close to even know who we were. Iskra looked down at me seriously, "Are you sure, Hemi?" I swallowed hard, "I don't have a choice." Not while they were on the loose.

She grabbed my arm and apparated to a dingy street that was almost completely dark. It was really narrow and the buildings around us smelled like death. You couldn't even see the sky, the buildings were so high up. Iskra let me go and pulled her hood up and I did the same. We heard others apparating around us in the darkness so she grabbed my arm and pulled me down the street. "Many people prefer to apparate outside than in since you don't know what situation one will be coming into," she explained as I looked around us.

We came to a stop near a large door that was hidden between two buildings. She tapped it once with her wand and said, "Patentibus" and the door slid open. I pulled my cloak tighter around and slid my wand down into my hand.

She walked in and I followed her. The door shut silently as we stepped away from it. "It opens in different locations every three times somebody comes through it," Iskra said quietly as she moved away from a man that was leaning against the far wall staring at us with a leer.

Looking around us I noticed that it was all set up with small shops at the front while bigger shops could be seen further down and it branched off from there. I heard a loud roar and almost jumped. I knew that sound too well. There were dragons nearby.

We walked around for a bit seeing the things that were on 'sale' and moving further down towards the sound of dragons roaring. Iskra stayed ahead of me and tried to look around for familiar faces.

I froze when we came to a building that looked like it should have hosted large horses and instead had small dragons in them. The building looked like it went further down and you could hear the awful roaring. But it wasn't your usual roaring. It sounded heart-wrenching to the ears but with the added roar of an enraged dragon.

"They breed the dragons here and kill and sell parts of them too. That's what I'm doing here half of the time. Getting information and sending it out. I practice dark magic but even this is…" Iskra made a face of disgust before walking past the stables. I gave it a lingering gaze before following after. I could see many people of different races but none were the ones we were looking for.

We came to stop near a shop called Grimy Grim when the door opened and shouting could be heard from the inside.

"We said we would bring it in and we did. The price you gave us isn't the same one, old man!"

I stiffened and grabbed Iskra's arm and pulled her beside the building and made her crowd me in. From the outside, it looked like Iskra was trying to buy my favors. She looked down at me in confusion but I just shook my head and moved her closer. I knew the voice of the person inside. It was Dolohov. We could hear something slamming continuously against a crate inside but it didn't overlap Dolohov's outraged voice.

"I could kill you in different ways so just give me the money and you can have the damn bloodhounds."

We couldn't hear what the old man said but it seemed to have pleased Dolohov since we didn't hear him shout again. Since we were under the window but I wasn't tall enough to look into it especially since I was facing the street. I pulled Iskra's face down to mine, "Try and look into the window and try to see what kind of bloodhound it is."

She nodded and pushed farther up against the window so that it would look like she was just trying to get a better position. I felt her body stiffen as she glanced inside. After a while she rested her forehead against my neck, her hood covered my face up so I couldn't see around her.

"It's an Albino Bloodhound," she whispered in my ear. I gripped her the front of her cloak tight, the hounds were only supposed to be controlled by the pest sub-division since they were going extinct. They had been overused by the farmers and for potions so now they tried keeping them inside reserves to breed them. Shite, somebody on the inside must be helping them. Why didn't we think of that? Several people had actually been helping the Death Eaters and there is only so much that Snape and the others could know.

Somebody must have slipped through the cracks.

"Let's go. We know they come here so I'll let Harry know about it." I felt her nod against my neck and moved back. We quickly made our way back towards the way we had come in from. On our way, I kept looking around at the stalls that reeked of dark magic. I could feel the elements of the dark curse that was used openly here.

We were almost there when we heard a large crash and we both turned sharply towards the noise and saw a beautiful dragon burst through the top of the building we had passed earlier. It was an Antipodean Opaleye Dragon, the pearly scales gave it away as well as the size. It roared and a ball of fire emerged from its jaws. I was about to move forward when I felt large arms grab me from behind. I was pulled back and away from Iskra who shouted for me but the crowd all moved as one and people were running.

I pointed my wand back into the neck of whoever had grabbed me and before I could utter a spell I heard the deep but furious voice. "You think I couldn't smell you? I have had your nasty mudblood scent engraved in me. Don't think I don't remember you. I do. Harry Potter's mudbloodwhore." Greyback's foul smelling breath brushed across my face as he bodily turned me around to face him.

"You disgusting mongrel." I hissed at him as I heard Iskra scream my name from afar. Everybody was too busy worried about the escaped dragon nobody paid mind to us. He grabbed my hand and twisted it hard. I gasped but pushed hard against him as he tried pulling my body to his.

I needed to take him with me before he thought of apparating us somewhere else. I didn't want to take him home but I had no choice. I grabbed a fistful of his hair and moved my arm away from his opened mouth.

I apparated us right by the willow tree and heard Greyback scream as he landed. I had deliberately done it this way to splinch him. Even kill him if possible. I kicked him away from my body and stood up since I had been dragged down with him and flicked my wrist twice to send my patronus to Harry. "Harry, I have Greyback at my house!"

The otter left at great speed and I flicked my wand around Greyback who had was lurching back and forth on the floor with a missing arm. But before I could I heard somebody else apparate in.

It was Iskra but she had landed too close to Greyback who took the chance and made a grab towards her. I could accidently hit her a wayward spell so instead, I ran forward and pushed her out of the way. I landed on the hand he had twisted earlier and I cried out.

"HERMIONE!" I heard several people shout as well as Iskra who had landed against the willow tree. I had lost my wand so I tried getting up when Greyback finally made another grab for me and yanked me back. He dove down onto my neck and bit me.

HARD.

I screamed in outrage and pain as he ripped into me. I felt him being flung away and I slumped down on the floor with blood drenching my cloak and shirt. I was delirious with pain at that point and tried to crawl away when somebody grabbed me.

"No!" I screamed as I jerked forward. "Shhh, I have you." Nott's voice said as he picked me up. I shouldn't have felt safe and protected in his arms but I did and finally gave into painful darkness.

I was safe.

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Vane