Thorfinn looked around the field they were in and could see nothing. Dolohov spun slowly and then met Yaxley's eyes.
"Should have been on that hill." Both men looked toward it and Dolohov pulled his wand. It didn't look like he was taking down wards but assessing them. He hadn't improved much with using more than the basics but he had learned a lot. Yaxley often added a word in, here or there, providing a clue as to what the other two were doing. It was beginning to make some sense.
Then his hard features softened slightly and he knew that he had felt the little witch's magic. Normally that wouldn't have been noticeable but the situation had the Russian extremely tense.
Following the other two's lead he looked that way and waited. The witch appeared about thirty feet from them. From thin air. Surely she could see the intense scrutiny she was being subjected to but she took it with grace. No pout or even negative gesture. Calmly she met their eyes and he let himself really look at her. He tried not to do this with people around but she did it in return when he did. The reassurance would be something, anyway. There it was. The awareness of him, a slight brush of her magic against his. Now wasn't the time but he would need to figure out what exactly to do about this.
"Malyshka." Their short moment ended when Dolohov's voice barked out. His wand had been moving and he clearly knew what wards she had walked out of. Even he could read that the man meant explain.
"I've been trying to be less jumpy. Not jump to conclusions that I'm being followed or attacked." Her eyes flicked to his and he gave her a slight head tilt of acknowledgement. The witch had even left her wand in the workroom and gotten a snack a couple days ago. It was progress and they had all seen her trying. "Anyway, twice before today I thought someone was watching me, different than the normal masses of people with their noses against the glass." Her exasperation was clear but she didn't sound upset.
"Today though, without realizing what I was doing I began to play a bit of chase with the magic. It's like he knew how far away to be. Just out of my reach." All of them straightened at that and she nodded.
"I know. Anyway, he is in there." She gestured back to the empty hilltop. For a moment they waited for her to begin to speak and he was incredulous when he realised that was all she meant to say.
"Hermione, surely you know that isn't enough detail. Exactly what happened before his capture and explain that part. Now." There was no heat in Yaxley's voice but there was a demand. She bit her lip and they all knew why she didn't tell them. They wouldn't like it. He hadn't been expecting to like whatever had brought them here in such a rush but this was a bit more than he had expected. Those golden eyes looked down and then flicked between them and her posture straightened a little as she began to speak.
"I was in Tatters and alone when I felt what had been following me make contact." Dolohov nodded and Yaxley met his eyes with a small shrug. This was how they spoke of their magical fields of awareness. Their range. It wasn't something he could do. Spread it out like fibres without an actual target. He could use his magic but couldn't have it be loose around him without actively directing it. "I ducked and it missed. I assume I was a good enough actress in that moment because it followed me out." She stopped talking and began casting. Dolohov watched her for a moment and then began his own round of light into the sky and both spun slowly before stopping. Yaxley made a sound that indicated his wish for things to begin making sense.
"I just realised that maybe he hadn't missed. Whatever he cast at me. I felt no actual contact or effects at all but if he knew about my range then I don't know." That wasn't very articulate for her but they all got the she went through leaving the Alley and her preparations in the bathroom. That made him smile a bit. This witch was tiny but she was so fucking smart.
Expressions shifted again when she walked alone into the copse of trees and Dolohov barked something in Russian at her.
"Oprometchivyy!" Yaxley winced and she tilted her little nose up a notch higher.
"I wasn't being reckless. I was prepared. I dropped it and then cast the wards so I could function. He is still in his own little world in there. I sent a message to you and came here. Scan me please." The little witch kept the tilt of her chin as the dark eyes met hers in argument and then his wand came out and she closed her eyes. This was the second time he had seen them do this. She described it as feeling his magic sweep over hers. Finding the tiny places and searching for weaknesses of any kind.
They were standing in her workroom and she was looking at him thoughtfully. Her lip was between her teeth and when it was released he knew she would try and answer his question. Her hair was in a knot on her head and slightly off centre. Dark blue denim hugged her thighs in the intricate fold her legs were in on the stool top she was balanced on.
"It's hard to explain what he is doing. It's hard to let him too. The awareness, our range, as he calls it. That's actually like an amount of magic I've fed out of me that is assessing everything around me. It took ages, well it was a few visits in when he began getting me to understand and practice it. For the curse, to judge its pathways. Anyways it wasn't as useful then. With his dampeners on. I don't think I could have done it though. Let his magic sweep mine like that." Her eyes were clear but she looked a bit less certain than she usually did.
