CHAPTER 38

'You cut your hair?' Ginny asked, disbelievingly, later that evening at the Burrow.

Hermione blinked. 'I've just come home from a near suicidal mission and that's the first thing you can ask me?'

Her hand leapt self-consciously to her hair, which she had cropped to the base of her neck. She actually rather liked it, the soft springiness and the bangs in front. It had felt like approximately three pounds of weight being dropped of her head.

Ginny snorted. 'Suicidal? I think not. I really wish I could have come, but Mum says I still look peaky. It's a bore, sitting at home all the time. Why aren't you at Grimmauld Place?'

Hermione shrugged. 'Just thought I'd pop in. You're feeling alright, aren't you?' She added, concerned.

Ginny nodded. 'Couldn't be better. Mum and Dad got back sometime in the afternoon. Where's Sirius?'

'At Grimmauld Place,' Hermione said. She plucked a plum from the bowl that Ginny kept in her room and popped it into her mouth. 'He and the others are going over notes. Everyone got through it without any trouble. We even checked the TV- we're getting a brilliant feed from all four cameras. It's in Sirius's old room, where we kept Buckbeak.'

Ginny leaned back against her bed, and bent her legs as the knees, cupping them with her palms. 'Have you guys been watching it all this time? It's almost ten.'

Hermione nodded. 'It was a really good idea, about the cameras. We've been trying to figure out the weak points, and where they have their recruitment centers and most importantly, their artillery. We haven't got much yet, although we saw how they positioned their guards at the entrances. Some of the people down there seem to be ordinary citizens: it's actually like a proper city.'

Ginny frowned. 'Do you think they live there?'

Hermione shrugged. 'We haven't seen anything that looks like a residential area. I think it's more of a place for them to get together and plan what they're doing: like the Room of Requirement, when we started the DA. All these people live ordinary lives, with families and homes: this is just something they do along with this.'

'You haven't seen anyone we know down there, have you?' Ginny asked, anxiously.

Hermione shook her head. 'Most of them have hoods, and the ones in armor have these helmet-like plates. But it's just been a while. We've rigged it so that someone watches that place all the time. My shifts at about eleven, so I actually have to leave in a bit.'

Ginny nodded. 'You better get going. Thanks for dropping in on me, by the way. I love you, Herms.'

Hermione kissed her cheek and then gathered her things, stepping out of the front door before Disapparating. The weather was frosty, and she pulled her coat closer as she pushed open the front door and stepped inside. She could hear noises from the kitchen.

'Hey,' she said, as she pushed open the door and stepped inside. The room was even fuller than usual, with everyone including the twins seated at the table. Sirius glanced up as she entered, and smiled broadly, shifting in his seat to give her some place.

'Hey,' he said, kissing the side of her head, 'How's Ginny?'

'She's good,' Hermione said, huddling closer. He pushed his cup of coffee towards her, and she wrapped her hands around then, trying to warm them. 'Who's upstairs?'

'Tonks,' Remus said, and glancing around, Hermione realized she wasn't at the table. 'You're next, Hermione, aren't you?'

Hermione nodded. She was feeling warm here, comfortable. 'I think I'll just go up now,' she said, 'Now that I'm here, there's no point waiting a few minutes.' She turned to Sirius and added, 'I'll be home after two. Will you be up?'

He nodded, and she kissed his cheek before she got up and left the room. She climbed the stairs slowly, feeling a belated tiredness pulling down on her, and pushed open the door to Sirius's room with a sense of relief. The TV was pushed up against the far wall, and Remus had levitated an armchair to the room and positioned it in front of it. Tonks was curled up on it, wearing a purple jumpsuit and balancing a plate of sandwiches on her lap. She was chewing meditatively, eyes trained on the TV. When she heard the door open, she turned and flashed Hermione a broad smile.

'Hey sweetie. Come to take over?'

Hermione nodded. 'You must be bored. Anything going on?'

