Chapter Fourteen: In Present Company
A/N: I don't own Harry Potter…also, anybody else excited about this Pottermore thing? One more day. Oooohhhh….Please comment!
"Don't, under any circumstance become eager," Lupin said firmly, "It's more believable if you hold your ground, and act in your own benefit. Even if you begin to suspect they are weary of you, don't accept their bargain"
Hermione nodded somberly. She was hot, but her sweat was running cold. Her hands were folded in her lap to prevent them from shaking, and she didn't speak, fearing her voice would quaver. Draco sat calmly beside her, his arms folded, and frowning deeply. Hermione couldn't help but wonder if he was actually nervous or just resigned to whatever fate was in store for them. He looked more annoyed than anything.
"Demand the payments we have discussed Hermione, and lay out your rules, let it be known that your services are not free" Lupin sighed and rubbed his eyes "Hopefully, tonight, we'll be able to get you in and out in once piece, then we'll see what happens from then on"
Hermione nodded again, wondering if that 'you' was plural.
"Alright, now that you've bombarded us with what we should do once we're inside. How about telling us the scheme to actually get us in there" Draco asked coolly.
"Well, you're going to take a portkey to a hamlet near the new deatheaters residence, then you will be walking the rest of the way. It would be foolish to think the deatheaters do not have an anti-disapparition jinx surrounding the area. Hopefully, the fact that you have not raised any alarms will surprise them. If you were to apparate on the premises, and a caterwauling charm went off, they'd kill you before even wondering about your identity." Lupin frowned.
"The premises that is…where exactly?" Draco asked raising his brow.
"In the area, the order wasn't able to get an exact fix on the location. But there has been an undeniable amount of deatheater activity occurring within the hamlet" Lupin assured them. Hermione didn't feel particularly comforted though.
"Yes, that or their favorite pub might be in the region" Draco muttered sarcastically.
"If, you cannot find the location, or our sources are faulty, then just return back here. We'll work through the plan again"
"Brilliant, let's get on then. Shall we?" Draco said standing up, and turning his back on Lupin, his eye fixed on Hermione.
Hermione looked at him from under her lashes, unable to make direct eye contact. She was going to be sick.
Hermione pulled her long black cloak tightly around her, making sure the hood hung low over her forehead. Her heels had made a loud click on the dewy cobblestones they landed on. But she was just thankful she had actually landed on both feet. The portkey pot lid was lying a meter to her right, leaning inconspicuously next to other rubbish.
The night was clear, and rather frosty for what was supposed to be the deep of summer. A light mist, which had yet to turn into rain, hung in the air ominously. It was so thick Hermione could smell it's almost metallic scent.
She and Draco walked out of the little alleyway side by side and onto the main street. It was only a couple hundred meters long, mostly consisting of shops that were closed at this time of night. Every couple of shops they passed by another little lane became visible, leading to tall crooked houses behind the shops. The whole hamlet was built around the little boulevard.
Draco kept turning around, his right arm slightly raised; prepared with a wand underneath his cloak should someone attack them. He also adjusted his hood and pressed right against Hermione's side.
"Just how are we supposed to find this building, and what if it's not visible to the naked eye? The werewolf couldn't even tell us if there was a fidelius charm on it," he muttered leaning his head towards hers.
"No, such extreme protection would cause more suspicion then it would dispel. Besides, Voldemort trusts no one so a fidelius charm is pointless, especially if they move locations frequently" Hermione said patting her cloak for the location of her own wand. She pulled her trembling hands up into her sleeves. If she couldn't control her nerves, tonight would not go favorably for them. She took a deep shaky breath.
"So, how do we know when we've found it? Is it in the village, or somewhere in the suburbs?"
"Let's first look around. Keep your eyes out for abandoned or seemingly ruined homes, they may have put some charms around the premises" Hermione suggested, linking arms with Draco.
"Right" he mumbled.
