Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author.

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Chapter 13: Dangerous

The clouds swirled high in the night sky outside, and looked as though a great downpour of rain was headed for the area. The village was small, and there were only a few little lanes that were scattered with a few old houses. Most of them were empty, and the few that had occupants were the homes of the elderly, who went nowhere, and had their meals delivered to them by the charities and younger people of the next town on. That town was over half an hour away by car.

However, despite all this, the last house at the end of the lane had recently become the home of four decided younger people, who looked to be middle-aged. They neither left their house or the small yard and fence that surrounded it, and they had not once reached out to greet their fellow elderly neighbors. Because of this, they were left alone, because it was assumed that they wanted to be left as such. The elderly inhabitants would never have guessed that in that house at the end of the longest lane, lived three convicted criminals, and their sought-after leader.

Little were they to know that their newest neighbors possessed strange magical powers that enabled them to eat without shopping. Little did they know, that with two simple words, these people could have killed them if they desired. It wouldn't have mattered to them though – they had lived their lives and were dying slowly in their houses, too tired and worn to even venture beyond their own walls.

"Do ye think they wonder what we're doin' 'ere?' McNair asked to the other two in the room with him.

'I think they're too bloody old to be bothered with a lot of new people who moved into this decrepit village out of nowhere,' Carrow said nastily, pulling a sour face. 'I don't see why we have to live in this swill, while the bitch upstairs gets the best room in the house. We should be living better than this.'

'You'll keep that sharp tongue of yours in your head if you're smart, Amycus,' Rosier warned coolly. 'Don't underestimate the woman.'

Amycus turned over on this mattress and grumbled under his breath. No matter what he thought, Rosier was the one in charge of them, and despite everything, he had always trusted him to make smart decisions. A loud snore in the room alerted the two that were awake to the fact that McNair had fallen asleep. Walden McNair was true to his Scottish heritage with his Goliath-like stature, booming voice and epic snore.

'Did you ever think that breaking out was a stupid idea?' Amycus asked the other man in a hushed voice.

'Go to sleep, Carrow, before you think yourself into a stupor,' Rosier replied gruffly, rolling over on his thin mattress.

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'I think I almost have it,' Severus murmured under his breath.

Hermione looked up from her lot of calculations, her quill tucked in the hair twisted at the back of her neck. 'What do you mean?' she asked in confusion. She had been so concentrated on her own work that she had hardly been paying any attention to him at all that day.

'I think I have almost finished creating the tracking incantation that we can fuse with the portkey charm to get us straight to Rosier,' Severus answered, holding up the lock of the man's hair, pinched between two of his gloved fingers.

'That's – you are brilliant!' Hermione exclaimed, sliding off her stool and immediately throwing her arms around his neck, pressing her mouth to his for a quick kiss. 'So, how on earth did you manage it?'

Severus cleared his throat softly. 'Well, with living things naturally being more complex than inanimate objects, the spells are naturally much more difficult to create,' he said, pulling down the first sheet of parchment excitedly. 'Instead of tracking Rosier, we are going to turn his hair into a portkey that leads straight back to the source from which it came – essentially, we will be returning this missing piece of him back to where it originally belonged.'

'You know, that actually sounds exactly like it would work,' she said in a mystified tone, looking at him in amazement. 'Honestly, I don't know how I could have ever left you,' she added, hugging him tightly and pressing kisses all over his face.

He chuckled softly. 'I was an arse – it was quite understandable,' he said honestly, kissing her on the lips and embracing her warmly.

'We should go and let Albus know,' she told him excitedly.

'I think we should try and test this first, before we get our hopes up too much,' he said in a calming tone, reaching across the table and taking a pair of small scissors. 'Will you let me cut a small lock of your hair?'

'Are you going to test it yourself?' she asked, hesitating momentarily as he snipped a piece from the longest layer. 'What if it doesn't work and you end up splinching or worse?'

He clicked his tongue impatiently. 'Hush. We will have no negative nonsense from you now,' he scolded lightly. 'You will go into the other room, and I will attempt the portkey from a short distance for a start.'

'Alright,' she agreed reluctantly, walking into the other room and sitting down in Severus' armchair before the fire.

Less than a minute later, there was a quiet rustling sound, and sure enough, Severus stood before her, whole and healthy. She grinned and jumped up, throwing herself into his arms and kissing him until they were both too breathless to continue. He dropped her hair onto the coffee table along with his wand, and grasped the back of her legs, hoisting her up his body and encouraging her wordlessly to wrap her legs around him. She did as she was bid, and he strode with her into his bedroom, depositing her on the bed and with a wave of his hand, they were both nude. He joined her quickly.

