"Now remember, when he's taken the sword press your wand to this." Severus touched his fingers to the golden wing broach in the lapel of her coat, "It will return you to the office where you are to go to the rooms and wait for me."
Hermione took a deep breath turning her head down to look at the pin. It was beautiful by anyone's definition. It looked like the feathers were made of fire and she half wondered if he'd made it as an homage to her new persona, "I understand."
"Under no circumstances are you to communicate with anyone you see." Severus could feel the trepidation wafting through them both. His hand rose to check that the coat he'd given her was warm enough by running his fingers gently between the collar and her jaw.
"Yes, sir..." Hermione licked her bottom lip, lightly chewing on the corner. He'd already gone over the plan twice already and she had even repeated it back to him verbatim. Though despite this, the fear of leaving his side was coiling tight in her stomach. When his hand ran over her pulse she couldn't help but close her eyes and press her lips into his palm for reassurance.
"We are to get in and get out." Severus thumbed her cheek waiting for her to raise her head, "Are you sure you want to come?"
"Yes." Hermione raised her chin, her jaw going tense. She needed this. It was the first step in taking back her life. She didn't know what would follow but she hoped that she would rise well above his expectations.
"Alright..." A deep breath turned his eyes up towards the door leading to the office. He turned away for only a moment pulling the sword of Gryffindor from the wall above the fireplace. When he held it out for her to take he could see something dangerous shining in her eyes, a hunger for power.
Hermione took the sword with great care, though when her fingers wrapped around the golden hilt she could feel a power surging through it. She couldn't resist bringing the blade up as though she were preparing to fight, "I feel invincible..."
"It is merely an illusion." Severus gently pulled the blade back towards the floor but he could already feel her mind turning. Thankfully, his words seemed to remind her that she was standing on borrowed time and she snapped the blade into place at her hip for easier carrying.
"Let's go." Her hand folded tightly into his palm. His strength, her willingness, mixing together to create a new force of power.
oOo
"Is he close?" Ron let out a heavy yawn. He'd been walking for hours. His back hurt, his feet hurt, everything hurt. The night was long, the shadows growing tall. His breath came out in small puffs as the season's chill descended.
"Yes. Keep sharp."
oOo
Harry tossed another rock just outside of the small protection ward he'd been able to set up. Something he was sure he should have been doing from the beginning only he hadn't known how until he'd read Hermione's journal.
Even from the grave, she was helping him. Keeping him safe. It pained him to know just how much he'd taken her for granted. How much he'd relied on her instead of seeking the answers for himself. How often he'd only half listened when she'd explained something. How the world seemed a bit darker without her kind smile.
A slow mournful tear ran down his cheek before he angrily brushed it away. It was his fault. All of this. How he wished he could take it all back.
oOo
"Are you ready?" Severus slowly pulled his arm from around her waist, pausing only slightly to make sure she was able to stand after the apparation.
"Yes..." Hermione spoke into his chest. The smell of Earth rattled her resolve but she stood strong, using his scent to overpower the fear.
"The clearing we're looking for should be about 4 meters ahead. I shall be about 15 to the right," Severus brought his hand up to rest over her pulse, his thumb gently tilting her head back to catch her eyes, " If you feel threatened don't hesitate."
Hermione nodded her head pressing her lips into his palm for reassurance. Another slow breath centered her mind and she took a half-step back, "I'm ready."
"Who are you?" Severus knew she needed just a small push.
"Crimson Phoenix." Hermione's eyes turned hard as she took another step away from his warmth, turning her head to look down the path she was meant to walk.
A small smirk ticked at Severus' lip before he all but disappeared into the inky blackness. Not a ruffle nor a breeze to denote his position. He watched her for a long moment before calling his patronus to be her guide. He'd given his instructions, he could trust that she would follow them.
Hermione took a slow calming breath allowing the deer to move forward. Keeping to its shadows. The sword at her hip was heavy but pulsed with power. Truthfully, she wanted to keep it for herself. To seek her justice. Though she was almost sure, that he had something more for her. It was the only thing keeping her from breaking her word.
Severus knew the light from his doe would be attracting attention soon and though he desperately wanted to have her back; he had his own mission. With his wand clenched tight in his fist, he turned away.
oOo
Harry took a slow breath stretching his legs out in front of him. It was well past the time a normal person would have been sleeping but he'd long since figured out that the danger came in the night. With only his weak wards to protect him, he found that sleeping during the day was much easier on his fragile mind as he didn't have to worry about the shadows that moved through the trees.
