A Game of Hunger

Chapter 14 -The Snake in the Grass

When Hermione woke up she was in the hospital wing, yet again. Although this time it was a different hospital wing which was a refreshing change. She sighed as she pushed herself up on her makeshift bed and alerted herself to the chaos around her. Everyone was busy as they rushed around, there were groans of agony and people everywhere.

The smell of blood was enough to make her feel sick, and the groans of pain didn't exactly help either. She got up and slipped out of the hospital wing, hoping nobody would notice. She planned to run away to the room the rebels of District 1 has assigned her, but she didn't get the chance because someone grabbed her arm.

'Charlie!' she gasped in surprise.

'Command meeting,' Charlie muttered, as if it was a secret, and before Hermione could ask anymore questions he was dragging her up the stairs to the command room.

'Charlie,' Hermione muttered in annoyance, pushing his hand off her arm, 'what's going on?'

Charlie shook his head, 'I can't say anything out here.'

Hermione frowned as they reached the command room and swiped their wands across the door for access. It was full and buzzing with conversation when they walked in.

'Oh good Charlie, you found her,' Sirius said with a forced smile.

'Whats going on?' Hermione asked, looking around at the solemn faces.

'You should sit down,' Astoria said, 'we're doing our recap of the mission.'

'Oh,' Hermione said as she sat down in her designated seat beside Charlie. The room had fallen silent now as Sirius began to speak, and Hermione suddenly knew why everyone looked so downcast.

'We lost a lot of people today,' Sirius said, 'and although I understand that you want to respect your dead, as do we,' he spoke to Astoria, 'we do need to try and figure out quite how many we lost.'

Astoria nodded solemnly, 'I understand, sometimes it pays to be logical, rather than moral.'

Sirius briskly nodded, 'Moody, Alice, what happened at the train station?'

'It was pretty plain-sailing,' Moody said too casually, 'we overpowered them by 20 soldiers.'

'But as with every mass duel on that scale we lost a few people in the mix of it,' Alice said, the more level-headed moral one, '3 were injured and brought to the Hospital Wing here, and a further 7 were killed.'

'Do you know which District they belonged to?' Astoria asked.

'4 were District 1 rebels, the remaining 3 were District 6 rebels,' Alice answered.

Sirius sighed, 'Kingsley, any better news on your front?'

'I'm afraid not,' Kingsley said solemnly, 'Frank was injured, but he seems to be on the mend already. We brought in a further 11 who are being seen to at the moment, but we lost 28 in the fight for the main gate. 18 were District 1 rebels, and 10 were District 6 rebels.'

'What happened that made you lose so many?' Hazelwood asked.

'There were 60 of us against 50 guards,' Kingsley said, 'the fight was so close it was more like 50 one-on-one duels.'

'Whenever you have a fight like that you get collateral damage,' Sirius agreed, 'a spell from a nearby duel ricochets and hits someone else.'

Kingsley nodded, 'That was how we lost most of our soldiers.'

Astoria sighed, 'Nothing more could be done in that case, I still believe we divided our forces appropriately. Do we even know the scale of those lost at the main fight by the compound?'

'We have estimates,' Hazelwood said, 'but they aren't good.'

'Go on,' Astoria said glumly.

'Of the 80 men we sent to the compound 56 are accounted for,' Hazelwood said, 'and by that I mean have signed back in here.'

'So there are others who are injured and haven't yet signed in?' Charlie guessed.

'We don't know how many,' Hazelwood said, 'our guess is around 8, which leaves around 16 dead, we have no idea how many are District 1 rebels ad how many are District 6 rebels. We do know that amongst the dead is Soldier Crista.'

Astoria sighed deeply, 'That's a shame, she was a good commander.'

Hazelwood nodded and there was silence for a moment.

'I hate to try and find a silver lining amongst so much loss,' Alice said quietly, 'but I do believe we are in the process of claiming District 1 as rebel territory.'

Sirius smiled, 'Indeed. The new wards have been placed, nobody can apparate in or out. The train station and the main gate have been sealed and a team are currently setting up defences to stop anything getting in from above.'

'You are both right to point out the good,' Astoria admitted with a smile, 'because as you say there is much of it.'

'Does this mean all of the Districts are rebel controlled?' Hermione asked in shock.

Sirius nodded, 'That's exactly what it means.'

'So that means the next step is…' Hermione trailed off.

'The capitol,' Astoria finished with a glint in her eye.

Sirius eyed them warily, 'Yes, but not right away. We need more information before we even attempt to break the capitol.'

'Do you want me to start recruiting again, Soldier Black?' Astoria asked, 'I can have a fully trained army within a month, perhaps two.'