Tonks should her head. She beckoned Hermione over, and gestured towards the TV. Hermione noticed that it was latticed into four sections, one displaying the feed from each camera they had installed.

'This one,' Tonks said, pointing to the first square, 'Is the camera you and Sirius installed, at the Eastern Portal. This one's the Western one, at the Organized Registry. Here's the Northern and Southern. Now, I can't be sure, but you see this big white building in the Eastern one?'

Hermione nodded.

'I think is where they keep their supplies. Food, water, fuel, stuff like that. I saw people walking in and out with huge sacks a while back. That could be important. And this shack sort of thing, with the huge padlock in the Northern section? Some guys dropped off a few huge guns their. I have no clue why they have guns, when they can use wands, but there you go.'

Hermione nodded. 'Anything else?'

'No, that's about it. Will you be okay?'

'Sure I will. Go along and get some sleep. You look exhausted.'

Tonks laughed. 'I am,' she admitted. 'Well, happy watching then. Finish my sandwiches if you like. They don't have meat, so you can have them.'

Hermione nodded gratefully and balanced the plate of sandwiches on her palm as she sat on the armchair and tucked her feet under herself. She bit into one as she turned her attention to the TV/

It was going to be a long night.

Two weeks later, the blueprints that Kingsley had begun drawing had been filled in remarkably. They took turns watching the TV, and Hermione always stumbled home at about one thirty or two, tired and hungry. Sometimes, Sirius stayed up for her with a bowl of soup or a salad. Normally, he was fast asleep by then, tucked in under her thick eiderdown, and she would change quickly and crawl in after him, too tired and cold to shower. Sirius's shift was generally in the afternoon, when she was at work, and she would go straight back to Grimmauld Place to find him and Remus sitting at the table and playing cards or chatting. There were times when Hermione, who felt more tired and irate as the days got colder and her work hours got longer, felt consciously resentful of the amount of the free time Sirius had. He always seemed to be having the time of his life, having lengthy conversations with anyone he could find home at odd hours of the day, snacking and chatting about rare forms of magic. She tried to shove these thoughts away, though, reassuring herself that it was only normal, given the amount of stress she was under.

She felt a pang of satisfaction when she saw the nearly completed blueprints on the kitchen table at Grimmauld Place, though. It was the thirtieth of December, and Molly had been in the middle of planning a party she wanted to host at the Burrow when Kingsley brought them out. They had identified the pattern of guards at the portals: there was one at all times and two at night, all equipped with wands and a pistol. It struck Hermione that their obsession with Muggle arms actually made sense: if there was one thing she had learned in all her years at Hogwarts (and there were several), it was that a simple Shield Charm went a long way. She highly doubted it would do much against a well aimed bullet, though.

In addition to that, they had identified a few places inside the city that were points of weaknesses: the low-slung, white building near the Eastern Portal was indeed one. It seemed to have all the stores the city needed, including separate go-downs for timber and metal. In addition to this were two shacks, placed side-by-side, that were chalk full of guns, bullets, and various explosives. There was also a fenced field, walled in in some places, where there seemed to be a set of training exercises for the "army", and a narrow, tall house, with one-sided glass windows, and walls spiked with shards of glass, that seemed to be some sort of meeting place. Several times, they had noticed cloaked figures, seemingly prominent members of the conspiracy, crowding inside the building, and Sirius was of the opinion that it was something of a parliament.

As Hermione stared at the newly filled in blueprint, she began to feel something that she hadn't consciously acknowledged in a while: hope.

She sidled up to Sirius and tucked her arm around his, smiling as she said, 'We seem to be doing pretty well, right?'

Kingsley nodded. He looked pleased. 'You're right, we are. In fact, I think we might even be ready for a direct attack in one and a half weeks or so. I know we're outnumbered, but we have the element of surprise and a seriously detailed knowledge of what we're up against.'

