14.

Hermione

"Step down carefully, dear. Onto the ladder, that's a good girl."

Hermione followed Molly's instructions as she descended down the rickety wooden rungs, mindful of the situation and the hurry they were in. Once finished and safely on the ground again, she took in her surroundings –the hammocks hanging low from the ceiling, blankets scattered across the cobble stone ground and the books and papers that littered the rest of the space. She instantly recognized it to be the room of requirements, and that it had been previously occupied by a large population. Judging from the mess, it must have been students.

She looked over her shoulder as the rest of the order filed out of the tunnel they'd just clambered through from Aberforth's home in Hogsmeade. A lot had happened in a short span of time that Hermione had been forced to keep up with rather quickly, the first being that it was this man, Aberforth, that Harry had been seeing in his shard of mirror rather than Dumbledore himself. It wasn't hard to make the mistake, though. The two brothers looked shockingly similar.

He explained to Hermione that he had seen Harry's face in the mirror Mundungus Fletcher had given him, and when they were in trouble, he had sent Dobby the elf to Malfoy manor to save them. Hermione tried to remember seeing Dobby at the manor that night and couldn't. Apparently, while she was enduring Bellatrix's wrath on the top floor, Dobby was emptying the cellar of its occupants to Shell Cottage. This part was filled in by Bill Weasley and his wife, Fleur, who'd arrived at Aberforth's home when Hermione and Mr and Mrs. Weasley had.

"And Dobby was killed?" Hermione had verified with a tremble in her voice, imagining the elf lying limp in Harry's arms, as described to her.

Fluer gave a sad nod of her head. "Yes. 'E was very brave. 'E saved all 'zose people in 'ze cellar of 'zat 'orrid place, but could not escape death 'imself."

Hermione swallowed the thickening lump in her throat and forced the saddening thought out of her mind. "So Harry and Ron made it out safely. Then what happened?"

"Well,' Bill pushed some of his thick, russet locks away from his eyes and looked at her solemnly, "they'd overheard Bellatrix going on about her vault when she was torturing you, so Harry figured there was something she didn't want you to find in there, specifically, they hoped, a horcrux. They made a deal with Griphook, who was resting in a room in our cottage, that if he got them into Gringotts, he would receive the sword of Gryffindor. He, of course, agreed."

Hermione's eye brows pushed together. "How could they have gotten into Bellatrix's vault? Security at Gringotts couldn't possibly allow it."

"That's where Fleur came in." a smile spread across Bill's face as he wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders and pulled her forward proudly. "It was her idea, actually, to use a hair of Bellatrix's we found on Ron's coat sleeve. I created the poly juice potion that she and Ron both used. She turned into Bellatrix, and he into another death eater. Harry and Griphook were hidden underneath the invisibility cloak."

"So all went well then." Hermione looked between Bill and Fluer expectantly, who were exhchanging uneasy glances. "Didn't it?"

Fluer looked down at the ground shyly. "It was my accent 'zat tipped 'ze goblins off 'zat I was not 'oo I said I was. Luckily, 'Arry thought quickly and used zee Imperius Curse on one of ze goblins, Bogard, so 'e would let us into zee vault. From 'zere, everything would 'ave gone fine if not for ze Thief's Downfall."

"It washed away all previous spells." Hermione concluded with a dreary tone. "So you became you again, and Bogard regained his memory."

"Not only 'zat," Fluer continued, shaking her head, "but we were also dropped from ze cart we 'ad been taking to ze vault, sirens sounded, and ze security showed up. When we finally got to ze vault, 'Arry said it was 'Elga 'Ufflepuff's Cup zat was the 'orcrux. 'Zere was some sort of curse on all zee objects in ze vault, because as soon as we touched 'zem, 'zey all multiplied."

"The Geminio curse." Hermione murmured quietly. Her forehead creased with worry. "Well, did you get the cup?"

Fluer nodded. "Oui. We managed to get out on 'zis dragon zat was guarding ze vault. It was incroyable! We jumped off it into ze water, went to shore, and from 'zere I apparated back to ze cottage to get Bill."

"Where did Ron and Harry go after that?"

"'Arry said he saw Voldermort in 'is mind, and 'e was focusing on 'Ogwarts and Rowena Ravenclaw, so he guessed 'zat was where ze next 'orcrux was. Last I saw 'zem, 'zey were apparating to 'Ogsmeade."

Hermione knew the rest of the story from that point: the boys showed up, alarms were set off, Aberforth hid them away in his home and had Ariana fetch Neville to lead them through the secret passageway into the school. It was all quite exciting to hear and put together, and Hermione felt herself smiling with pride towards Ron and Harry. They'd done a terrible lot without her help.