'I think that would be wise,' Sirius said, 'after all, I've just spoken to Remus and he wants you as one of the six commanders for the final push into the capitol.'

Astoria's eyes widened, 'Really?'

'You might be young Soldier Greengrass, but you're also a good fighter,' Sirius said, holding out his hand to her, 'congratulations.'

Astoria smiled, shaking his hand, 'Thank you, but now is not the time for celebration. If our numbers are correct we lost 51 people today. I think we ought to take a minute of silence to thank them for helping us with what we achieved.'

There was a collective nod as everyone bowed their head and fell silent. Hermione felt sorry for those who had died, but she also felt excited about the fact there was only the capitol to topple. This meant of course they would be going back to District 6 again, where Hermione had to deal with Harry. She could only hope Remus would let her go on the mission to the capitol, so that she had something to occupy her time with.

'You should sleep like the rest of them.'

'I'm not tired,' Hermione said simply. Once more on the hovercraft back only she and Charlie were awake.

'You've been avoiding me,' Charlie noted.

'You're my bodyguard, it's kind of hard to avoid you,' Hermione said sarcastically.

'Emotionally,' Charlie said, 'I know what you're doing, you're distancing yourself from me. I agree with it, I think it's a good idea.'

'Good,' Hermione said stubbornly.

'You're in love with Harry, you have been since the moment I first saw both of you,' Charlie said.

'Love isn't the easiest emotion to identify, especially if you've never felt it before,' Hermione said quietly.

'But it's easy to see if you've felt it before,' Charlie said gently, 'and I have felt it, and I can see it, between you and Harry.'

'Why are you telling me this?' Hermione asked weakly.

'Because I never had my chance,' Charlie said, his voice a little broken and his eyes somewhere distant, 'so I think it's only right that you get yours with the person you really love, which is Harry.'

'Yeah, what a great life that will be,' Hermione said sarcastically as she stared at the wall, 'a crazy boyfriend who tries to murder me all the time.'

'Sirius heard from Remus that Harry's starting to get better,' Charlie said, 'the treatment seems to be working, you can't just give up on him.'

'Thanks Charlie,' Hermione said with a sigh, 'but I can't let myself get my hopes up that he'll recover…' she trailed off, trying to contain her tears, 'because if he doesn't I don't think I could….' her voice broke and she trailed off.

Putting an arm around her shoulder Charlie said, 'Yeah, I know.'

When she got back to District 6 Hermione went back to her room and slept for a day. She woke up feeling a lot better about the world, until Sirius approached her in the middle of her lunch.

'Hermione, are you busy?' He asked in an undertone.

Hermione shook her head, she had a feeling that she knew what this was about, 'Nope, just having lunch.'

'Harry's a lot better,' Sirius said, 'he's been asking for you.'

Hermione frowned, 'Sirius I'm not trying to be unhelpful or selfish but I'm scared of him.'

'I know, and believe me I understand,' Sirius whispered, 'but you only have to talk to him through an enforced glass wall.'

'Alright,' Hermione muttered as she got to her feet and left the hall with Sirius. She could feel Charlie's watchful eyes on her back the whole way to the door, and it was starting to not only annoy her, but also unnerve her.

'What did you mean before? When you said you know how he feels?' Hermione asked Sirius as they walked along the deserted corridors to the Hospital Wing.

'I don't know personally, but I have an idea,' Sirius said, 'when I was at school with Remus, Harry's Dad and…someone else who turned out to be a traitor, we played a trick on a guy we didn't like,' he was frowning, 'I lured him somewhere and Remus in his werewolf form could have killed him. I got an idea then of how Remus felt, he hadn't wanted to kill or hurt anyone, but by no fault of his own he almost had.'

'Like Harry,' Hermione said quietly, 'he's trapped inside his own head.'

Sirius nodded, 'But he's getting better, he's coming out now, the old Harry.'

'And you think he'll talk to me?' Hermione asked, her heart pounding as they walked into the hospital wing.

'We don't know, he probably won't be exactly as you remember him. But he hopefully won't try to kill you, we've got that wall there anyway, for your safety.'

Hermione nodded as Sirius led her into a room off of the main ward. It was an observation like room with a glass wall to the room Harry was in, she was nervous but pleased to see he looked better. His face was fuller, and he didn't look gaunt or starved anymore.

'Hey Harry,' Sirius said with a smile, 'Hermione's here, like you asked.'

'Hello…Hermione,' Harry said in a broken sort of way. He frowned, like putting the words together was a struggle.

'Hi Harry,' Hermione said, trying to smile naturally at him.

'They told me I hurt you,' Harry said with a frown.

