Paint me grateful once more to my wonderful betas Christina Teresa and Seakays. They are, quite simply, wonderful. Many thanks as well to lovely reviewers CakeTwins, rgluvr13, JulesFire, and Mist. Thank you for taking your time to review after I've taken my time to write this for you – it's appreciated immensely! Enjoy! NZ

Chapter 21

Silhouettes

Chapter 20 Synopsis:
Harry receives notice from the Weasley twins that they're going to help him escape the Dursleys and the restrictive security net the Order and Dumbledore have held him in since leaving Hogwarts after fifth year. Their scheme is successful, though Harry has to survive a stomach-turning Floo trip while Fred and George make sure his tracks are covered. While waiting at their premises to leave for Scotland as Fred Weasley, he meets Howard Plunck, a cigar-smoking part-fairy now working for the twins. Meanwhile, Ron thinks about the conversation he overheard between Carl Smeggers and Dr. Voyde. Hermione returns to the cabin after work and as they're talking, tells Ron that the knock they hear at the door is no doubt Tod, the house-elf, bringing food. Ron and Tod accidentally meet and to allay suspicions in the camp, Hermione assures Tod that she and Ron can share one cabin and one food tray since they are, as Ron has proudly told Tod, "mates". While Ron and Hermione wait in hiding for Dr. Voyde to appear and accept the food shipments, Hermione tries to ignore what she feels for Ron after being away from him for so long. Anxious to help Hermione get her 'hard evidence' so they can leave, Ron disappears into the habitat at dusk before Hermione can tell him it's too dangerous to be there at night.

"All right," Harry said. "You can come out now. It's safe. Again."

Howard cautiously peered out from behind an upright rubber chicken that occasionally broke into a tango on the tabletop. "Wow! That was a grand round, wasn't it? Did you hear how loud that last explosion was? Can be a little scary sometimes, but it really gets the blood flowin', you know what I mean?"

Harry thought Howard was just a little too enthusiastic about the entertainment potential of Exploding Snap, but then, maybe it was more exciting when you were thirteen inches tall. He flung his cards on the table in exasperation.

"Twenty-two," Harry said. "You've won twenty-two times in a row now. Are you, what… the Exploding Snap featherweight world champion or something?"

"No," Howard said sincerely. "Nothing like that. Fred showed me how to play just yesterday. Reckon I've just got a knack."

"You don't know how much better that makes me feel," Harry said dryly.

Somehow this wasn't the way he'd imagined his first taste of freedom in a month and a half would be. He'd been stuck in the back room of Fred and George's premises for nearly three hours now, waiting for the sun to set so he could mount up and head for Scotland as Fred Weasley, businessman.

He couldn't really blame Fred and George. They had done all they could to get him a good (easy-on-the-stomach) meal and keep him somewhat occupied (if that's what one could call releasing their part-fairy from his work duties so he could play cards). But the twins truly did have to continue operating their business as usual so as not to arouse suspicions. Both Weasleys had done their best to remember to 'casually' mention to their customers that Fred was going out of town for the next few days and would be leaving tonight. After all, if that was the general consensus about town and there were disguised Order members out there questioning the public in the next few days, it just might buy them some time and credibility.

"What do you think, George?" Harry asked when one of his hosts came back to pull a Split Banana joke item from the shelf for a customer. "Will it be dark enough in another hour or so, you think?"

"Yeah, I reckon," George answered. "Getting anxious to be on your way, are you? Can't say I blame you, mate. I'd be chomping at the bit myself after being hounded all summer like that."

" I can't say it's been easy -- especially when I could have really used some distraction from -- well, you know."

George nodded his head quietly. "It won't be long now, though. Tell you what. I'll finish with this customer and then we'll try to close up early. We've got to come back and brief you with the map and the spell reversals and change your hair color and all before you go--"

Harry was hoping he hadn't heard what he thought he heard. "Hold on. You know, the funniest thing -- I thought I heard you say something about changing the color of my hair."

George looked rather appalled. "What's funny about that?"

"Yeah," Fred chimed in, having wandered in from the front showroom and overheard. "Finish your customer, George -- the door's spell-locked to let him out and then we're done. So what's so strange about changing your hair, Harry? If you're going to impersonate a Weasley, you're going to have to look like a Weasley -- for a bit, anyway."

Harry grimaced. "I never thought about that. Can't I just wear a hat or something?"

"A hat?" Fred asked. "Well -- could be done, I reckon. But it'd definitely be more convincing if you were spotted flying off somewhere with shining red Weasley locks. Just till you're well away from London, at least. Here, we'll do a quick change right now. Wiggo Pintamus!"

Feeling a crawly sensation on his scalp, Harry was too afraid to look at Fred's expression at first. It was bad enough that Howard had watched the whole exchange, made a terrible face, and then flown wordlessly up to his bird house.