They walked side by side, cautiously looking every which way. Hermione doubted that any deatheaters would attack them now, but the silence of the village was eerie. No dogs barking, not a single light on in any of the houses, and it was only midnight. She sighed and concentrated on really seeing the buildings. It became glaringly obvious that the deatheaters would not set up camp on the one and only paved street in the area.
"Let's move to the outskirts," Hermione suggested, steering Draco towards the lane on their left. The dingy lane had doors from the buildings on either side, some trash, recycled beer bottles, and mostly filth.
The houses here were slightly further apart, and misshapen through years of renovation and additions in the surrounded streets. A very different ambiance from the movie set feel of the main road.
"Why are the pubs closed so early?" Hermione frowned, unable to shake the unnerving stillness of the place from her mind.
"I don't know, this whole thing seems very peculiar. No people, no lights in the houses, the way the town is dead…and the fact that the pub is closed on a Friday night at midnight…"
"Dead?" Hermione inquired.
"Like we've been sent somewhere pointless…it seems like nobody actually lives in this town. Don't you agree"?
"I agree that it's unsettlingly quiet here. But that could be due to the deatheaters. I mean, they could have easily charmed the citizens here to cooperate under their influence…or have enforced some kind of curfew like before" Hermione suggested "it could be evidence for their existing here…or, this may not actually be a real town. But how the order could have overlooked that…"
"I don't know…grasping at straws aren't we now?"
"Well" Hermione muttered looking at building that she could not distinguish to be a house or barn "Just keep- OI!" Hermione yelped as Draco stopped walking, causing her to stumble back. "Earth to major Malfoy" she said angrily stepping in front of him. He was looking at the house to his left with raised brows, "What are you-"
"-Looking for something like that?" he asked softly.
Hermione turned around to face a rather large, and inexplicably grandiose house for the area they were in. "huh" she exhaled with a grimace "they just can't assimilate anywhere, can they?"
Bizarrelyenormous compared to the two homes next to it, the house had long and large windows, a tall double door, and was surrounded by a large iron gate. The impression was altogether rather imposing. "You first" Hermione muttered pushing Draco forward.
"Shouldn't we discuss this?" he asked with a nervous smile.
"No time. We just have to get on with this" Hermione said shaking her head.
"Even if we don't leave these gates alive?"
"Even if"
"Alright" Draco said stepping forward, he placed his hand on the gate and it swung open swiftly. "Looks like we're invited"
Hermione stepped as near him as she dared, and they crossed the gate, heading up the long drive to the house itself.
"Tacky" Draco muttered eyeing the fountains and sculptures of magical beasts "But deatheaters usually are, I mean, you've seen what my manor looks like. And it's not entirely my mothers fault".
"Is there a doorbell, or knocker?" Hermione whispered as they neared the large and imposing doors "Oh Merlin! How do we get in!" she panicked grasping at Draco's arm.
"Calm down, there's no need" Draco replied calmly. The door was opening slowly even before they reached the steps. Hermione exhaled a shaky breath and tried to slow her heartbeat. She could feel her pulse aching in her throat. Mental, she was going absolutely mental and falling apart before she reached the door. It was time to give the performance of her life; she couldn't fail.
At the door a small crooked house elf in a blue towel awaited them. "Evening" Hermione said coolly stepping ahead and entering before Draco. The elf nodded at her, "Should I take missus cloak?" it asked in a whiney breathless voice.
"Certainly" Hermione said handing the elf her cloak, as Malfoy did the same after her.
"Missus, and Sir can enter through the doors on their left, there they be waiting for you" the elf said with a bow.
Hermione locked eyes with Draco for a moment; he squeezed her hand quickly, and then let go. Waiting? They were waiting, how did the deatheaters discover that they were coming at all?