'I'm fine,' Hermione said.

'But you weren't…that's why you haven't been to see me,' he said quietly, his eyes darting about and not meeting Hermione's, 'I'm so sorry Hermione, I just don't understand…' he trailed off and paced the room.

'You don't have to be sorry Harry, I'm fine,' Hermione assured him, it was the truth, she was fine now.

'I feel like I have two different sets of memories,' Harry said, 'like I've lived two different lives and I don't know which one is real.'

'This one is,' Hermione said gently, putting her hand on the glass and wishing she could do more.

Harry looked at it for a moment before placing his own hand against hers, they weren't touching with the thick layer of glass between them but Sirius was right, Harry did seem to be a lot better.

'The Healers told me Voldemort tortured me so I wouldn't know what memories are real,' Harry said quietly, 'but I don't really remember. Have you ever had the crucio curse used on you?'

Hermione nodded, 'In the arena.'

'It hurts,' Harry said, 'like your body is on fire…and then it stops and you can't stop shivering for hours.'

'I'm so sorry Harry,' Hermione whispered, resting her forehead on the glass, 'I wanted to get you out the moment they took you but they kept telling me that they couldn't do it and shoved me in a hospital bed telling me I was mentally unstable.'

Harry laughed, it was hollow and bitter, nothing like the way he used to laugh, 'I know that feeling,' he said darkly.

'You're going to be fine,' Hermione said with a slight smile, 'you're so much better already.'

'I just wish they would let me out of this room,' Harry sighed.

Sirius stepped in, 'You'll get out tomorrow Harry, you'll be allowed meals with everyone else and you're moving into our rooms.'

Harry managed a small smile of hope, 'Good,' he said, 'that sounds nice.'

'I'm glad that you seem better,' Hermione said honestly, looking at the spot where their hands were pressed against the glass, 'I've missed you.'

'Haven't you been too busy to miss me?' Harry asked in a small voice.

Hermione shook her head, 'I have been busy, but I've still missed you.'

'What have you been doing?' Harry asked, he seemed genuinely curious.

'Promoting things for the rebels mostly, I helped in District 1 last week…they mostly like capturing me on camera because they call me their Phoenix, it's really stupid-'

Hermione stopped speaking because something was happening to Harry. He pulled his hand away from the glass and hit it hard then began to shout nonsense. Quickly a couple of healers entered the room, stunned him and put him back in his bed.

Sirius sighed and looked to Hermione who was alarmed, 'He seems to have triggers…they set something off in his memory and he goes berserk.'

'I didn't know,' Hermione said.

'That's my fault, I should have told you,' Sirius said.

'What are they?' Hermione asked, 'his triggers, that is.'

'Mostly things he associates bad memories with…Phoenix, Draco, Theo, Neville…'

Hermione sighed, removing her hand from the glass.

'Don't get down about that Hermione,' Sirius said as he placed a hand on her shoulder, 'you saw how much better he was, and the main thing is you aren't a trigger anymore.'

Hermione nodded, but she couldn't smile, things were better but they weren't right yet either, 'thanks for convincing me to see him Sirius.'

'I think you both needed it,' Sirius said gently as he steered Hermione out of the room, 'I'll see you at 4 for a command meeting, it's an important one, you're not going to want to miss it.'

'I'll see you then,' Hermione said weakly as she and Sirius parted ways.

Hermione had no idea what the command meeting was about, as far as she had been concerned it was just another boring command meeting to talk strategy. Sirius had been right though, it did turn out to be interesting. Hermione arrived and sat down next to Charlie as she always did, then Remus silenced the usual chit-chat and everyone looked to him expectantly.

'We have a new recruit,' Remus said with a smile, 'someone who has been on the inside for years.'

Charlie frowned, 'So why are they turning now?'

Sirius got to his feet as the door buzzed, 'She lost everything this year, she doesn't see a reason to fight for a cause she doesn't believe in anymore,' he swiped his wand over the door and it opened, revealing their new recruit flanked by two guards.

She didn't look as glamorous as she had the last time Hermione had seen her, not in the drab grey robes they all had to wear here. Her pure blonde hair still shone but her face was devoid all of make-up. Still, she was recognisable instantly.

'This is Narcissa Black,' Sirius said, 'my cousin.'

'Black?' Moody barked, 'I thought it was Malfoy.'

'It was,' Narcissa said coolly, 'until the official annulment came through that is. Even in a world as messed up as ours domestic abuse is a crime.'

'Isn't your Husband dead?' Alice asked.

Narcissa nodded stiffly, 'Yes, but technically I was still married to the rotting bastard.'