Now standing in the Room of Requirements though, waiting for everyone to finish entering as well, Hermione felt shame turning her lips down and knotting her stomach tightly. So while Ron and Harry were out finding horcruxes, nearly being killed and riding on the back of a bloody Dragon for goodness sake, she was sitting in a comfortable cabin and snogging with a snatcher. How could she have been so foolish?

"Hermione, dear?" Molly finished her descent on the ladder, the last of the bunch of them, and looked at her with a flushed face. "Are you ready?"

Looking past Mrs. Weasley, Hermione took in the crowd of people surrounding her; Bill, Fluer, Arthur, Fred, George, Lupin, Tonks and Kingsley. She wondered if any of them were thinking about the war that lay ahead of them, and the causalities that were surely to come with it. All of them were wearing solemn, nearly stern expressions. Even the twins, who were usually grinning about something were not smiling in the least. So that answered her question. Everyone knew what accompanied war, and that was loss.

"Yes." Hermione whispered, pushing her shoulders back and grabbing her wand from her pants pocket. "I'm ready."

They set off down the long stretch of corridor outside of the Room of Requirements, their foot steps echoing loudly in the empty enclosure. Hermione had never witnessed Hogwarts so quiet, so dark, all of the candles that usually lined the halls now extinguished. She refused to think about how terrible the year had been for those inside of the school, although it wasn't hard to imagine from the stories she'd heard from Aberforth. The Carrow twins who'd been placed in charge of discipline apparently took their jobs extremely seriously.

At they came upon the closed doors of the Great Hall, Hermione noticed Ron leaning up against a nearby wall, his arms crossed over his chest and eyes set on the ground. Hearing their approach, his head snapped up, looking immediately at Hermione.

"'Mione." He whispered under his breath, and then he pushed away from the wall and ran full tilt at her, nearly knocking her over had his arms not wrapped around her body and steadied her. "You're alive." He pressed his face into the hair at her neck, squeezing her tightly. "Thank God, you're alive."

Hermione's cheeks flamed as his family watched them curiously. "I'm fine, Ron. Don't worry."

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Ron pulled away abruptly, a dark shadow crossing his features. "If he touched you, I swear I will go find him and-"

"Ron." She braced her hands on his shoulders, giving him a light shake. "We've got bigger things to focus on right now, don't you think?"

He still looked furious. "Where were you this whole time? Were you with him?"

"Yes." Hermione admitted, surprising herself. She'd figured she would try to hide this fact from him but her answer had come easily and rather quickly, like she'd been planning on telling him the whole time. "But we can talk about it later. Right now we need to focus on this." She motioned at the closed doors to the Great Hall, where Snape's low voice was emanating from. The group surrounding the doors fell quiet and listened to his muffled words.

"Many of you are surely wondering why I have summoned you at this hour. It has come to my attention that earlier this evening, Harry Potter was sighted in Hogsmeade. Now, should anyone, student or staff, attempt to aid Mr. Potter, they will be punished in a manner consistent with the severity of their transgression. Furthermore, any person to have knowledge of these events who fails to come forward will be treated as equally guilty. Now then, if anyone here has knowledge of Mr. Potter's moments this evening, I invite them to step forward, now."

Silence ensued, during which Hermione felt her breath being locked away inside of her chest as she waited. Then there was the sound of gasps rippling throughout the crowd of students. A moment later, Harry's voice carried through the doors to the wizards waiting outside of it.

"It seems despite your exhaustive defensive strategies, you still have a security problem, Headmaster."

"That's our cue." Ron murmured, straightening away from Hermione and bracing his shoulders.

Using the palms of his hands, Kingsley pushed open the doors of the Great Hall, causing more gasps from the students as the group revealed themselves to Snape and the rest of Hogwarts. Hermione kept near the front of the pack, her eyes remaining on Harry until he noticed her and looked at her as well. She gave him a slight nod which she hoped he would translate as, "I'm O.K, everything's fine." She couldn't tell though, as he'd returned his attention to Snape as soon as everyone was inside of the hall.

"How dare you stand where he stood." His voice was trembling with anger, echoing against the empty walls of the room and practically slapping Snape across the face. "Tell them how it happened that night. Tell them how you looked him in the eye, a man that trusted you, and killed him. Tell them!"

Barely a second passed after Harry finished before Snape reached into his black robes and retrieved his wand. In that time, McGonagall managed to push Harry out of the way and stepped in his place, her own wand raised and pointed at Snape. The spells they cast at each other clashed and sputtered, neither doing the damage the caster wished it to. As McGonagall advanced on Snape, he shrank back until he was at the tall windows that overlooked the entire hall. And then, without a word, he turned on his heels and became the thin black cloud that Death Eaters travelled in, crashing through the glass of the window and disappearing into the night.

"Coward!" McGonagall cried after him, still throwing spells in the direction he'd left. "Coward!"

