TW: Battle time.
There was a brief moment before the chaos as the Death Eaters staggered to find their balance. One turned and promptly vomited in a wastebasket. And then, before any of them had a chance to notice the striking emptiness of the building, one of the aurors fired a stupefy, hitting a Death Eater square in the chest.
"Stupefy!" Hermione shouted, immediately taking out another.
Within moments, the bewildered Death Eaters were contained. The twins smirked and high-fived.
"Shh," Hermione hissed, listening for sounds from the floors above. A flurry of cries reached her ears as the Death Eaters on the second floor moved past shock at their empty surroundings and began to realize they were effectively glued to the floor.
And then there was rage. A bone-chilling rage that sent out a wave of fierce and furious power.
"Voldemort," Hermione whispered, immediately conjuring her patronus and sending it to Albus.
"Are you sure it's—"
A deafening roar shook the building, blasting a hole right through its core, and sending Hermione's team and the Aurors through the air. Hermione crashed painfully into the wall, her entire right side shooting numb, and then fiery at the impact. Debris flew through the dust-filled air. For a moment, Hermione couldn't see anything.
"Shit," Emmeline said, casting a precautionary shield spell over them and struggling to her feet. "You lot okay?"
"We're good," Hermione affirmed, helping Fabian haul Gideon to his feet. The dust was beginning to thin. Hermione could make out shadows in its midst.
"We've got company!" Fabian shouted.
The Death Eaters' spells began to fly.
Hermione cast a breeze charm to clear away the rest of the dust, her gaze roving over the army assembled before them, her heart pounding. "No Voldemort," she muttered to her team. He was probably working on disabling the wards around the building and out on the street.
"Yet," Emmeline said. And they launched into the fray, a single unit, just as they needed to be.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Emmeline shouted, a piece of debris flew up to shield Fabian from an alarming flash of green.
"Stupefy!" Hermione countered, taking out the surprised Death Eater.
Gideon shoved her out of the way of an incoming spell, then spun and retaliated with gusto.
Two down. Too many to go.
Moments passed in a whirlwind of "now." One, two, three, four, five Death Eaters down. Her heart was pumping in the most vitalizing way, and yet… Where is Voldemort?
"Shit!"
Hermione spun to follow Emmeline's gaze. "Shit." She reached for Gideon, who had been at her side moments ago, but he was gone. Steps ahead, his wand drawn… and aimed at Voldemort who was floating serenely through the gaping ceiling toward the chaos below.
Panic gripped her heart. "You idiot," Hermione hissed, lunging for her friend's arm. He tried, for the briefest of moments, to resist, and then Fabian and Emmeline were there, helping Hermione to drag him back behind the Embassy's main desk.
"We need to get the hell out of here," Hermione said urgently. "Like, now."
"I think we could take him," Gideon said stubbornly. "He's just a man, isn't he?"
"Would you like to take on Albus while you're at it?" Hermione hissed. Her heart, so happy in the heat of battle, was now pounding furiously with fear. Was this it? Was this the moment when the Prewett brothers died? Never. She would never fucking let that happen.
Luckily, Gideon had paled at the thought. "Surely he can't be as—"
"Completely his equal," Hermione assured him. "We need to go."
"Albus could be here any second," Fabian protested. "If we leave now, this was all for nothing."
"He's right," Emmeline said. "We have to try to outlast him. If we can last till Albus gets here, that first wave of Death Eaters are Dementor food. We can't leave."
Hermione felt like punching something. They were right. She knew they were right. But she didn't like it.
"We just have to last long enough to make this count," Gideon said seriously.
Hermione looked at their faces, intent and brave, and a deep and abiding love seeped through her, easing into her fearful heart, deepening her shallow breaths. "Alright, you idiots. Let's do this. But no dying, you understand?"
"Will no one face me?" Voldemort taunted. Silence had fallen over the Embassy. Clearly the Aurors were taking cover as well.