A deep sigh turned his head towards something that had caught in the corner of his glasses. A light. A white light. He was on his feet in seconds, his wand pointed and his eyes narrowed. He could hear nothing but whatever it was, it was growing closer.
His brow twitched when the Patronus came into full view, his heart thumping. A doe. A doe? His mother...?
oOo
Hermione could feel her heart racing. She had stayed beside the small pond as instructed, her eyes turning to the distance watching the faint light of the professor's Patronus. It was curious to her, how a man so strong would have such a meek animal to represent him. Though, the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. He was kind. Deep under all that anger and regret. His heart was strong.
Her own heart began to pick up as the sound of twigs snapping off to her left caught her attention. That wasn't the direction that they were supposed to be coming from. Her eyes closed in a bid to try and accurately locate the direction of the sound through the echo. Her ears twitching when a second much softer movement began to tug at her inner compass.
Two, there were two people coming. The one the left was moving towards the one heading towards her. The question was, were they friend or foe? Her eyes opened with a snap, turning in the direction of the newcomer. Her wand tingled in her hand as she crept just a bit closer to the clearing. Keeping her body low and in the shadows, she pressed her chest against one of the trees to peek just around its trunk.
Her dark eyes narrowed in on the light that was steadily growing closer, the sound of soft steps in its wake. Her eyes briefly shot to where she had stuck the sword, blade into the ground right at the water's edge, before shifting to the shadow that was just coming into form on the left. Something told her that the sword needed to be protected, that it had to fall into the hands of the person Severus had called for.
Her wand turned in her palm as she readied herself to cast the spell he'd taught her. Though she wasn't sure what good it would do to expel the possible intruder it would at least catch their attention should she need to use it. Her heart was pounding louder now, nearly masking the footsteps that her mind was struggling to keep focus on. She could do this. It was a simple mission. She could do this.
oOo
Severus peered out from the darkness, running his eyes over the small camp. From his vantage he could make out a dead firepit, four sleeping bags and two Hogwarts aged boys tied back to back. No one seemed to be awake at the late hour, yet still, his sense of danger was prickling at the back of his neck. When his eyes turned back to the sleeping bags it was then he took instant note that one, that he was sure had been filled, was now empty.
A deep breath centered his mind and his ear twitched just in time for a stunning spell to soar straight over his head. In seconds, his body turned behind the far end of the tree he'd been hidden by before a deep animalistic growl made his blood run slow.
"Who's there? Show yourself!" The deep gravel voice of Fenrir Greyback disturbed the otherwise calm of the camp. Startling one of the snatchers from their sleep and rousing the two boys who had most likely fallen asleep out of pure exhaustion.
"Wha? What you doing?" Scabior's heavy voice came from one of the sleeping bags but the man made no attempt at getting up.
"Someone's here." Fenrir thumped his way around the two boys before tilting his head back to smell the air, "I can smell'm."
"You said that last time and it was just a fucking deer." Scabior thumped his head down into his pillow with a heavy yawn, "Go to sleep, we've gotta delivery to make in the morning, don't need you killing our coin before we get them there."
"I'm tellin' ya' this ain't no deer." Fenrir turned his golden eyes towards the tree he'd nearly toppled before taking a slow step into the woods. Another scent was just wafting through the trees on the cool breeze and he could feel his mouth salivating with hunger.
"Whatever."
Severus kept his movements silent as he played a sort of cat and mouse game with the behemoth of a man. He silently cursed himself for his luck, it would be tricky to throw him off the scent of Potter. He was quite sure the only reason they were as close as they were was because of that man's supernatural olfactory senses. He needed a plan, and quickly before the stupid beast caught wind of a scent he was very sure would damn them all.
oOo
Hermione's chest had grown tighter, she could clearly see the figure behind the deer now. Moving slowly, cautiously, as it moved towards her. Energy was pumping through her system now. Like a fighter preparing for their first cage match. Her mind was turning, faster and faster, calculating how she could possibly attack yet stay hidden all the same. That had been the professor's number one concern. Amenity.
When the figure stepped out into the glowing light that the deer provided her entire body gave a heavy jolt with desiderium so powerful that it actually brought painful tears to the corner of her eyes. She couldn't explain it, didn't understand it but it hurt.