"I don't know..." Harry said, looking up and a bit cross-eyed to be able to see the ends of a few reddish locks from his fringe. "The spell feels kinda creepy. What does it look like?"

"Well..." Fred said, his brow furrowed in thought as he appraised Harry's head.

Harry was beginning to worry. He knew the twins were very good at hiding their own feelings behind their expressions. In fact, Ron had probably developed his uncanny bluffing ability at chess in sheer self-defense. But Fred couldn't even manage to cover himself very well here.

"I hate to break it to you, Harry," Fred began, "but you just weren't born a natural ginger. I mean-- don't get me wrong, you still look fine and all. But I'm just not sure if, say ten meters away, people would think you handsome enough to be me. Now, you could probably pass for George with no problem. People don't expect quite so much of him in the looks department, you know what I mean?"

George wandered in just in time to hear Fred's last remark. "Say what, Fred? Kindly explain that last bit —not sure I know what you mean."

Harry just sighed and rolled his eyes. Surely it had to be dark by now... please.

>>>ES

Just inside the huge gates, he finally spotted her crouching behind some bushes, now and again straightening to see beyond the foliage and scan the area. Ron couldn't think of how to catch her attention without possibly alerting others, and his vantage point wasn't good enough that he could be sure they were completely alone. A whistle's too loud and might attract too much attention, she doesn't know Fred and George's bird calls... oh- I know! Holding his hands curved around his mouth, Ron began to make the soft clip-clopping sound with his tongue that he'd used to panic Umbridge in the hospital wing.

It was obvious right away that Hermione had heard something, but it took her a few moments to locate the source of the sound. Rushing across an open space to join Ron in his hiding place behind an outcropping of large rocks, she slipped on some fallen leaves and slid right into him as she arrived.

"What took you so long?" Ron asked, scowling and helping to set her on her feet as they both stooped lower.

"I had to stop in the lab to get this," Hermione answered in a half-whisper, shoving a bag at him before she peered around the rock to make sure no one had seen her mad dash.

Ron looked inside the worn burlap sack and reached in to pull out a...dog biscuit?

"What do we need these for?" He looked at her in disbelief. Barking mad, he thought.

Hermione crouched down again and turned back to him irritably. "If you'd listened -- I wouldn't have had to bother. We shouldn't even be here right now. I tried to tell you, but you were already gone--"

"I thought you wanted to find out what's been going on with your precious Yetis," Ron said.

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "I do! But a fat lot of good it'll do me if we die before I can tell anyone who can help."

"Die?" Ron looked at her oddly. "But I thought you knew how to do sign language with them...or something. You said they were sweet and gentle and loved to learn. I heard nothing about them causing any dying."

"Some of them behave like I told you, yes," Hermione explained, acting a bit uncomfortable with the words and twisting her body around to sit with her back against the rock. "Some of the calmer and better-trained of them. But there are still a good lot who act almost as if they're straight from the wild -- especially around one another...and especially at night. I suppose I didn't mention much about them in my letters. Let's just say they're very powerful, magically, not to mention extremely powerful, physically."

"So now you tell me," Ron said, frowning. "Makes me wonder a bit what else you didn't happen to mention..."

"Don't you dare go and blame me for this, when you're the one to come rushing in here," she said irritably.

"Wasn't it you who said that part of what was going on had to do with the way they were feeding them? Isn't this where they feed them, so shouldn't we be here to find out what's going on?"

She paused, then rolled her eyes impatiently. "Yes, and yes-- I suppose so. Since we are here, we may as well try and get some kind of proof and then get out--"

A loud clang somewhere nearby interrupted her, though they were blocked from seeing whatever caused it by the back of the lab building. Ron had a sinking feeling he already knew what the sound had been.

"That wasn't by any chance the gate, was it?" he asked tentatively. "And since we just passed through it open, that means it just--"

"Closed, yes--" Hermione finished, "And I'm sure it was spell-locked. So we're here now, for better or worse." Even if he couldn't fully see the glare she was giving him in this light, there was no doubt he could fully feel it. "We might as well do what we can and hope for the best on the Yeti's side. Now, whatever we find out, whatever we get as proof, it has to be 'hard evidence', as Dr. Null says. Otherwise, the Ministry won't have anything to do with it. At least that's what Thaddeus Sharpe told me."

"He is a bloody arrogant bastard, isn't he?" Ron blurted out.

Apparently, it was his vehemence that made Hermione smile instead of complain about his language. "I've never thought of him in so many words-- but yes, that's exactly what he is. I wonder if there's any way to somehow take whatever part of the food shipment the handlers were going to destroy and ship it to the Ministry as evidence."