"We will!" Hermione said in a loud, clear voice as she stepped out from behind the desk. Emmeline and the twins at her side.
Voldemort cackled gleefully. "End them," he directed.
A wave of spells fired in their direction, two of them green, both of them headed for Gideon and Fabian. Hermione dove into them, knocking them out of the way, then spun around just in time to see a purple flash whip into Emmeline. Hermione watched in horror as Emmeline fell. Hermione's hand rose automatically to her chest, to the long scar that crossed her own body. She thought maybe she screamed.
I know that spell.
For a moment, there was no room in Hermione's world. No room for anything but Emmeline, laying crumpled on the floor.
"Tom, I heard I might find you here."
Albus.
Hermione jolted, lunged for Emmeline's body, and pulled her back behind the desk, checking fervently for signs of life. "She's alive," she said, with so much relief, so much release, it was almost a cry.
"Do you know what they hit her with?" Fabian asked.
Hermione lifted her shirt brusquely to reveal her stomach. "Sort of. It can be lethal. We have to get her to Poppy."
"Alright," Gideon said. "Albus will end this now, and then we can—"
Hermione laughed a strangled laugh. "If Albus and Voldemort are about to duel, we need to get the hell into the street before they bring the entire building down on our heads."
The twins gave her funny looks, and then Voldemort's first spell flew. A fierce wind that ripped through the building, shattering every window with its piercing scream, before it narrowed into a flurry of spears that shattered against Albus' conjured shield.
"Yeah, okay, you win. It's time to go."
"Leave us," Voldemort hissed.
"But, Master…"
"Now!" he roared, and his rage was a gale that sent the Death Eaters flying out into the street. Hermione peeked in time to see Voldemort press a pale finger to the Dark Mark on his arm, summoning the rest of his force. "I have waited a long time for this moment, old man." There was a smirk on his face, but his words oozed like pent up anguish.
Hermione met Alastor's gaze across the room and she motioned for the door. He nodded and began signaling the Aurors. As soon as they started to move for the street, Hermione dropped back to the ground. "You two can carry her?" The twins nodded. "Okay. I'll cover us. We'll head out with the Aurors. Ready?" The twins hauled Emmeline into their arms and nodded. "Good. Move!"
Together they made a run for the door. Hermione's shield charm held as they reached the street and ducked behind a nearby dumpster.
The twins set Emmeline down on the asphalt as gently as they could. "Gideon," Hermione said, her voice low and urgent. "I need you to take Emmeline to Hogwarts. Tell Poppy it was a purple spell like a whip. Tell her it could be fatal. Tell her it was Dolohov. I don't know if any of that will mean anything to her. But tell her."
"Stay safe," he said, and then he and Emmeline were gone.
A tiny trickle of relief wound its way through Hermione. Albus was here. Emmeline was with her best shot at survival. Gideon was at least momentarily out of danger.
A series of pops burst out like gunfire through the sound of spellfire in the street.
"Dammit," Fabian growled. "Death Eater reinforcements."
Hermione nodded gravely. Their team was down to two.
Fabian gripped her hand in his for the briefest of moments. "Good luck, Mione."
Hermione offered a wry smile in return. "Don't die." And then they leapt back into the battle.
Her gaze took in black-robed Death Eaters and brown-cloaked Aurors prone on the ground even as she noticed the insane odds before her. There were too many. Fabian was already fighting, and Hermione turned to join him, almost catching a rogue slicing hex with her face.
She dodged just in time, and watched as the hex flew over her shoulder and into a Death Eater behind her. Hermione heard the Death Eater cry out as blood spurted forth from his arm, saw him fall.
Saw the flutter of almost-white hair beneath his hood.
Lucius.
For a moment, in her mind, he was Regulus. He was Severus. He was Draco. And then, somehow, she was at his side.
There was so much blood. She wrenched off his mask, just to be sure. Yes, it was him. Rage rippled through her. Her mind registered more sounds of apparition behind her, and prayed it was the Order, not more Death Eaters. She didn't turn to look.
