That was it. It was stop or go over the edge. It was only ten o'clock in the morning. Two hours of work had left her at the limit. It wasn't that she couldn't do more but if she did, it would put her in a deficit for the day. Tomorrow she wouldn't be back to full capacity. Biting her lip she let the flow of magic she was siphoning into the rune stone stop. It wasn't at full capacity, she could tell. It made her feel like she hadn't completed the task. There was nothing for it.
Straightening she stood from the outside table and released the atmospheric wards that were sheltering her from the rain and wind. Without them it was a comfortable temperature in her coat and sipping a hot chocolate. In the twenty or so feet to the cabin door she closed her eyes and enjoyed the rain on her face. Since she was dry and warm it felt good.
Allowing herself only the pause to wipe her feet, magic made in unnecessary but it was an excuse of sorts.
Opening the door released a bucolic scene. Three men lay in relaxed poses around the main room, each holding a book.
"No magic?" Yaxley didn't look up but was clearly speaking to her. For a moment she thought he meant her and she felt her cheeks go a bit pink. Looking up he raised a brow before shaking the book slightly. Understanding he meant the book she chuckled lowly.
"No magic." He was reading the original Sherlock Holmes and had been enjoying the mysteries, and the look into muggle crime too.
"YA provalil." Dolohov looked up at her pronouncement of failure. He extended his hand and she passed him the still jagged piece of jade. He assessed it and then her for a moment and there was the tic under his left eye. He just looked at her.
"It cracked?" Yaxley sounded a bit surprised and Rowle sat up on the couch, craning his neck to see the stone.
"No. It's not finished though." She pointed out. Still wondering how exactly she had exasperated her mentor. Silence then. Having caused several of these silences by now she immediately understood that she had an expectation far different from theirs.
"Porog?" Dolohov questioned her, again his eyes were scanning her and could feel his magic surge. Closing her eyes she watched his swirl around the edge of hers. As if it was testing the consistency.
"I didn't cross the threshold. I stopped." Understanding came as she realised that she had done exactly right and the amount of magic she had used had been channeled correctly. Had she overextended it would have been a large error on her part. Then her eyes snapped from the stone to his face. Then to Yaxley's, Rowle got a cursory glance but it was clear he hadn't understood the duality of the task set. They hadn't monitored her the usual way. She was sure that eventually one of them would have checked on her but it had been perhaps the primary lesson for today.
The rune stone had begun the magic channeling as a rough and jagged fist sized piece and now was more of an oval, though rough in texture and with small pits and spikes. This was the first one she had ever seen being made and the rest had been finished. The one she had examined before beginning this morning had been perfectly smooth and nearly iridescent in its shine. It had been lapis so a deep dark blue and this was jade. If she looked at it without the expectation to finish it in one day then she was quite pleased with it.
Rowle chuckled at the abrupt smile. She had done well at both things and Yaxley was twinkling at her with those purple irises. Unable to help herself she looked at Dolohov, who still held the stone. Meeting her eyes he gave her a different nod. It wasn't as sharp and looked more like one of his point nods. When Yaxley had a point or he was acknowledging something he gave a kind of chin tilt. This wasn't that but it was closer. Of course he could see the amazement on her face which caused the exasperated tic. These scenes usually only happened once. It was as if she couldn't mask her surprise the first time something happened but after that she could pretend that tons of things in a day didn't surprise her.
"Malyshka." He sat again and the book on Romanian stone circles was the recipient of his full attention. Dismissal. Already? She looked to the other wizard and showed her question. He shrugged slightly, elegantly. Sometimes she wanted to stomp or something. It was all so minimal and suave. Maybe she needed to spend some time around Gryffindors, they were like elephants compared to these quiet snakes.
Walking to her bag she looked at the stone again. It was still in his hand. Clearly she wouldn't be receiving it until he thought her ready. He was figuring out things about her too.
As she passed them there must have been something in her bearing that alerted Yaxley to the fact that she was feeling a little restless. It was a good example of her previous thought.
"Go with her. Don't do anything you will regret." It might have sounded like a warning against bad behaviour but it was actually about not meddling with something she shouldn't. He meant this wasn't the time to fiddle with one of her projects or experiment. She knew that her shoulders dropped slightly.
"See you tomorrow?" She asked, nearly without turning around. Assuming yes. The slight grunt behind her didn't indicate yes and she turned around.
"After lunch." Yaxley said. He wasn't as certain as usual but an exchanged glance got a nod from him and silence from the dark head, once again bent towards the ornate tome. She indicated agreement and waited for Rowle to get situated with his abrupt exit.
He and Yaxley were doing something, Hermione didn't know what and that was fine. Sometimes it was better not to know what Yaxley was doing. It was always interesting but just two nights ago she had watched him visit three young men as if he were a harbinger of death, or worse. Of course vows had been taken and complicated tongue tying and mental redirection spells had been placed. All very well hidden and done through a ward that removed the magical signature. That had been her big contribution and it had been worth using it for his facial expression alone.