"Yeah, half-burnt and still smoking would be even better," Ron agreed. "Obviously the Yeti wouldn't do that to their own food, so it would have to tie in to someone else here."

"As long as they couldn't somehow pin it on Dr. Null, like they've managed with everything else," Hermione said.

"Only one way to find out, I reckon," Ron said. "Where do they feed them, anyway?"

Hermione gestured for Ron to follow her and she cautiously began to lead him from hiding place to hiding place on their way to the feeding stations. As the two of them skirted the area that held the battered old picnic table, they heard voices and pulled one another deeper into the nearby brush to keep from being seen.

"Look, it's them," Ron whispered, peering out through a hole in the foliage. He gently positioned Hermione in front of him so she could see, too, though he had to pull her hair aside to keep it from fluffing up under his nose. A sneeze would not be helpful right now.

Pamela Voyde and Carl Smeggers both loomed over the tabletop, poring over a large piece of parchment by the light of a glowing oil lamp.

"Can't be too careful about what we say, you know. But if things go as planned..." Dr. Voyde said thoughtfully as she straightened. Her voice carried better now that she wasn't hunched over the parchment. "We'll have all the funding we need for whatever we want and for as long as we want – once we have our very own connection at the Ministry in our pockets. Perhaps we need to be funded for a study of sand crabs on the beach in Jamaica for several years…several long years…" she said dreamily, gazing up into Carl's moonish face.

Smeggers seemed concerned enough about their plan to ignore her thinly veiled flirtatiousness for the moment. "What's to be done about the food shipments while the old man's here? He will expect to see full rations at every station, no?"

"Do you think Nardstone's going to be able to get from one feeding station to the next faster than we can?" Voyde scoffed. "For one, I don't think he'll try. And for another, if he does try, we'll simply beat him to the punch. She says he's pretty much got only one oar in the water these days, anyway."

"You want us to continue the deprivation plan, though, yes?"

"Oh, absolutely," Voyde said. "That's what she's coming to see, never mind what the old geezer's coming for. We want her to be able to see those Yeti at their deprived best-- and that's why we need them both to stay several nights, so we can really put the screws to the creatures. We want the Yeti to show every bit of instinctive aggression they've got. She is paying a lot of money for this, you know. Ahem--I mean, donating."

"I told you! I told you!" Ron whispered loudly into Hermione's ear. "There's some hard evidence for you then. Straight from the horse's mouth. There's a 'she' coming!"

"Shhhh!" Hermione hissed, lightly slapping at him over her shoulder and hitting him on the chin.

"But the animals have been performing as expected, no?" Carl asked.

Dr. Voyde suddenly turned and reached for Carl's hand, pulling him around to face her. Grinning, Carl laid his beefy hands on the zooliwitch's hips and looked much more the smitten boyfriend than he had this morning.

"Oh yes, darling," she cooed. "Due to your brilliance, of course." Winding her arms around his neck, Voyde reached up to kiss Carl. He hungrily dove in to return it.

"Oh no...ergh!" Ron complained, fighting the urge to gag. "What is it -- Valentine's Day all year here? Does everyone around here have a 'mate', then?"

"No, not everyone!" Hermione whispered pointedly.

Ron could almost feel an odd physical impact from those words assaulting his ears. He shrank away and decided to try and let the words slide by him nice and easy, without having to touch or disturb them in any way, since from the sound of them, they were quite lethal. Perhaps his chances would be better with an irritable Yeti...

But the scene in front of the two of them was impossible to ignore, if only because there was nothing else to focus on. Ron was drawn back to it like someone would be to the ghoulish fascination of a splinching.

"Just look at them...like two pigs fighting over a corn cob. What is it with them, anyway?"

"Big hot and heavy romance, I suppose," Hermione whispered. "Can't seem to get enough of each other."

"Really?" Ron asked. "It wasn't at all like that this morning."

Hermione turned to him. "This morning? What do you mean?"

As quickly and quietly as he could put the words together, Ron explained what he'd heard just outside her cabin window.

"Horses?" Hermione whispered. "I've never even seen a horse here. Are you sure that's what they said?"

"Unless it was code for something else," Ron said. "Yeah, it was definitely about horses and something that 'those animals' did to them."

Hermione furrowed her brow in thought and fell silent again.

Ron noticed the two lovers had stopped their mutual adoration for the moment and were heading for the path that ran alongside the clump of bushes where he and Hermione were hidden. He pulled the still-concentrating Hermione back so that there was no chance they would be seen through the gap in the foliage.

A short time later, as the two friends cautiously approached the feeding station, they could hear the sounds of large creatures moving about, grunting and slurping noisily. Hermione led the way to a hiding spot, ducking easily under a low platform that Ron reckoned had been built there for observations of some sort. Though it was a bit difficult for him to crouch that low, he managed without hitting his head too badly.