"You lot are such idiots," she hissed with anger. Anger with him and Severus and Regulus. Anger with herself. Was healing him a betrayal? It felt like it. But more so than leaving him to die? She didn't know. Her stomach twisted. She hated herself in that moment… so much so that she felt sick, but she knew she couldn't live with it if she left him.
Lucius' eyes widened, though it may just have been the pain, as she healed the wounded arm. She glanced up at him once his skin had knitted shut. He had already passed out from blood loss. Hermione cast a furtive look around at the chaos behind her, then hit him with a stupefy and a disillusionment charm. "Be safe, you Death Eater bastard," she whispered.
Then she went after Dolohov.
There was so much self-loathing, she needed to vent it, needed to bleed it out, and she was ready to let him bear the brunt.
"Dolohov!" she shouted, and somehow, her voice passed through the battle like an inevitable summons.
"Aw, little girl from the Order upset I killed her friend?"
His voice reverberated through her body before she even laid eyes on him. He emerged from the chaos, wand in hand, but Hermione was ready too.
She dove forward with a barrage of silent spells that took him aback. She was small. He underestimated her. It was a mistake he was going to pay for.
Dolohov was good, of course. Possibly one of the best. Powerful. Experienced, but still young enough to be fit and dexterous. But Hermione was on fire - mind, heart, and soul. And this was a fight she was not going to lose.
Their duel was a furious dance. An angry tango. Their eyes ablaze with excitement and rage. Her frustration grew as he dodged and blocked all her spells.
Until he didn't.
Finally, she panted a slicing hex that bit into his ankles, and watched triumphantly as he fell to the ground with a cry.
"Blood traitor bitch!" he screamed.
Hermione smirked back. "Good night, Dolohov," she said coldly. "Stupefy!"
"Mione!" Fabian screamed.
She spun just in time to see Alastor crash to the ground, his wand landing in a Death Eater's slimy outstretched hand.
"Sectumsempra!"
Blood spurted from Alastor's leg. No.
Shit. "Get his wand," Hermione shouted, breaking into a run. "I'll get Alastor!"
She didn't look back as she crashed down at Alastor's side. Blood was spurting from his leg. And he was furiously casting healing spell after healing spell at it.
"Must've hit an artery," Hermione muttered.
"Aye. It won't heal, lass. Yeh'll have to cut it off and cauterize it."
Hermione scoffed, reaching for the calm she would need for the complicated spell. She took a deep, steadying breath, trying to block out the fact that Alastor could die before she finished chanting, trying to block out the fact that she could be hit by an AK at any moment. Calm. "Vulnera Sanentur. Vulnera Sanentur. Vulnera Sanentur." Over and over. Her wand traced its careful pattern over Alastor's leg, and mercifully, the wound knitted itself together. "There'll be a nasty scar," Hermione said, her hands trembling with adrenaline, but trying to sound nonchalant. "Dittany might help."
As Alastor stared at her, Hermione glanced up to see Fabian taking out the Death Eater responsible, felt a flood of relief as she noted other Order members in the battle. And then she noticed someone staring at her. Someone with eyes like icy black pools. Severus.
Hermione subtly inclined her head in subdued thanks, then flicked her gaze meaningfully toward where Lucius was hidden. Just in case he might get curious enough to find his friend.
She turned back to Alastor. "Alright, old man," she said. "This is the middle of battlefield! How about we get you back on your feet?"
"Old ma-"
"And you might want this back," Fabian said, dodging a spell that flew past them, and handing Alastor his wand.
"Aye," said Alastor, as he rose to his feet. "I just might." He cast an automatic protego against a flash of red. "I hate to say it, but it may be it's time to call a tactical retreat. We're—"
He pulled up short as the Death Eaters disappeared in a quick series of pops and bangs. And the street was silent.