Sirius smirked, 'Sit down Narcissa,' he said, directing her to the seat next to him, 'and don't insult her, she has vital information.'

The others obeyed his order, Sirius was after all second in command after Remus.

'Good to have you on our side,' Remus said, shaking her hand, 'I hope you understand the need for security measures.'

'I do,' Narcissa said with a sigh, 'but that doesn't mean I don't miss my wand.'

'You'll get it back soon,' Sirius assured her, 'first, I think you should tell the others what you told me and Remus.'

Narcissa nodded, 'Well my Husband talked in his sleep for several years, between that and the odd pieces of conversation I heard through his study door I have some information I think you'll want to know about before you try and attack the capitol.'

'Go on,' Moody said warily.

'The Dark Lord cannot simply be killed,' Narcissa said, 'do you know of the dark art of horcruxes?'

Most people nodded, and Hermione frowned as she recalled it from a book she had read at school, 'As in putting part of your soul in an object?'

'Precisely that,' Narcissa said, 'in order to make a horcrux you have to kill in cold blood to split your soul. The Dark Lord seems to have done this several times because from what I know he has 5 horcruxes.'

'5?' Frank asked in disbelief from where he sat with a bandage around his head, 'his soul must be in tatters.'

'It would explain a lot,' Remus said darkly.

'Indeed,' Narcissa said, 'I know of one, which I gave to your research team. It was entrusted to us by the Dark Lord.'

'But there are four more out there?' Sirius asked.

Narcissa nodded, 'I believe my sister Bellatrix, and her Husband have one entrusted to them which they keep in their vault at Gringotts. My Husband also talked of one hidden in a secret room where the portraits of the Headmasters of Hogwarts reside.'

Hermione frowned, 'There are no portraits of any Headmasters at Hogwarts.'

'Not anymore,' Sirius corrected.

'They used to be in the Headmasters office,' Alice said, 'but they were hidden away when Voldemort took over Hogwarts.'

'I think I know where they might be,' Sirius admitted as he looked to Remus, 'I can only think of one hidden room at Hogwarts.'

'The Room of Requirement,' Remus said with a slight nod, 'yes the thought did occur to me.'

'Do you know what items his soul is stored in?' Moody asked, ever the practical one.

'The horcrux entrusted to my Husband was a diary from the Dark Lords school days,' Narcissa said, 'and I believe my sister guards a golden cup. Beyond that I cannot tell you anymore.'

There were some nods, and a lot of silence.

'Assuming Narcissa's information is sound,' Remus said, 'this means we have a lot more work than we thought. With horcruxes Voldemort won't die, he'll just keep coming back.'

'Which means what exactly?' Charlie asked.

'They have to be destroyed,' Hermione said quietly, 'he can't be killed until they have all been destroyed.'

'Exactly,' Sirius said, 'while they are intact he is…immortal.'

'So what now?' Alice asked, looking to Remus for further instruction.

'I'll help, if you want,' Hermione said, 'I know a lot about this sort of magic, I find it fascinating.'

'You can join our research team,' Remus said, 'they are trying to find a way to destroy it.'

'Well, dark magic can only be destroyed with something equally as powerful,' Hermione said quickly, 'fiendfyre would work, but of course it's very destructive…as would basilisk venom, I imagine.'

'Fiendfyre is indeed too destructive,' Sirius said, 'and basilisk venom is very difficult to source.'

'The girl is right though,' Moody said, 'to destroy magic that strong and that dark, something just as powerful, if not more so has to be utilised.

'Wouldn't the sword of Gryffindor do it?' Sirius asked.

'The sword of Gryffindor is in Hogwarts,' Remus pointed out, 'almost as difficult to try and source as basilisk venom.'

'Good point,' Sirius muttered, 'it was just an idea.'

Remus smiled, 'And it was a good one, unfortunately I don't think even its magic would be enough to destroy something so evil, unless it was imbued with the power of something akin to basilisk venom.'

'So until we can destroy the horcrux we do have,' Sirius said, 'are there any suggestions on where to go next?'

'Well, to state the obvious,' Charlie said, 'shouldn't we try and find the others?'

'That could be difficult since we don't know what most of them are, or where they are,' Alice pointed out.

'We know one is a cup that is in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault at Gringotts,' Flitwick squeaked, 'and I have links with several of the Gringotts Goblins.'

Remus smiled slightly, 'Do you think you would be able to convince any of them to make us a delivery, Filius?'

'It is possible,' Flitwick said, 'but they would want payment, in something Goblin made, likely.'

'Does anyone own anything Goblin made that the Goblins might want back?' Sirius asked, trying to hide his exasperation, he wasn't keen on Goblins.