Several still-lit oil lamps hung on posts in the middle of the large clearing before them and it was apparent that the handlers had been there only recently. But it certainly didn't seem like they'd left enough food for a number of Yeti to share. In the center of the clearing, on some flat wooden pallets on the ground, sat three open food boxes that had, presumably, been filled at one time.

One tall, lean Yeti, his fur so black that it glinted midnight blue in the reflected light, sat confidently in the midst of the boxes, picking and choosing from the boxes' contents whatever foods he apparently found most tempting.

"Spyder," Hermione whispered absently, staring at the scene in thought.

"What?" Ron whispered in alarm, feeling a rush of tingles. "Where? On me?" He began brushing off his shirtfront and leaned over, ruffling his hair.

Distracted by his movement, Hermione turned to see what he was doing. "No – not on you. Spyder -- that's the Yeti out there in the middle. That's the name he chose for himself."

Ron frowned, feeling a bit embarrassed, and shoved his hair back out of his eyes. "He chose to be called Spyder? I can tell already that he and I wouldn't get on well."

Near the edges of the circle of the light the lamps created, several other large Yeti scrambled for whatever food the black Yeti discarded and threw aside, growling and slapping at one another whenever two approached the same tidbit at the same time. One of the less communicative Yeti that Hermione whispered she recognized as Skye, moved slowly toward one of the boxes that was out of Spyder's range of vision. Or so Skye thought. Just as Skye reached in to pull out what looked like a raw chicken, Spyder stood and turned in one swift motion, powerfully clubbing the other Yeti hard in the side of the head with a Quaffle-sized fist.

Skye dropped the chicken, released a loud, long wail and staggered away toward the edge of the circle of light. At the same time, Spyder drew in air to let out a Yeti roar so loud, shrill, and threatening that Ron and Hermione both covered their ears and shivered their way closer together.

"Not so sure I'm real anxious to stay here now..." Ron whispered.

But before Hermione could reply, something came crashing down from the tree branches above the clearing and landed with a loud thud just behind Spyder. A flash of charcoal gray bent double to grab several items from the boxes, then rolled itself up and disappeared into the forest, with Spyder close behind.

Ron was surprised to look over and see Hermione grinning. "That's funny?"

"It's not funny, really," Hermione whispered, still staring at the place where Spyder had disappeared into the woods. "It's just that Leif - that Yeti that dropped from the trees -- amazingly, he not only had the intelligence to form a plan to move in on Spyder, but the courage to actually carry out the plan against odds. Sometimes reminds me of someone else I -- " Hermione turned to look at Ron. "Never mind."

Ron was confused. "What? That was a Yeti?"

"Yes," Hermione answered. "A young teenager, actually. Leif's a male, but he hasn't hit his reproductive prime yet, so --"

"His reproductive prime?" Ron looked a bit unsettled by that remark. "Right, well we don't need the gory details about his personal life, you know. We've had enough about that going on tonight."

"No, no -- " Hermione said in exasperation. "It just helps you understand their behavior, you see. Listen. Hear that brush moving over there? Spyder's already on his way back from the woods. He must not have caught Leif, because we would have heard a lot more scuffling out there in that direction -- not to mention Leif is wicked fast at his age. If Leif would have been an older male, old enough to challenge Spyder, then Spyder never would have given up so easily. But, you see, Spyder has a problem - he can't protect the feeding station and chase Leif. If he's still hungry, he doesn't want the other Yeti to make off with some of his favorite tidbits, though they truly deserve them because they obviously haven't been fed enough to be satisfied. And to Spyder, Leif's not any big threat as a male yet, just more of an irritating youngster -- so he actually gave up on catching him fairly easily. Knowing Leif as I do, Spyder may live to regret that."

Hermione was right about Spyder's predicament. The four other Yeti that had been skirting the edge of the lit area had moved in to feed right away, as soon as Spyder was out of sight. And, amazingly, a number of other Yeti emerged from the cover of total darkness where Ron and Hermione had been unable to see them before. Even two of the females were there that Hermione said she remembered from the cards, but hadn't worked with much. Hille was busy repeatedly collecting food and taking it to the brush at the side of the feeding area, where Ron could vaguely see two smaller faces reflected in the dim light once Hermione had pointed them out.

"Those are her children she's taking the food to," Hermione explained excitedly, "Foxer and Foxly. Oh, this is so wonderful! To see all of them here together! Dr. Null and I saw nothing like this the evening we came because Dr. Voyde made us leave the habitat so early. But I should have done this long ago! Thank you for bringing me out here, Ron!" Their cramped quarters under the platform made it difficult to move much, but Hermione managed to reach for him and encircle his left arm with both of her own. She pressed her head against his shoulder and held it there a few moments before letting go and returning to her absorbed observation of the Yeti.