She turned around and faced the students, her wand raised above her head as she illuminated the candles that had been hanging empty and thick with dried wax above them. The Great Hall was lit up in its usual glory, and Hermione felt her lips pulling back into a smile at the sight. Students erupted into cheers but soon fell silent as a cool breeze snaked through the entire room and the candles were extinguished as angry, dark grey clouds overtook the ceiling.

A shrill scream coming from a girl caused Hermione to jump, having not been expecting anyone to break the silence that had fallen. She looked around with the rest of the students until she found the source of the noise; a young first year huddled against the corner of the room, her hands clapped over her ears and face contorted with what could only be described as pain as she continued to scream.

That was when another scream erupted, this one louder and more shrill than the first year's. Hermione swung her head around, trying to find the source of this scream as well, but was interrupted when a voice filled her head, almost as if the person was standing right next to her, whispering into her ear.

"I know that many of you want to fight." The colour drained entirely from Hermione's face as she recognized the voice to be Voldemort's. He continued speaking, his voice low, raspy and echoing inside of her head. "Some of you may even think that to fight is wise. But this is folly. Give me Harry Potter. Do this and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave Hogwarts untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have one hour."

Hermione couldn't breathe. Her chest feel tight, uncomfortably so, while Voldemort's words reverberated in her mind. She couldn't help but take a survey of the room, at the horrified expressions on the young students' faces. They were all thinking the same thing, she was sure: there was no way they were giving up Harry, so who was going to be lost in the war tonight?

Apparently, though, not everyone shared her sentiments.

"What are you waiting for?" Pansy Parkins stepped away from the crowd of Slytherin students, her beady black eyes narrowed on Harry. "Someone grab him!"

Ginny was the one who moved to cover Harry first. Then Ron, then Hermione, and then all at once, a flock of students crowded around him as well until he was shielded from Pansy's view. Hermione kept her hard gaze on the girl, daring her to try and break the guard they had put up.

"Students out of bed!" Came the cockney, harsh voice of Filch as he jogged lopsidedly towards McGonagall. "Students in the corridor!"

Minerva scowled at him. "They're supposed to be out of bed, you blithering idiot!"

"Oh." He stopped jogging and looked uneasily around him at the students. "Sorry, ma'am."

"As it happens, Mr. Filch, your arrival is most opportune. If you would, I would like you please lead Ms. Parkins and the rest of the slytherin house from the hall."

His eye brows pushed together, not understanding. "And…and where is it I'll be leading them to, ma'am?"

"The dungeons would do."

As the entire Slytherin house was paraded out of the great hall, a round of applause erupted from the remaining students. Hermione felt movement behind her, and then the shield broke as Harry approached Minerva, speaking fast and quickly as he explained that he needed time to try and find the horcrux.

"Hey." Ron came up beside Hermione, his hand warm on her shoulder as he turned her to face him. "You alright then?"

"Yes, of course Ron. You can't expect me to falter from a mere capture, now can you?"

He didn't smile. "I was worried about you. I never stopped wondering if you were okay, if you were alive…" he trailed off, letting a thick silence fall between them. Hermione's eyes lowered onto her shoes, unable to look directly at her best friend. Shame. Nothing but shame and remorse flooded her limbs, coursed through her veins, coloured her cheeks and demanded she admit the truth. Just tell him. You fell in love with a snatcher.

"Hermione?" Ron bent his legs slightly, bringing himself down to her height in an attempt to capture her averted gaze. "Did something happen while you were captured? Did he do something?" his face was flushed with anger. His hands were curling into fists. Hermione couldn't bear to look at him and forcer her head to shake "no".

"Then what's wrong?" he demanded, sounding annoyed. "You won't look at me."

"I'm…I'm just anxious. About tonight. People are going to die, Ron."

He visibly relaxed, if only slightly, and nodded his head. "I know. It's terrible isn't it? I mean, you look around and you see all of these kids, eh? First years, second years… they shouldn't have to be exposed to any of this. It's monstrous."

Hermione's stomach was twisting into tight knots at the thought of the causalities that were going to come from what lay ahead. Would first years die? Would Ron? Would she? Suddenly overwhelmed, she leaned against the cold stone wall of the Great Hall and felt Ron doing the same, their shoulders pressed together and fingers brushing each other lightly. Without warning, he took hold of her delicate fingers in his warm hand, and gave a gentle squeeze, reminding her that he was there, and he wasn't going anywhere.

Scabior

"Right on time." Fenrir smirked as Scabior approached, the descending sun backing him. "I was almost hoping you wouldn't show up, but I'm glad you did all the same."

Ignoring the wolf, Scabior continued his trek up the incline of the hill, his eyes focused on the silhouette of Hogwarts sitting in the distance. Hermione was there, but where exactly? Was she somewhere safe? He groaned inwardly. No, of course she wasn't. She wasn't the type of girl to sit in the shadows and watch. She would be right in the middle of the fight, right where he couldn't get to her, or protect her.