Sirius nodded. 'You're right,' he said, 'I think we're pretty close to being ready. Maybe the seventh or eighth of January-'

The discussion went on for some time. Hermione stayed at Sirius's side, listening as he and Kingsley began to discuss techniques and spells. At some point, Sirius must have sensed her boredom, because he bent down and said, 'Want to get out of here?'

Hermione looked up gratefully. 'How about we go home and have dinner?' she asked.

Sirius nodded. 'Come on,' he said. They bade everyone else a farewell, promised to come for Molly's party the next day, and apparated back to the flat. Hermione had switched shifts with Tonks that day, and when she got back to her apartment the first thing she did was draw herself a long bath. She emptied a bottle of vanilla scented bubble bath into it and dropped out of her clothes, dreading the moment that she stood naked on the bathroom mat, goosebumps dimpling up and down her arms. She stepped into the tub and let her legs acclimatize to the steaming water before lowering herself into. It felt amazing, and she leaned back against the rim of the tub and sighed.

The only noise disturbing the thick silence that enveloped the Burrow was a cricket that was incessantly chirping somewhere near Ginny's bedroom door. She had tried sleeping, drawing her duvet up to her ears and snuggling into it, but the noise pierced the air with a palpable jab and she found herself wincing with displeasure. Sighing, and dreading the cold, she sat up and flung back the eiderdown, locating her fluffy slippers somewhere near the foot of her bed and slipping her feet into them. She picked up an issue of Cosmo that was lying on her bedside table and rolled it up, clutching it firmly in one hand and getting out of bed with a determined air.

She would kill the little bugger if it was the last thing she did.

She eased her bedroom door slightly open and began to hunt around for it. Predictably, the cricket had fallen silent and she gave up after a while and headed back to her bed. She was just slipping under the covers when an entirely different noise split the air.

A sharp crack. Someone had apparated outside the Burrow.

Instantly, Ginny was alert. She flung away the Cosmo, and picked up her wand, curling her fingers around it until her knuckles turned white. She moved to her window and drew back the curtain with a tip of one finger, just a smidgen, so a slice of the unkempt garden was visible to her. At first, she couldn't make out anything but blurry shapes. Then, two cloaked figures drew into view and Ginny sucked in her breath.

They were moving towards the house, and Ginny's automatic objective was to rush to her parent's room and wake them up. As she raced out of her room, though, it struck her that she might not have enough time for that. Instead, she flew down the stairs, wand ready in front of her, and then crept across the hall to the front door. She bolted it firmly, and then snuck a peak out of the window positioned near the door.

The figures were closer now. They were tall, gangly, holding wands. To her shock, she saw that they had lit the tips of their wands, and were aiming them directly at the door. She took a deep breath and then squealed as the ray of light shone directly on her face. She blinked, blinded, and suddenly filled with panic. Groping for the window sill, she used it to brace herself and step back, but before she could, she heard a voice that she recognized all too well.

'Ginny! Open up! It's us!'

Hermione must have drifted off in the tub, because the next thing she knew the bathroom door was wrenched open, and the water didn't feel quite so hot. She glanced up, part-annoyed to be interrupted, and part-thankful to be woken before the water turned chill, and saw Sirius standing at the frame, his face flushed and breathing heavily. He had a crumpled piece of paper in his hand.

'What happened?' Hermione asked, eyes wide.

'Harry!' Sirius choked. 'Harry and Ron and the others are back!'

Hermione yelped and sat up ramrod straight. 'What?'

'They're in the Burrow right now! They got in five minutes ago.'

'We didn't- they never told us- what are they doing back?'

'I don't know, Molly just wrote me! Herms, hurry up, we need to go over.'

Hermione felt anticipation sparkling under her skin. She glanced at Sirius and saw how impatient he was, practically jumping up and down as he waited for her response.

'You go ahead,' she said, quickly, 'I'll drag some clothes on and be there in a minute.'

Sirius hesitated, concerned. 'Are you sure?'