"Uh...sure," Ron said uncertainly, shrugging and wondering if she remembered that only a few minutes before she'd been criticizing him for dragging them both into so much danger. Mental, girls are, he thought.

Ron continued to stare at Hermione, though she seemed oblivious to his attention. He loved to watch her when she was utterly fascinated by something: her eyes bright and sparkling, her expression intense, her sense of wonder about the world serving to activate that amazing mind that he loved to know was just churning away underneath those bushy curls. And as she studied something, her lips always pursed into that plump little curve that sometimes made him want to... her mind, Weasley, how'd you get from her mind to there…?

She gasped at what she saw, then growled, "Erfff, stupid Spyder! Look at him, chasing them all away!"

Sure enough, Spyder had come into the circle of light again and all the other Yeti scrambled for cover. Hille had been caught too close to the food and couldn't get past Spyder to hide; she immediately stared toward the ground in the female subservience stance and slowly backed away toward where her children awaited her in the bushes.

Spyder seemed to notice that she still held some type of food in her great hands and he stared after her, making her obviously uncomfortable. She lowered her head even more, but not before Spyder cuffed her hard enough on the shoulder that she had to work to regain her balance. He had, however, let her keep the food.

"Big bully," Hermione muttered. "Thankfully, he won't attack her like he would a male, but he had to let her know it was him allowing her to get away with something. I suppose that's why they decided to keep taking Flaime into the soc lab at night. They said Spyder's aggression was even worse when he had Flaime to back him up -- though it's hard to imagine how that could be so."

Spyder's attention snapped to the treetops above him and he appeared to be staring into the darkness, looking for something there. A few minutes later, more scrambling was heard high in the foliage a short distance away, then an intense and odd, but higher-pitched Yeti call was heard above them all. Whatever the Yeti call meant, it seemed to startle them all and they looked to Spyder to see what he would do. The tall black Yeti became quite agitated, then immediately headed off at a run in the direction of the source of the call.

Ron noticed that Hermione got a strange look on her face. "I wonder...could that call have been -- Leif? Certainly he couldn't be bright enough to bait Spyder so the others could eat...could he?"

"Seems like a bloody good idea, but I'm not Yeti enough to tell you," Ron said.

There was a rustle on the opposite side of the clearing from where Spyder had run and a very regal-looking, but obviously older Yeti came into view in the light. Close behind him walked a mature and beautiful cream-colored Yeti whose eyes sparkled in the glow of the lamp-- quite obviously she was a female.

The other Yeti feeding in the clearing deferred to the presence of the regal Yeti, but didn't seem afraid of him. Ron rather expected him to sit down in the center of the boxes as Spyder had done to eat the remainder of the spoils there. But instead, the older Yeti went to the boxes and pulled the cardboard apart to flatten it, leaving the small amount of remaining food available for all of those around him. Serenely, he pulled a morsel of food from one of the boxes and calmly ate as he watched his fellow creatures.

Still a bit wary after their recent experience with Spyder, the other Yeti finally seemed confident enough to join the older gray one and sat down nearby, all enjoying what was left of the meal together.

"That's Trey," Hermione told Ron. "He's always been sort of the leader of the group -- it's him that Spyder keeps challenging for dominance out here in the habitat."

"Well, this one does seem like far less of a grumpy bloke -- er, creature -- Yeti, what have you," Ron stammered, now watching all of the Yeti feed as well.

"He's definitely more fair to all of them," Hermione assured. "And from what Dr. Null tells me, he commands far more respect, which is part of Spyder's problem. That female with him -- that's Starr. Remember, I told you about her?"

Sadly, it didn't take long for the Yeti to finish off what food was left. None of them looked especially satisfied; Hille's youngsters were making an odd sort of whining noise and jumping around in front of their mother as if they wanted more. Some of the grown Yeti were rooting around under the flattened cardboard, apparently still searching for scraps.

One by one, the Yeti started to wander away forlornly into the darkness. Hille let her children play for a few minutes once they had been distracted from their apparent hunger, but then she collected them and led them off through the trees. Although Trey and Starr had arrived late, they watched until most of the other creatures were gone, then looked at one another for a long, sad moment and slowly walked away together.

Hermione sat staring at the empty clearing for a short time, obviously thinking hard. "This is just wrong -- so wrong," she mused. "How could those handlers -- how could anyone -- ?" She stared into her lap.

Ron wished he had something comforting to tell her. But he really knew too little about the situation to offer much help yet.

"That's it," she declared as she got to her feet, then shoved her way past some low weeds toward the other side of the platform.

"Hermione, where --?" Ron started, trying to follow her, but he stood too quickly and bumped his head.

She acted as if she hadn't heard him, but cleared the platform base and walked straight out into the lamp light for anyone, or anything, to see.