Two hours later, sated and showered, the pair tested the portkey charm again, this time with Hermione waiting in the North Tower while Severus was in the Dungeons. It worked yet again, so they headed down to Albus' office to inform him, although Severus was quite certain that the Headmaster already knew. There was very little that the old man wasn't aware of within the walls of the castle. They ascended the spiraling staircase with haste, and were in the Headmaster's office soon enough.

'Albus, I'm sure you already know, but nevertheless I thought to inform you of Hermione and my success with a charm to take us to her tormentors,' Severus informed him crisply, quickly demonstrating the charm and portkey to him in the office with Hermione's lock of hair once more.

'I am very glad to hear it,' Albus said cheerfully. 'I think that it may soon be time for us to approach them, but I do not by any means want yourself or Hermione going on your own to them.'

'Severus would never,' Hermione said matter-of-factly, even as her lover rolled his eyes as if to say he could take them all on his own. 'I think we should get Tonks, Harry and Remus in to help with this.'

'I agree with this,' Dumbledore said with a serious nod. 'I shall owl and let everyone know in the morning, and we shall all meet here tomorrow night at seven to plan this and discuss what must be done once we have captured them.'

Severus stood and extended a hand to Hermione. 'Come, we shall need to get some rest before tomorrow – It is going to be a very long day,' he said, hoisting her up from the chair and walking hand-in-hand with her to the fireplace. 'Goodnight, Albus. We shall see you in the morning.'

'Rest well, my children,' he told them both.

With a nod and smile, Hermione allowed Severus to Floo them back to his rooms for the night. They were both tired, and Severus had exhausted himself to no end with the casting of the charms and all the time he had spent working on them over the past few days. In his bedroom, they got undressed down to their undergarments, and slid beneath the freshly made covers, snuggling in the middle and falling asleep shortly afterwards. The day to come would be long indeed.

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'Wake up, you miserable lumps,' the woman said, using the point of her shoe to nudge into the ribs of the nearest man.

'Fuck off, will ye,' grumbled the McNair hoarsely, waving his arm lazily in the direction of the woman, rolling back over with the intention to sleep more.

She pressed her lips together thinly and frowned. They really were rather useless when it came down to it, but she found that she was rather more intimidating to others if she walked around with large, thuggish bodyguards. The only one who was of any worth was Rosier, and he was a bit of a fool, falling for her charms the way he had and doing everything she ever asked of him. It mattered little though. They would all become even more useless to her soon, and she would have to kill them – even Rosier.

'The boys are tired of this rundown old house, Ma'am,' Evan said, walking back into the room were his comrades slept. 'I think we should relocate somewhere cleaner perhaps – there are plenty of places that are better than this and we can still remain inconspicuous to the public.'

'I'll consider it,' she said sharply, looking down at McNair in disgust. 'For now, we'll stay here and you had better whip these two into reasonable shape. There is no room for slobs or over opinionated rebels here.'

'Yes Ma'am,' Rosier ground out as she turned on her heel and left the room, retreating her to own room up the stairs.

He watched as she walked out, admiring her surprisingly nice behind as she did, in her tight business skirt, before turning back around to look at the other two men in the room. His eyes immediately met Amycus Carrow's, and he was taken aback to find that the younger man was actually giving him a suspicious look. With a frown, he dropped into an old armchair and prepared for the questioning to begin.

'You're not sleeping with her, are you?' Amycus asked quietly.

'I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I've hardly been in a room alone with her long enough to do anything of the sort,' he replied gruffly.

'But you want to fuck her, and that's why you are doing all this,' the younger wizard accused. 'That's what this is all about. You're bloody smitten with the bitch! What promises has she made to you?'

Evan snarled at him angrily. 'She has made no promises, and I am not in this because of some misplaced lust,' he growled. 'Surely even you would fuck her if given half the chance, considering how long it has been since we've had any half-decent arse.'

Amycus rolled his eyes. 'Whatever you say, Evan,' he replied, disbelief flavoring his tone. 'Just don't forget to share her when the time for payment comes around.'

The older wizard snorted. 'If that time ever comes,' he said.

McNair emitted a loud snore at this point, and the conversation ended. Amycus got up from where he was sitting and went to the dirty, make-shift kitchen to find something to eat, while Rosier remained seated. It was going to be a long next few days, that much was certain.

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A/N – My apologies for the long breaks between chapters. I hope to bring this to a close in the near future. Please review!