Hermione wasn't sure if she should use the ward. She hadn't before and that would break her word to Dolohov but Yaxley was here and she had done it several times at home. Alone. It was one of those few wards she had created a matrix for, and succeeded. To the point of actually casting and experimenting on it. Now she realised she didn't disclose a few things to the wizard, after her assessment. He didn't ask her though and that was significant. There was no danger and it was for a good cause. Decision made.
"Sine nomine." The incantation was repeated with different inflections as the layers went up, five times. Then she made it rigid enough to release. This could be a smoother process, it may be worth getting help with it. It wasn't clumsy but it wasn't elegant either and she knew Yaxley would notice.
He cast a glance at her. She had deviated from the plan. Her nod was firm and after a glance and then a moment he began to rearrange the thought paths of the young man kneeling before them. His choices had been unfortunate and the consequences would be the same. Attempting to force the witch into either marriage or paying for their silence and lack of sharing evidence of having had sex with them. Disgusting and degrading. The way they had callously gone about it made her less than charitable the punishment fit the crime.
It wasn't until the whole process had been completed, their location secured and the wards removed that he turned to her in the dark alley they stood in.
What he was thinking she couldn't tell but eventually she realised he was waiting for confirmation of something. Of course he had noticed the change in the magic as it entered then exited the ward into its target.
In a moment of successful silent communication she told him it was what he thought. Then a flash that said I'm trusting you. He remained still and then complete blankness concealed whatever response would have been there. Never had she seen such a mask on him. How much must he have wanted to show in order to put that on. It was something to think about.
It made looking at him the next day possible. Neither had said anything about it and Dolohov hadn't either. Their actions and its results made dealing with Rowle better too. As they reached the apparition point she broke the comfortable silence.
"I will behave. You needn't spend your day minding me." Her tone was as she felt. A bit petulant and also in good spirits. His eyes cut to her then away and then they reached the clearing they usually used.
"I'll let you go get into trouble little witch. You're not a child." His words were partly joking and partly serious. None of them meant for her to actually be watched. It was mostly a warning. For her own good.
"If you want, we could get into trouble together?" Letting herself think about burning off her energy with him instead of alone she began to think of things they could do. Then she realized he hadn't answered and looked up. He was much taller than her and when they were stationary it was a significant difference. Something in his eyes told her that he was debating what to do and she waved him off. He could have had plans for some point in the day and she would see who she could find if a trip to her favourite flea market didn't distract her.
"I'll see you in a couple days then." Hermione smiled at him and twisted into nothing.
Maybe she could go for a run. Or she could go get a dress. Less than two weeks before that blasted Gala. Her hour at one of her favourite book stores had been followed by a bath and then some pampering. She felt fresh and revitalized. Still a bit too much energy and not enough magic to do much that way.
Heading into her closet she grabbed her coat and was surprised when Night flew in just as she headed to the floo. Harry could meet her for lunch in an hour. Good, that gave her some time to find a dress but not hours to overthink it. Astoria has offered but had several big
projects going on at work had been tired the last couple times they had squeezed in a coffee. She was a big girl and could pick a gown.
Diagon was beautiful and the rain had either stopped a while ago or hadn't made it here yet. She didn't know exactly where Dolohov's cabin even was, that was kind of a shock to realise. It made her grin and she began dress shopping with a good heart. As she browsed the rack and ran her hand down the colour options of ones she thought she might like the door chimed a few times. Event season was approaching and it was a busy time for the upscale dress makers.
When she fingered the skirt of the dress that had caught her eye from two rows over she tried not to get too excited. Sometimes they were actually held on only by magic and she didn't like it. Sticking charms were great for security but it wasn't enough for her to feel confident. The back climbed all the way up in vines from the skirt. From further away it looked like a wider lace. The flared skirt was lovely with the variations in the golds and purples. It was a one off and had been a sample for one of the interns exams. Could be sized in her range. It was too good to be true. Trying not to get too excited she grabbed it and walked toward the bay of mirrors and pedestals surrounded by ornate doors.
One of the attendees saw the dress and signalled her into a room then ducked behind a curtain. After a moment a younger girl, perhaps 18, knocked and came in. When she saw her face the girl looked flummoxed. Twice her mouth opened and closed then she began whispering.
In the end they chatted and laughed together, the girl had been beside herself and swore she wouldn't tell anyone until after the papers came out. Hermione gave her written leave to leak who made it after and paid handsomely after meeting the shop's owner. A man named Stanley. It had all been quite wonderful, if strange, and she was running nearly late.
So she was rushing when she passed a group of people and noticed the object of her most risqué thoughts at a window table with a blonde. Not allowing herself to see anymore than that, she pushed it from her mind and allowed Harry to distract her with chatter about Astoria and she answered a few questions on magic for one of his cases. People were reporting break ins. Without Muffliato she wasn't sure she would ever meet people in public.