"Get down! What --" Ron said quietly, desperately worried that Spyder or some other Yeti with a bad attitude would show up. He started to follow, then realized he'd nearly left the burlap sack behind; but if Hermione was already upset about what had happened, he didn't want to get an earful just for leaving the dog biscuits... Ron snapped up the bag and wrapped the empty sack end around his fist.

This time, it was Ron who saw only the back of Hermione as she strode deeper into the habitat. Quickly checking to see if there were any creatures still about, Ron crossed the circle of light the lamps made and started into the trees. So she doesn't seem a bit concerned about making her presence known-- and after all she warned me about... he thought fleetingly, then promptly concerned himself with her welfare above his concern to be self-righteous.

"Hermione, wait!" Ron half-whispered to whatever kept crashing through the brush ahead of him in the darkness and snapping the branches back in his face. Hopefully it's her…"Don't you dare take off on me!"

"Then keep up!" he heard her say quietly. He was both relieved to hear her voice ahead of him and irritated that she wouldn't stop.

"Where are we -- ?"

In a panic that Hermione would walk right out in front of a rampaging Yeti, Ron took a deep breath and launched himself in her direction through the pitch-black brush at a dead run. He barely had time to slow down without toppling Hermione, then followed closely behind her for another twenty meters. Little did he know that she, too, was doing her best to track creatures in the dark just as he'd been doing.

"Damn, Otto!" said a deep, accented voice straight ahead. "The bastards are back already!"

Ron and Hermione stopped the instant they heard the voice, trying to hear the words, but as soon as they did, they bolted straight ahead to a pile of large rocks that lay just in front of a small open area among the trees. Beyond the tiny clearing was what appeared to be a cave in a tall rock wall.

The opening was illuminated by the lanterns of two large men who had just emerged from inside the cave. One of the men was also holding something else – some kind of a large box with a handle – Ron could see nothing sticking out of the box to give him any clues to what was inside, but it appeared to be heavy for the one carrying it.

Stopped and facing the men, between the rocks from where Ron and Hermione watched and the entrance to what must have been their home, were Trey and Starr. Their large, furry outlines loomed black against the backdrop of lantern light.

The Yetis' silhouettes were still for a moment, but then a deep, threatening growl echoed from the stone wall; Ron reckoned it came from Trey. As the growl became louder and more menacing, the male Yeti started walking quickly toward the men, whose eyes grew wide at the sound, or the sight, or both.

"Get back, yeh bloody monkey!" one of the men yelled as both of them drew wands and pointed. "Get back er we'll blast yeh!"

Ron felt Hermione flinch in front of him and he reached out to grab her shoulder. "No, not yet! We don't know how many there are -- Yetis or wizards!"

"I have to help!" Hermione pushed his hand away and started forward.

Flashes exploded in Ron's mind...Death Eaters...Dolohov...a deathly silent streak of purple flame... Hermione falling. Hundreds of times since Ginny had told him about the night in the Department of Mysteries, Ron had imagined the hateful sneer on Dolohov's face. Hundreds more, he'd imagined what he would have done to save Hermione. This time he had a chance to keep her from throwing herself in the path of danger-- he'd throw himself on that path in front of her if he had to.

Head pounding and scars stinging, Ron flung his free arm around the front of her shoulders to hold her back. "No! Think!" he whispered urgently in her ear. "You can't get in the middle and help right now. The men can't leave you around to blow the whistle on them once you've seen them -- and is a furious Yeti going to know you're a friend in the dark? What good can you do them all if you're dead? Even with the two of us, we can't take all of them on at once! You'll never get proof and find out what those prats were doing in there..."

"But they'll hurt him --" Hermione choked out.

He could feel the angry tension in her body; reflexively, she clutched at his arm with both hands to pull it away, but he wouldn't give in. Finally, she drew a deep breath and let it out in exasperation. Her muscles relaxed a bit and she threw her head back onto his chest momentarily. But the tension returned the instant they both heard the two voices.

"Dolorus Maximus!"

Trey's low growl turned into a startled yelp as they watched the huge being fall to his knees. Starr howled when she saw Trey go down and she began to growl as well, until the shadow of Trey's arm shot out in front of her.

"No!" Hermione whimpered, then covered her mouth with her hand and leaned into the crook of his arm. As the two of them faced the scene, Ron held her closer to him, both to make certain she wasn't going anywhere and to lend whatever comfort he could.

But the huge creature wouldn't give up. Trey's dark outline moved awkwardly, apparently through the great pain caused by the spell; they watched him fling one leg out in front of himself to try and struggle to his feet.

Otto began to lift his wand again. Ron could feel Hermione position herself to try and struggle free.