"I have to allow it. If I don't he can't see the whole picture. When I don't flinch from him he will duel me," Yaxley says. "It's still there a bit. Some instinctive movement. He says it's my magic creating camouflage. He didn't say that, but it was what I got out of the few words and such." Her eyes rolled at that and he chuckled a bit. That was as good a way as any to explain their odd conversations. She had to puzzle nearly everything out. Think and guess. Then assess her success. It didn't piss her off like it would him either.
"So he is feeling the magic you've let out? Touching it?" This seemed like an unimaginable thing to him. Personal too, extremely so. He didn't like that which bothered him too.
"Sometimes there is contact but it's more like tracing the landscape. Maybe you could learn enough to understand better than my words can explain. One of the hardest parts was that there isn't a vocabulary for this. Only his and he doesn't use many words. Doesn't like me to either. It was some uncomfortable visits interspersed with my blushes at using words about feelings, trying to explain what was happening." They both laughed at that and he knew that he better go, before he wanted to stay enough to try.
Yaxley watched them carefully and he began his own detection spells aimed at her warded area. He wasn't a master but he had spent most of his life with one.
"What does that one do exactly?" He was looking at the witch and she opened her eyes. Clearly it was harder to speak and keep the magic still. Her words were slower and fewer than usual.
"No physical input." Thorfinn thought that over and was still compiling a list of things that fell into that category when the man replied.
"At all?" Yaxley had that slight look of mania that always showed through when he was excited. Her blink indicated yes and they waited in silence for another minute or so.
"Spasibo." She said absently when Dolohov gave her a curt nod. It was clean, whatever it was hadn't stuck to her magic in some way. It was not a usual concern so he wasn't sure what had made her think it possible.
"Let us go and see your catch." Yaxley's drawl was content and she smiled a bit in return. He could find no fault with her handling of the situation. Her slight glow at his approval was distracting and not for the first time he wondered about making her glow, not quite like that though. Really thinking about it, considering trying was turning his world on it's head.
The three of them walked to what must be the ward line and he stopped when the others did.
"Can I?" Yax asked. For a second he thought the wizard meant try and take them down but when she nodded he just walked into them and disappeared. She waited a moment and gave him a questioning look, no way. Her grin was devious and he loved it. Her magic hit him and he could feel it surround him. Then she looked to Dolohov who must have given some signal that he could do his own, she only nodded and after a moment of clearly warding herself, she walked through. He could feel no difference but Yaxley was completely still. He had barely made it a foot past the invisible line.
When she finished his wards she laughed at his face. It was a picture of clear appreciation.
"Do you know him?" She gestured casually toward the other man, about a hundred feet away. They walked over and Thorfinn let himself walk beside her. Not wanting her between him and the man who had required such a capture. She just smiled up at him and looked her question when they reached him. He shook his head in response. He didn't know this wizard, though he looked about his age.
In most ways he looked average. Thorfinn couldn't see anything specific about him.
"You've seen him." There wasn't really the infection to make it a question but the witch knew it was and answered the Russian.
"No. Well. I have seen him before. Not met him. Maybe twice. In Roasted." That was her favourite cafe and where she usually met his sister. Maybe the following sound meant when since that was the question she answered
"In the last week. I'm not sure. I go most days." That was true. She often walked around with a cup or scone bag tucked in her bag.
Dolohov was staring at the wizard and Yaxley looked contemplative. Obviously he had missed some of the silent communication.
When the little witch nudged him slightly he saw her tilt her chin toward Dolohov. So it was him that knew something and Yaxley was considering whatever he had indicated.
"Home then?" Was the wizards eventual reply. Dolohov gave a nod and then turned away from the man.
"Should I?" The witch asked, clearly meaning the man still immobile and invisible to pretty much everyone.
"Net." She stood a moment and bit her lip then seemed to decide it wasn't worth the fight and with a last look at the unknown wizard she followed her mentor. This left the two standing closer together than to the man laying perfectly still.
Thorfinn kept his eyes on the wizards face and waited for some indication of what was going on. Eventually those strange purple eyes met his and they were not manic. A grin was pulling at his mouth though and it didn't look particularly sane.