Alastor looked around quickly, his face a mask of horror, and he roared. An awful, guttural sound Hermione hoped she'd never hear again. As she took in the scene, she felt her own stomach contract hideously.
Fabian looked lost. "Wha-"
Hermione used a finger to turn Fabian's gaze forward, giving him a moment to take it all in. A few disabled Death Eaters remained in the streets… but the fallen Aurors and Order members were gone. They had all been taken.
Hermione's mind spun with the possibilities. They couldn't be for Polyjuice - Alastor knew who had been taken. They couldn't be for interrogation - some of them were dead. And Hermione could think of only one reason why Voldemort would want dead Aurors. Her stomach clenched and her heart felt like it was trying to escape the treacherous thought through her chest. Inferi.
Albus emerged from the Embassy building then, exhaustion in every line of his body. Fighting Voldemort had drained him. This man, who had once defeated Grindelwald.
Hermione felt a moment of despair.
And then a strangled scream rent the air.
The scream came once more, then shuddered into gut-wrenching sobs.
It took Hermione a moment to realize it was coming from Dorcas. Strong, beautiful Dorcas. Dorcas who was engaged to Lance. Lance… who was nowhere to be found. Lance who laughed and joked almost as easily as the twins. Lance who had taught her half the healing spells she knew. Lance who had held her hair back after her first mission.
Hermione's legs went weak, but Fabian was there, sliding his hand into hers, gripping it tightly. His elbow supporting hers. Giving her strength. Soaking in hers. She squeezed his hand back just as tightly. Her gaze ran over the Order members still standing in the street, and her heart shuddered.
"I see members from three other teams," Fabian said in a voice that wavered ever so slightly. "But I don't see 15 other people."
Hermione ran a quick head count, her eyes taking in the haunted looks in her peers' eyes. Or the rage. "Eleven," she said softly. "Four gone. Plus 13 of the Aurors."
"Do you think Emmeline is…"
Hermione's heart caught in her throat. She shook her head. "I don't know. We'll find out soon."
She watched Albus lead Dorcas to a somehow untouched bench on the sidewalk, setting her down with a cup of tea to hold numbly. "Get her out of here, Fabian," Hermione muttered. "Take her to her parents' - she shouldn't be alone right now, and I need to check on something."
"Sure thing, Mione." He gave her hand a quick squeeze and strode away, clearly relieved to have something to do.
"Fabian?"
He paused and turned back. "Yeah?"
"Check on Emmeline once Dorcas is settled? Send me a Patronus if I'm not there yet?"
He nodded silently and carried on. As soon as he and Dorcas were away, Hermione crossed the street-cum-battlefield to where Alastor and Albus were directing the clean-up.
"Where do you want me?" she asked, putting all her strength and energy into pulling herself together. Just for now. Just for this moment.
Alastor's expression was grim. "Quick count puts us at 13 Death Eaters on their way to Azkaban today. But that's a job for the Aurors. They should be here any minute."
"We successfully cleared the Muggles from the area before the attack, but Obliviators are on their way to ensure no one straggled in and saw anything," Albus said tiredly. "There's not much else to do, my dear."
Hermione reached out and squeezed Alastor's shoulder. "I'm so sorry," she breathed. She knew he would mourn those Aurors deeply.
He shrugged off her words. "Emmeline?"
"On my way to find out. Dolohov hit her with something," Hermione said grimly. "But I got him back."
"Atta girl," Alastor said roughly. "Go see to her. I'll be along soon."
Hermione nodded then turned to the Headmaster. "Albus, might I come by for tea in the morning?"
"Of course, Hermione. Minerva will be happy to see you, I'm sure."
Hermione forced a smile. "Thanks, Albus." She strode away, but didn't leave… she had one last thing to do first.
Hermione casually made her way to Lucius' hiding place, her foot subtly brushing the space where she'd left him. He was gone. Severus had gotten the message. She nodded to herself, her feelings about that were thoroughly complicated. Then she turned on her heel and apparated into the Hog's Head.