But a ferocious Yeti cry in the distance was quickly answered by one much closer, and just as fierce. Trey and Starr had been heard. There was crashing through the brush. Something was coming their way -- fast -- and it didn't sound happy.

The handlers looked at one another in terror, then back at Trey.

Ron could see the great old Yeti on one knee as he reached up with both long, muscular arms and beat on his chest in a show of male dominance. He released a call just as threatening as those from the forest. Obviously, injured or not, Trey wasn't giving up the fight.

"Don't know about you, but I'm done here, Hank," Otto said without taking his eyes off of Trey. Then both handlers turned on their heels and fled, the light from their lanterns flashing high into the trees as they ran and, ridiculously, Ron thought, pointing out exactly where they were to any Yeti who might be watching.

Although Ron could see only vague differences in the shades of black before him, the sliver of a moon above illuminated the area just enough to see two grown Yetis emerge from the brush to the west of the clearing and rush to Trey. They stayed with him and Starr a moment, there were some unintelligible noises between the group, then with a yell from one, the two who'd just arrived took off after the handlers.

"You don't know how much I want the Yeti to catch those prats," Hermione said quietly. Releasing her hands where she'd been clutching Ron's arm under her chin, she wiped at her face, then took a step away to lean against the rock before them, watching the two Yetis who'd been attacked.

The one Hermione called Starr was hovering over the male and making some kind of noises to comfort him; within a few minutes, Starr had helped Trey to his feet and assisted him into the cave. A flickering light appeared from inside the cave a few minutes later, presumably from a newly-lit fire inside.

Ron decided the worst of the incident was over. "Sorry I had to stop you, but I wasn't sure what any of them would do if they saw you charging out there—"

"Who says you stopped me?" Hermione said flippantly. With that, she bent down and picked up several tiny pebbles, flinging them at the cave entrance.

Horrified, Ron couldn't believe what he was seeing. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not going back until I see why they were in there," Hermione said resolutely. She bent down and collected another round to throw. "I mean, why would the handlers be in the Yetis' cave alone when Trey and Starr were gone? I could see if the handlers were going to do something to the Yeti themselves because that's the sort of thing they've done before, but what could they be doing to their cave?"

"Are you mental, Hermione?" Ron asked, shaking his head. "So you have a wounded creature inside-- and you know how anything wounded will act. You've told me they're strong. They're hungry and have already been through a rough night tonight -- and you want to make a social call? I'm really doubting that they're up for it. And -- if you're so set on going -- then why not stroll right in?" he added sarcastically.

"It's their home, Ron," Hermione explained in exasperation. "Their territory, their lair. You saw how protective Trey was. You don't just 'stroll right in' unless you're invited."

"And so you go looking for an invitation by throwing rocks at their front door? I think you've been at this place a little too long." He shook his head and turned away from her, unable to watch such insanity any more.

"I'm done throwing rocks, for your information -- not that the Yeti would have seen those tiny pebbles as any kind of threat," Hermione explained. "Besides, she's at the door now."

And with a quick rustle, Ron heard Hermione push her way through the last line of brush and head into the small clearing in front of the cave.

He didn't turn in time to keep her from her goal, but if she was off, he was going to follow. "Hermione, why are you so intent on --" Bursting through the last bit of brush himself, Ron saw Hermione standing perfectly still in the clearing, the dim light from the cave illuminating her face.

"Shhhh! Stand still, you're scaring her!"

Ron froze and looked toward the cave, where the silhouette of the female Yeti looked as if it stood tensed to withdraw or poised to attack.

"She doesn't really understand why we're out in the habitat," Hermione explained quietly to Ron. "I've never been out here at night like this before. Just give her a moment, she'll be all right."

"No problem," Ron said nervously. "Got all the time in the world."

Starr had begun to move forward and Ron could now get a much better idea of just how large the Yeti really were. She was within four meters of Hermione now, and Hermione barely reached her rib cage -- if a Yeti had a rib cage.

"Friend, Starr," Hermione said quietly. "Hermione friend."

Starr looked a bit confused, but she cautiously moved to touch Hermione's hair.

Worried, Ron decided to break his position and get closer to Hermione. Starr jumped and backed away quickly, taking a defensive stance.

"Stop, Ron!" Hermione said in irritation. "You're going to ruin it!" She turned her face towards him and he could tell by her expression that she meant business. He froze once more.

"Starr...Ron," Hermione said, pointing at him. "Ron friend."

But Starr looked wary and wouldn't budge. In fact, she kept eyeing the cave entrance, which made Ron nervous. So, is the chest-beater on his way out now? At least since he's been hit with a spell, maybe we could outrun him...

"Hmmm. Perhaps it's because you're a male," Hermione said, biting her lip.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Well, there's not a right lot I can do about that now, can I?"

"Ron friend," Hermione repeated to Starr, watching her response.