'I do,' Charlie said, 'my Aunt Muriel had a Goblin made tiara that now belongs to me. I was saving it for when I got married but since I'm now 100% sure that will never happen it might as well be used for some good.'

Hermione frowned slightly, feeling sorry for Charlie once again. His life had been even more miserable than hers probably, at least Harry was alive. He had lost the person he loved.

'Well if the quality is good enough,' Flitwick said, 'then I'm sure it will be more than adequate as a bargaining chip.'

Charlie chuckled, 'The quality is perfect, you never met my Aunt Muriel.'

There was some laughter which lightened the mood a little, but things still weren't great. This was a serious bump in the metaphorical road.

'The other hint, about the hidden room at Hogwarts won't be so easy to pursue,' Sirius admitted, 'not with Voldemort controlling Hogwarts.'

'He may control it,' Alice said, 'but he isn't the Headmaster, and he rarely actually goes there.'

'All the same, Snape has a pretty strong hold on the place,' Frank said to his wife.

'Yes, he does,' Remus said quietly, 'but I think Severus Snape may be more of an ally than a foe.'

'Really Remus?' Sirius asked in disbelief, 'you're still defending Snivellus?'

Remus shot his old friend a glare, 'Severus and Lily had a history Sirius, surely even you know that. He was in love with her.'

'Of course I knew that,' Sirius said, 'I saw the way he looked at her, and it was obvious that was why he hated James.'

'The Headmaster had a history with Harry's Mum?' Hermione asked in disbelief.

'They were childhood friends, but Harry doesn't know so I would appreciate it if you kept this quiet around him,' Remus said gently.

Hermione nodded, and Sirius said, 'All the same Remus, I doubt a childhood friendship with Lily will be enough to make him help us. Especially after the way we treated him at school.'

'I think you underestimate him Sirius,' Remus said coolly.

'I have to agree,' Narcissa cut in, 'he never did seem as enthralled by the Dark Lord as many others. I believe he entered into his service directly after leaving school.'

'He did,' Remus said, 'and for that reason I think he acted rashly but had no option of going back and undoing his mistake.'

Narcissa nodded, 'Severus Snape is not a hero, or a great man, but he is a good man and I believe he may help you, particularly if he knows that I am involved with the cause.'

'You and Snape are friends?' Sirius asked his cousin in surprise.

'More than that,' Narcissa said, 'he was my sons Godfather, he loved Draco very much.'

'Oh, I see,' Sirius said.

'I'm so very sorry Narcissa,' Remus added as Narcissa nodded, her lips thin all of a sudden.

There was a moment of silence, and then Remus said, 'In that case it is decided. Hermione, I would like you to join the team of researchers working on the diary. Filius, I would appreciate it if you got in touch with your contacts at Gringotts about the cup. As for everyone else, I will begin to plan the mission to Hogwarts in search of the third horcrux with the aid of Sirius and Narcissa, and any other volunteers.'

Kingsley, Moody, Alice and Frank volunteered straight away and Hermione said, 'I'll help, if I'm allowed. I know Hogwarts like the back of my hand, and I used to hide out in that hidden room a lot when I was trying to avoid the Headmaster on his patrols.'

'I think you'll be useful Hermione,' Remus reasoned, 'and given your success in the mission to District 1, I think you more than qualify for this one.'

'I'll go too,' Charlie said, and Hermione rolled her eyes, not caring who noticed. Sirius smiled slightly at the clear exasperation Hermione had towards Charlie and his over-protectiveness.

Flitwick said he would go too if he had finished in his dealings with his Goblin contacts, he knew the school well too having worked there for a number of years. Remus said he would finalise things like the number of soldiers, and that Narcissa would get in contact with Severus to see where he stood in the war. Hermione zoned out a little and was relieved when they were all told the meeting was adjourned and they could go.

Thinking of this new information, and the fact she once more had a job to do she made her way to the room she shared with Rachel. Between Harry's improving health and this, things were looking like they might turn in the favour of the rebels. She squashed her hopes down anyway, just in case something went drastically wrong.

TBC:)

A/N: I think I'm right with the horcruxes. Voldemort would still have created the diary and then the cup and locket I'm sure of. I think he made the diadem not long after leaving Hogwarts as well. I don't think he would have made Nagini because that was after he accidentally made Harry wasn't it? Or at least after he tried to kill baby Harry. Obviously Sirius and Remus saved Harry before Voldemort got to him so he wouldn't have become a horcrux either. If I'm wrong please tell me and I'll try to fix it!

Hope you are still enjoying this, Happy Holidays everyone!

Holly

xxx