'Yes, yes, now go!' Hermione said, as she stood up and wrapped her bathrobe around her. Sirius didn't need any more encouragement. He disapparated with a crack.

Hermione hurried to her room and dried herself with a quick spell. She bent down over her drawer, pulling out jeans and underclothes. She was in the process of hooking her bra when a sharp tap at the window distracted her.

She glanced up and saw a tawny owl fluttering outside, an impatient look on its face. A silent groan showed on her face.

Are you kidding me?

Crossing over to the window, she unlatched it and untied the letter from the owl's leg. Reading through it, she let out an exasperated grunt.

Hermione, can you get down to the office right now? It's urgent!

'Kidding me, kidding me, you've got to be kidding me,' she muttered, recognizing Rachel's handwriting. She glanced at her watch. It had been three minutes since Sirius left: fine, then. Five minutes to pop into the office, and she'd be with Harry and Ron in no time at all.

She shrugged a thick, black coat around her , and cinched it in at the waist. She felt something crackle in her pocket, and pulling it out she recognized it as the note about the Apparation Portal that they had found in Jennifer's apartment: she had been wearing the same jacket that day as well. Rolling her eyes and jamming it back in her pocket, she wound a muffler around her throat and grabbed her handbag and wand before apparating.

The Ministry was silent and empty. Glancing at her watch, Hermione saw that it was past eleven. She hurried through the empty Atrium, ridiculously thankful that she had worn flats and then down the corridor that led to the Wizengamot Dep. As she raced in, she spied Rachel sitting easily behind her desk.

'What?' Hermione rasped, coming to a panting stop beside her.

Rachel raised an eyebrow. 'Wow, that was quick. I'm glad you came in though. I'm so sick of sitting in here late, but Kaploffe left me some filing work, and-'

'Rachel,' Hermione interrupted, slamming her hands down against the latter's desk, 'What. Do. You. Want?'

Rachel's eyes widened. 'Oh, that,' she said, looking a bit taken-aback. 'Well, Kaploffe left you another binder in his office, and-'

'That's it?' Hermione snarled. 'That's what you called me down here for?'

'Well, sure. He said it was important, and-'

'Argh!' Hermione snapped, throwing her hands up in the air. What a complete waste of time. She controlled her breathing, and then said, finally, 'Well, fine! Where the hell is it?'

'In- his office...' Rachel said, still looking uncertain. 'It's the black one.' She pointed vaguely.

Hermione whirled around and stomped into Kaploffe's office, throwing the door irreverently open and flipping on the light. She spied the thick binder of his desk, and rushed over to it. As she picked it up, a small yellow post-it that had been stuck to it fluttered off. Hermione turned it around in her fingers.

Hope this helps you. Keep me posted?

Despite her anger, Hermione managed a small, weak smile. She held the post-it between two fingers, eyeing the familiar, spidery scrawl like an old friend. It reminded her of the letter he had written to her to tell her that she had got the job at the Ministry. She was about to turn when she noticed his lighter lying on the desk. It was small, neon-yellow, with a blown-up, jazzy picture of Marilyn Monroe on its shiny, glass surface. She pocketed it, and made a mental note to return it tomorrow to him along with thanks for the binder: she knew he was generally particular about not leaving stuff in his office, given Rachel's somewhat kleptomaniac habit of filching things she found shiny or attractive.

She shook her head with a smile as she turned and flicked the office light off. Her hand had just touched the doorknob when she froze in her tracks.

It had suddenly struck her where exactly she had seen that spidery scrawl on the post-it.

On the note with the Apparition Portal that they had found in Jennifer Duchamps's apartment.

Author's Note: Ooh. I know. Dramatic enough or did it need more...pizzaze? I really don't think that's a word, incidentally, it just seems to sum up what this chapter needs to give it a bit more oomph.

Okay, I'm really weird with my vocabulary today.

Review? Please?

=D