Starr pointed at herself then Hermione, then from Hermione to Ron.

"Yes, that's right," Hermione said. "Ron friend like Starr friend." Still focusing on Starr's face, Hermione turned enough to whisper to Ron. "Walk to me very slowly, no sudden moves, no arms above shoulder height."

With his eyes glued to Starr, Ron complied with Hermione's request, even though he wasn't too comfortable doing so.

"Now -- give me your hand," Hermione instructed.

Ron looked at her oddly.

Closing her eyes in exasperation, Hermione had to repeat. "Just – do it, please."

Ron did as he was told and Hermione clasped his hand in hers. Then she held their clasped hands up for Starr to see. "See, Starr? Hermione friend Starr, Ron friend Hermione, Ron friend Starr."

This seemed to encourage Starr to hesitantly approach the two of them together. The Yeti stared into Ron's face first, which felt odd because, though she could see him in the reflected light, he could see little of her in the dark as she faced him. Once she'd had enough of his face, she moved her huge hand to his hair and proceeded to grab one of the locks that was forever falling into his eyes.

Hermione looked toward the interaction between the two and Ron could feel her hand jerking a bit in his as she tried not to giggle.

"You're cross-eyed," Hermione whispered in delight.

Ron realized that his eyes had been hurting as he tried to watch what the Yeti was doing to his head. He closed them tight to get straightened out, hoping Starr would be finished rubbing his hair between her fingers once he opened them again.

A loud Yeti yell somewhere toward the back of the habitat startled them all. An answering call came from the direction of the main gate into the habitat. They could hear men shouting as well, and next came the loud barking of dogs.

"They're releasing the dogs," Hermione said, a bit worried. "More is going on out here than we've seen tonight."

Starr looked up and glanced around the tallest treetops, appearing concerned by the sounds as well. She moved closer to Hermione as if to protect her, then pointed a long, Yeti finger at her and motioned for the girl to come with her to the front of the cave. It took her longer to make up her mind, but very slowly and thoughtfully, Starr pointed to Ron as well and motioned for him to accompany them.

Ron had a sudden thought and whispered as he and Hermione began to walk slowly. "Now I know you think you want to go in there, but what if they won't let us out once we've gone in?"

"Why wouldn't they let us out?" Hermione asked, but her brow was furrowed just a bit.

"Who knows?" Ron said. "You're the best Yeti expert we have here, so if you don't..."

"I'm sure we'll be fine," Hermione said, sounding as if she was trying to convince herself as much as Ron. "Trey and Starr have always acted very civilized. Plus, well – you know why we're here."

The three of them were about to cross the threshold into the cave itself. Ron felt more comfortable that it was getting brighter and he could see better due to the fire inside, but at the same time he was getting less comfortable that he might be presented with things he didn't want to see. Visually scanning the first big room in the cave, Ron saw no sign of Trey, but he could also see that there must be another room beyond, through a darkened alcove. Perhaps Trey was there, he thought, and he sincerely hoped the great Yeti was alone.

He felt Hermione's hand still clasped warmly in his own. Ron was quite aware that she had only taken his hand to convince Starr he was friendly – (hadn't she?) .Whether Hermione had then forgotten, or whether it was to protect him still as her friend in the Yeti's eyes, he didn't know. But either way, he was glad she wasn't going anywhere without him knowing…

Starr seemed to feel awkward having a wizard and witch in her home. She pointed to the ground next to the fire, which Ron assumed meant that she was inviting them to sit down. But between his nervousness and the fact that it was sweltering hot in the cave already, he really wasn't too excited at the prospect.

"This is probably so strange for her," Hermione said quietly.

"So strange for her?" Ron asked. "What about us?"

"Look how nervous she's acting."

Starr was indeed wringing her large hands and pacing close to the wall. In fact, she hadn't moved away from that wall since Ron and Hermione had entered.

"She's probably thinking that one of those lunatic creatures who's screaming in the forest is going to come screaming in here," Ron said. "And frankly, so am I."

There was a rustle near the cave door and Ron felt Hermione's grip on his hand tightening.

"Ow," she muttered, and he reckoned he must have unknowingly tightened his grip on hers as well.

Soft, padded footsteps were heard coming through the entrance as Ron pulled Hermione back so that the fire was between them and whatever was on its way into the room. Dropping her hand and the sack of dog biscuits to the ground, Ron reached into his back pocket and drew his wand. He wasn't sure what he'd have to do to get them out of this alive, but neither the churning in the pit of his stomach nor the hairs standing on end on the back of his neck were going to keep him from making sure Hermione made it out unharmed this time.

"You know it's in there, Weasley," he thought, remembering the pep talk he'd given himself before the Quidditch Cup final. "Show her. This is your chance. Hero's heart, don't fail me now!"