Hermione forced herself to stay on task, her eyes narrowing dangerously as the figure grew taller in shape. They looked exhausted, their glasses dirty and their shoulders heavy. They had their wand out but they didn't seem to be looking for a fight, merely cautious. She silently urged them to keep moving, to take the sword. She grew closer, unaware that the shadows that had been protecting her all this time had shifted, exposing her face. It wasn't until he looked up, sword in hand, did she realize her mistake.
"Harry?"
"Ron?" The boy's attention snapped to his right and in that moment, Hermione could feel her adrenaline peeking. Her hand snapped towards her chest, her wand pressing into the wing. In seconds, she was gone.
"Oh, Sweet Merlin'!" Ron braced his tired and aching body on his knees letting out a dry and bitter laugh, "I've been looking for you for hours..."
Harry gave his former friend a small look of ambivalence before turning his head back towards the sword now pulsing in his grip. His eyes shooting back towards where he could have sworn he'd seen someone.
oOo
Hermione couldn't stop her body from collapsing down onto the soft rug. Her head was pulsing near to explosion levels and her heart was somewhere outside of her chest. She'd done it. Oh, sweet fates she'd done it. Her excitement over her success mixed with the terror she'd felt when the boy's green eyes had locked onto hers. She hadn't known what to do in that moment, fearing that all would be lost if she didn't follow her instructions.
"Miss Granger?"
A soft growl bubbled up her throat to the sound of the one voice she definitely didn't want to hear at that moment. Her hand shot out without a single thought and the wall that the voice had come from exploded in a loud burst of stone and dust. She snarled as the blowback pelted the top of her head but she barely had enough of a mind to shield herself.
When the dust settled she found herself braced on her knees, deep gut wrenching sobs of emotion rattling her frame. All the conflicting emotions coming to a head at once, leaving her falling in and out of one emotional rollercoaster straight to another. Her head felt light and her body heavy as she tried to take in enough air to stay conscious.
It was just as the world was beginning to close in on the edges that a dark smoke appeared just out of the corner of her eye. When her head rose to see over the couch, however, her heart was surely three towns over. The cold emotionless steel mask that stared looked back at her was sure to bring her an all-new well of nightmares and she hadn't anywhere to run.
Severus landed in his office with a heavy grunt. The tree limb he'd taken with him falling heavily to the floor as he'd taken flight mid-apparation. He'd managed to leave an obscure trail in the opposite direction of Potter when he'd felt the coin in his pocket grow warm telling him that Granger had used the portkey. Unfortunately, due to the trail he'd left, he hadn't been able to circle back to assure that Potter had taken the sword.
A deep gasp raised his head and his shoulders relaxed slowly until the look of sheer terror washed over the girl's already pale and wet face. It was in that second that he remembered the Death Eater's mask he'd placed over his features and hastily pulled it away, "It is only me."
Hermione was sure she'd learned to fly by the speed in which she covered the distance between them. The cry of terror that had stuck in her chest released to a relieved sob as she all but tackled the tall man into her embrace. She was on her tiptoes with the strength in which she wrapped her arms around his neck hiding her face into his collar.
"I did it...I did it...He has the sword...he...he has it..." Hermione's words were nearly unintelligible as she clung to the very man who gave her her life. When his arms came around to complete the embrace she could have passed out from sheer relief. Tears soaked his shoulder as he gently pulled her back onto her feet but she merely sniffled and brought her own hands up to trace the line of his jaw, her eyes too blurry to fully fix onto his.
Severus had many things he wished to say to her in that moment, but none of them would actually reach his tongue. He was immensely proud of what she had accomplished even though when he had arrived he had found her collapsed. He could see that she was more than capable of seeing what lied beyond tomorrow.
"Shh..." Severus pulled her head back under his chin before placing his hand over her face to try and close her eyes. She was so wound up that she was liable to explode. It was then his eyes lingered over to the wall that very much looked like it had and couldn't help the sense of justice smirk that ticked at his lips when he turned his eyes up to a very mute Albus.
Hermione pressed her face tighter into his chest letting her body simply unwind. It couldn't have been more than thirty minutes that she'd been in the woods but it had felt like lifetimes. For now, she was just so happy to be back in his embrace, held close and safe. His silence, to her, did not speak of disappointment no—his touch betrayed everything that she needed to know. He was proud. He was happy.