Hermione swiftly walked forward, before all her courage left her. She threw the doors open and marched into the room. She noted that there were many indistinguishable dark shapes in the dimly lit room. Groups of people clumped together, making it impossible to gauge the number in attendance. There was a table at the end of the lengthy chamber, for which she aimed. Hermione hoped that Draco was close behind her, should someone attempt to curse her in her moment of blind senselessness. At the table in front, the seated party all had their faces hidden with grotesque masks. One person sat in the middle, but their appearance did not differ from the rest. Hermione stopped right before the table. She heard Malfoy stop not far behind her.
Finally standing in the stillness Hermione could feel the scope of the chamber; she could not even see the walls, giving the space a large and enclosed feeling all at the same time. The floor was an complex parquet design, what Draco would probably assert as tacky, and the room was entirely lit by candles.
"Good evening" said one of the masked men; he moved his hands from the table into his lap. Likely to hold onto his wand, all the better to kill Hermione with.
"Yes, it has been" Hermione replied with a sweet and timid smile.
"What could you possibly be looking for here Miss Granger? Did you get lost on your way to the bookstore?" the man asked. Chuckles erupted from around the room. Hermione remained composed; her eyebrows rose in surprise, and then narrowed in annoyance.
"No, I'm most certain I'm at the right location"
"Really? And what are you…and the traitor looking for her?" Another masked figure asked. Hermione heard Draco shuffle behind her.
"He" she said throwing her head back to indicate Draco, "has brought me here, but I am here of my own desires. Desires, which Mr. Malfoy agrees with fully"
"Ah! Did you hear that?"
"Really now?"
"Foolish girl, what does she think-"
"Must be mad…"
Hermione kept smiling, mostly to keep her face from trembling further, and she had the impression it unsettled the people around her to see her seem jovial. Perhaps she should have taken a page out of Bellatrix's book and acted cheerfully deranged. That would really make her frightening.
"What is it that we could possibly do for you Miss Granger? You mustn't expect us to hand ourselves over to the order…we haven't actually done anything unlawful yet you see" Hermione tried to not scoff at the remark, but she couldn't believe the deatheaters knew anything else.
"And since you are the most intelligent witch of our age" Hermione frowned, looking at the person in the center who was now speaking. That phrase had been almost exclusively used for her at Hogwarts, was this someone whom she had been in school with? "You should be fully aware we won't allow you to leave these walls alive. Since you have so kindly, and conveniently, walked into our abode. It will be all to easy to dispose of you"
"So, you do not wish my services then? How terribly wasteful" Hermione scoffed in mock insult, eyes still fixed on the figure in the middle.
"You offer us services? Just which services could these be?" laughed a masked woman to her right.
"A front row seat to the destruction of the order" Hermione smirked.
Around her murmurs and outcry's of shock and skepticism exploded. The general consensus in the room seemed to be that Hermione had gone barmy. "Silence" said the masked figure in the middle. His voice, and Hermione was certain it was a male, was relaxing and low. It had an immediate calming effect on the crowd. He seemed to hold greater influence than the others here. She needed to keep watch on him.
"You mean to say" he said slowly, Hermione imaged him to be smiling under his mask "That you will play a pawn? Now, Miss Granger! I know you are brimming with intelligence, but why do you insult mine?"
"And why think me so cheap and benevolent?" Hermione retaliated "I am not here to simply help you. Certainly that is what the end result will be, but the end result is irrelevant to me. This is mostly for my benefit"
"And what do you get from this ploy of playing two sides?" the man asked, "It is a lot of work; surely the advantages must be great".
"I get the satisfaction of revenge, and my freedom"
"There is no freedom if you join us" the masked man muttered.
"Ah, but it is what I desire. I wish to be a free agent. I belong to neither right or wrong, I belong to the party of 'me'" Hermione smiled.
"If you have no loyalty, then why should we trust you" asked another man at the end of the table, "If you will not mark yourself, then why should we even entertain your foolish ideas?"
"Have you any loyalty?" Hermione asked with raised brows.
Around the room, the deatheaters broke out in angry whispers, but none dared to speak up.