Scabior stopped walking as he reached the top of the hill, surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of death eaters. He didn't look at any of them, or listen to the hisses of conversation hat were occurring. He mostly didn't want to know what they were most excited about that night; killing children or seeing the Dark Lord kill Harry Potter.

Boots crunched the dead grass behind him, and a moment later he was overcome with the rancid stench of Fenrir's breath. "Bellatrix has been asking about you." He said, an obvious smile in his voice. "She wants to make sure you still understand your little arrangement for tonight."

"Of course I do." Scabior snapped, turning to face him with a dark expression. "'Ermione's life for m'own. I'm not an idiot."

Fenrir just smiled. "I just hope you know not to back out of this. You've made some bad decisions recently. One more and you're Bellatrix's problem."

Scabior remembered his dream from that morning, of having Bellatrix's snake coil wrapped around his neck without relenting until he was killed. He reached a hand up and rubbed at his collarbone that was suddenly feeling sore. "That won't be a problem, Fenrir. I assure you of tha'."

"Good. So you find the girl before you do anything else, kill her, bring the body to Bellatrix-"

"I 'ave to bring the body to 'er?" Scabior interjected, unintentionally sounding shocked.

Fenrir's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Obviously she'll want some sort of reassurance that the job is done. That going to be a problem?"

Scabior recovered quickly with a dismissive shrug of his shoulders. "'Course not. I'm just thinking about the state the girl might be in. Maybe Bellatrix won't want to see a bloody corpse, is all."

"I'm sure she'll be alright." Fenrir said. "So, you bring the body to her when you're finished, and then you're expected to join the fight with the rest of us."

Turning his face back towards Hogwarts, Scabior nodded absently and began wondering just how in the hell he was going to pull this off. He most definitely wasn't about to kill Hermione, that was for sure. But he needed to stay alive to ensure that she did as well. So what about the corpse aspect? He couldn't very well just pick up a dead body at random and try to convince Bellatrix that it was Hermione.

It was at that moment then a harsh light scattered Scabior's vision, and he threw up his arm to protect his eyes from it. When he lowered it a minute later, Hogwarts and the area surrounding it had been enclosed entirely inside of a glass-like orb. A force field.

Fenrir gave a disdainful snort. "Do they actually believe a little shield will be able to keep the Dark Lord from getting into their school? What a bunch of bloody idiots."

Almost as if on cue, the massive crowd began to part right down the middle, making way for Voldemort himself as he slowly walked to the top of the hill. Scabior turned and looked at him only briefly before noticing his companion. Bellatrix in return shot him a smirk and a wink before hurrying to catch up to her Dark Lord as he stood still, surveying the castle with an almost amused smile.

And then he chuckled. "They never learn. Such a pity."

Someone standing beside Scabior broke from the crowd, hesitantly approaching Voldemort and speaking with a trembling voice. "B-but…but my Lord, shouldn't we wait?" as Voldemort turned to face him with an agonizingly slow pace, the man bowed respectively and hurried to return to his place in the group.

Returning his gaze to Hogwarts, Voldemort waited a moment before speaking again. "Begin."

One by one, the death eaters surrounding the Dark Lord retrieved their wands from their robes and began sending spells into the air, thousands of them arching through the black sky to land on top of the globe surrounding the castle. Each and every burst of light had a great effect: the shielf was obviously weakening.

"Oi." Fenrir's elbow harshly jutted into Scabior's ribcage. "You heard him."

In any other situation, Scabior would have retaliated, but he could feel Bellatrix's eyes on him, waiting for him to follow the Dark Lord's orders. With a quiet, inaudible sigh, Scabior pulled Orrick's wand from his jacket and pointed it into the sky. His spell joined the thousands of others, exploding against the crumbling shield much to Voldemort's delight.

As he continued shooting spells, Scabior's chest deflated greatly, his shoulders slumping and face crumpling as well. His thoughts kept returning to Hermione who was somewhere inside of Hogwarts, ready to fight, unaware of the deal Scabior had made. He had to save her. He had to get to her before Bellatrix did and he had to convince the witch that he'd done his part of the compromise. But how?

A/N: hey guys guess what? I FINALLY UPDATED.

My god it has been way too long since I posted a new chapter. I apologize for that! I should have been more diligent over the summer because it's not like I was working every day, so I can't use "work" as an excuse xP I was just lazy and didn't feel like sitting down to write anything. I was always up and moving, going places, trying to make the best of it :)

So anyway, here is chapter 14. Better late than never right? I'm not sure when I will have fifteen posted. I've got school tomorrow, and I'm working all day Saturday, so depending whether or not I'm also working Sunday, I'll try and get some major writing in on that day.

Thanks again to everyone who has been keeping with this story and (more importantly) putting up with me and my lack of updates!

-DeanWinchesterxoxo