"You all sit here, enjoying your new power, now that your lord is dead and most certainly gone due to Potter. You are all free, no matter what choice you make you can still walk away, live another life, and so long as your vengeful leader is gone" Draco interjected "That is not loyalty. If you were loyal to the cause you marked yourselves for, you would be out there killing muggles, not having get-togethers with tea and cakes"
"All in good time, Malfoy. But I do not see it appropriate that you should talk of loyalty, since you appear neither loyal to us, nor the order" the man in the middle said.
"I also, consider myself a free agent," Draco said politely.
"Still" grunted one of the rounder cloaked men "how to trust you?"
"If you play your side of the game properly, you need not worry about me. If you cross me, then the rules change. But I'm not interested in dealing with more trouble than the bare minimum. So please, do not upset me" Hermione said stone faced. She was almost there; they just needed to take the bait.
"What then?" asked a woman at the left end of the table.
"Then, the plan, in short, I give you correct but inconspicuous information on the orders actions and whereabouts. You give me information of your plans that I can feed to the order. You will have the upper hand in all these cases. But, I desire to not be involved. I will carry the information, but will not put myself in the middle or in the way of harm. I do not care what occurs, either with your causalities or theirs. If you should tell the order of my full betrayal, our deal ends, and with it my assistance. It is not in my interest to get caught between the two sides. My main interest is the exoneration you can offer me," Hermione explained.
"What part of this satisfies your revenge?" asked the curious man in the middle. Folding his hands on the table.
"Ah, that I will let you know about when the moment arises" Hermione smiled.
"And the discharge you require?"
"After this has all played out in your favor, we require that you claim our deaths. Simple, effect, and resulting in our liberty, nothing more" Draco explained moving to stand next to Hermione.
"I still do not see what you gain in this…though I am aware of your current situation. It has been all over the tabloids…yours and Potter's little tiff" the man chuckled.
"Yes, I suppose it has been. You cannot keep much private being a member of the golden trio" Hermione admitted sheepishly.
"I must admit, I am not all that surprised that you have come to us Miss Granger. I have been expecting you. The always underappreciated member of your group, but the real driving force and intelligence behind all of Potter's endeavors…why not join us? We will appreciate what you have to offer" the man suggested.
"At this time, it is not what I desire" Hermione sighed, "But perhaps, if you were to persuade me of the ultimate benefits of playing on your team…I could eventually be swayed"
The man nodded.
"But, since you and Potter are not on good grounds, how will you withdraw information?" asked another shadowed deatheater.
"Harry Potter cares deeply for me. We have already rectified the situation, and all is as it was before. Though the press does not know this yet. Potter is not very capable of hate, he forgives rather easily. And just because Potter and I fought, it does not imply my immediate expulsion from the order. It is not a grave situation, and Potter does not have such control"
"I see"
"Regarding my payout, I'd prefer to speak about it at a later time in private. With, whoever here is the new lord, or leader" Hermione insisted casually "I do not wish to discuss my matters with everyone in current company. For you see, most of you cannot be trusted with such information".
"New lord? You expect a new leader?" said the man in the centre, he sounded vaguely surprised. But not shocked enough for Hermione to believe he didn't know who was holding the reigns here.
"The deatheaters have never been a democracy" Draco laughed, "No matter how cohesive your views are, the structure has always been a tyranny"
"In time perhaps…but I am not certain I accept this proposition. After all, I could just kill you right now" the man sighed tiredly.
"You could, but you're curious…and you do not strike me as the type to walk away from such a favorable contract"Hermione said, doing her best to sound confident.
"Yes, you have piqued my curiosity Miss Granger…perhaps I shall let you walk this time. And I will contact you, rather than having you walk into our playing field, perchance we could meet in a more private and neutral place"
"Certainly, I shall wait to hear from you" Hermione smiled.
"And, will you go now to your order friends and tell them you walked in and out of the deatheater headquarters unscathed?" he asked inquisitively.
"Yes" Hermione admitted, "And I will reveal your location. So, you may decided to choose a less obvious location next time"
"Of course, we shall be seeing each other again Miss Granger" he said, drawing out her name unpleasantly.
Hermione just nodded and turned around. She began to walk out of the room, aware that the deatheaters were both confused and interested in what had just occurred, and shocked than none of them had attempted to kill her. The door shut behind her and Draco as they exited. The house elf stood in the hall holding their cloaks, "Ere you are Missus, and Sir" it said handing them over.
"Let's be leaving" Draco said placing his hand on the small of her back and steering her out the door. The walked silently down the steps and drive, making not a single noise until they were back in the alley leading to the main street. "Well, that went well" Draco sighed.
"I have to use the washroom" Hermione said shakily.
"Everything is closed here…let's just get to the end of the street and we'll apparate back to Grimmauld Place" he said placing his hand on her shoulder.
Hermione just nodded. She felt cold all over and sick to her stomach. But she had done it, and hopefully convincingly. She had completed the easiest part, what came next would be infinitely more complicated. Hermione now had to prove herself to the deatheaters in order to gain greater access. She knew that they would not reveal their new leader so easily to her, not until they could understand her motives. But how would she be compelling enough to fool them. Hermione hoped it didn't come to the point of sacrifice. She envied Draco. How was he so composed and cool? Hermione could never be that serene in the company of deatheaters, and especially not while she had to lie.
Draco stopped, and walked towards the window of a pub, pressing his face against the glass to peer inside. "Weird, there aren't any fixtures inside…"
Hermione pressed her forehead to the glass as well, "I knew something was off about this town. I don't think anybody lives here…there aren't even chairs or tables" she walked to the next building, a bookstore "There aren't any books in the shelves! Did the deatheaters just expel everyone?"
"So much for the orders uncertainty. I'd say these are pretty obvious signs of a deatheater invasion" Draco laughed.
"Yeah…"Hermione frowned.
"Ready?" Draco said taking her hand.
"Sure" Hermione replied.
A tight sensation overtook her, and a second later they were standing on the doorstep to order headquarters. Draco opened the door and she followed him in.
Not even five seconds after Hermione entered;
"Well?"
"WHAT HAPPENED?"
"Did they believe it?"
"OH, YOU'RE ALIVE" Mrs. Weasley sobbed running towards Hermione from the kitchen, and holding her tightly, a dripping ladle still in one hand. If Mrs. Weasley squeezed any harder, Hermione would wet herself here in the hallway.
Everyone was quite awake, and waiting for their return.
"All good?" Lupin asked from the sitting room entrance. He looked particularly tired; either worried or expecting a full moon soon.
"Yes" Hermione replied as confidently as she could.
"Brilliant! We should celebrate!" Harry grinned.
"Maybe tomorrow, I'm a little-"
"So, what happened?" Ron asked pushing past his mother and sister to get to the front of the queue.
"Can we talk about it tomorrow, I'd like to go to bed" Hermione sighed.
"Oh come on Hermione, just tell us already" Ron pleaded.
"NO! I said tomorrow" Hermione snapped, Ron stepped back, and on to Ginny's foot.
"Oi!" she cried.
Hermione took the opportunity and marched past Harry and the rest upstairs.
The crowd dispelled, everyone leaving their own way reluctantly, but hopeful that they'd hear the details soon enough.
Draco, Harry and Ron remained at the door, all frowning.
"I didn't invite her to bite my head off, why do I even bother asking?" muttered Ron angrily, looking for support from the other two males.
"Because, if you don't Weasley, it would be considered rape" Draco grinned walking past him up the stairs.
"Stupid ferret!" Ron yelled after him "I can't stand him mate, seriously"
"That's nice Ron, I'm going to bed" Harry muttered, patting Ron on the shoulder, turning off the light, and heading upstairs. Leaving Ron fuming in the dark.