"Where are we?" Hermione looked around, illuminating the dark tunnel with her wand.
"Come, hurry up! The others must be already there." Joseph said worriedly, rushing deeper into the hollowed out tunnel.
When they reached the junction room Joseph sighed finally being able to stretch to his full height, though his head was now dangerously close to the candle that was enchanted to float just beneath the earthy ceiling.
The route split in two ways here, but it didn't matter which route they took on this or any other junction because all tunnels converged to a single entry point, Joseph explained.
Finally reaching their destination they realized that nobody else was present. "Are we late? But how…?!" Joseph panicked grasping his silver pocket watch. "We're on time, unless the damn thing stopped working!" He shook the watch frantically and placed it to his ear.
"Relax." Hermione nudged him to look down one of the tunnels. "Listen there… someone's coming."
The ground above them suddenly shook. It seemed very thin at this point, reacting with every heavier footstep on the surface above. Hermione also swore she could hear unintelligible conversations above, but that was likely her imagination. "This is the spot?"
Joseph nodded. "The ground above us is held up by magic." He ducked into one of the many conjoined tunnels. "We'll all be tucked away here when they bring it down."
"I see." Hermione sat on the damp dirt floor across him. "How long did it take to make all these tunnels?"
"A few days."
"Only few days!? How?!" Hermione exclaimed.
"We used Engorgement Charm on moles under Imperius curse." Joseph explained.
"Clever. I wouldn't have thought of that." Hermione stood up to dust off as the first group of general's men reached them.
As others flocked to the entry point the space became quickly crowded. Finally general Valant himself pushed trough the crowd to stand in the middle of the circular underground chamber. "Fifteen, sixteen… and seventeen." He finished the count which included himself and ended with Hermione. "Fine, everyone's here. You all know the plan, but let me say it once more. Left side prisoners, right is barracks and point takes the hill." He took out a compass and pointed in one direction. "This is north gentlemen, so please disperse according to you designated tasks."
When everyone started grouping up Joseph started walking off with his head bowed. "Sorry Hermione, I'm over there. Good luck to you!"
"And you as well." Hermione reciprocated, hoping for her own sake that Joseph didn't grossly overestimate her fighting abilities.
Once everyone was set in their position and the rustle died down, the air was quickly filled with pervasive, deadly silence.
"Everyone ready?!" Valant shouted.
"Yes sir!" A unanimous voice replied.
At that the general pointed his wand up and brought down the earthy ceiling to reveal the night sky.
Along with others, Hermione Apparated up to the surface and looked around the dreadful place. The general's men started spreading out in all directions, already engaging the enemy.
Momentarily fewer in numbers and surprised, the Death Eaters started backing away, though still firing vicious curses as they ran and scrambled for cover.
Spotting a flash of light with her peripheral vision Hermione jumped to the side dodging a stray frostbite curse that ended up hitting a nearby prisoner. She could have easily blocked that, Hermione realized, but she moved out of the way instinctively. Feeling regretful she felt a need to help the injured prisoner until a strong arm dragged her away.
"Don't worry about that girl. The others will take care of them." The broad-shouldered man who Hermione recognised and one of Valant's most trusted barked as he dragged her away towards the general.
The general stood on the path with two by his side. "Let's go Hermione, to the hill tower!"
Hermione nodded moving up the path with the point group which soon left the heated battle below. What Hermione could gather from the battle was all in blurry glances backwards while running up the hill. She saw Joseph able to overcome a black cloaked figure at the base of the hill, but there where more Death Eaters coming out of the barracks. Not all of them passed out, even after several smoke flasks where thrown inside.
Hermione frowned. As if the path forward wasn't uncertain enough, now the escape route seemed questionable as well, but at least there was no burden of choice, Hermione realized, there was no where to go but forward with the plan.
When they reached the sturdy gate that obstructed the way, Hermione dropped down to her knee and started tracing the runes on three metal plates set there for that very purpose. She vaguely remembered the order, thinking her knowledge of runes would easily fill in the holes in her memory.
Upon completing the last rune the gate belched forth a gust of flame. Hermione jumped backwards just in time to avoid it.
"She got it wrong!" A scruffy-haired wizard anxiously announced taking two steps away from the gate.
"I never claimed I could do it on first try." Hermione responded stepping back up to the gate.
"Let's all move back a tad and give her space." The general stated calmly.
"And what if they changed the runes?" The same anxious voice persisted.
"They're too lazy to do that, and confident they won't be challenged." Hermione assured everyone. "I think I only messed up on the last one."
"Well you better…"
"Just shut up and let me think!" Hermione snapped to the surprise of Valant and others. However this did shut up the annoying one. Now that she was able to concentrate and inspect the last plate Hermione managed to crack the rune code.
"There you go!" Hermione announced with a triumphant smirk as she swung the gates open.
Her triumph was short-lived however. Half a dozen Death Eaters emerged out of the hill-tower and stood barring their path. "Personal guard…" Hermione muttered. "And the overseer is undoubtedly cowering inside his rat-hole."
Hermione jumped behind a large rock to avoid a vicious barrage of curses coming from the six lined up Death Eaters. She pointed her wand up at the 60 degree angle and fired a plume of fiery bolts that arced over to the attackers. Judging from the soon following scream she managed hit at lest one of them.
After that Hermione figured she shouldn't remain on the spot, so she quickly Apparated behind a single ruinous wall that stood nearby the tower. The rock she previously used for cover shortly after shattered in pieces, unfortunately hitting one of the men from her team who fell to his knees. He tried to recoup, but as he tried to stand up he was struck down by the killing curse.
This alerted Hermione to the severity of the situation. It was now four against five Death Eaters, they where still a man short. Observing the scene unfold and subsequent calculations one shouldn't be making in the heat of battle unfortunately made Hermione drop the awareness of her own surroundings. Her right hand that was peering from behind her hiding spot suddenly turned bright red. It felt like it was burning from the inside. Her fingers stiffened and twisted from the sudden and unbearable pain which made her drop her wand to the ground.
Now the culprit of this seemingly spontaneous combustion was approaching. The female Death Eater gloated with her high-pitched and sadistic laughter while Hermione was eyeing her unwillingly discarded wand.
"Go for it!" The woman taunted as she took off and threw away her mask.
Peering from behind the wall Hermione could see now that she resembled Bellatrix Lestrange, right down to her rotten teeth and bloodthirsty expression.
Hermione panicked, she reached for her main wand completely forgetting that she has a spare holstered on the side of her shin.
When Hermione stepped out of the cover, the Death Eater instantly iced her hand.
Hermione jumped back behind the wall screaming out in pain because of the frost spreading over her burned hand. She felt the blood in her right hand freezing.
Than the female Death Eater used a spell on the base of the heavy wall and toppled it atop of Hermione.
Hermione had to use all her strength just to keep a towering stone slab from crushing her. Quite a difficult task with one of her hands going numb, but what else was she to do? Even with no chance of getting out of the situation she held all that weight at bay while gritting her teeth.
"Hearty of you girl!" The Death Eater laughed, clearly amused by the situation. Rather than to finisher her off, she decided to let the wall slowly do her bidding.
Hermione couldn't push the wall back enough to jump out of the way neither, it took exactly all of her willpower just to keep it from going down, and her strength slowly but surely languished.
The sadistic Death Eater kept laughing until somebody blasted her away from behind. Joseph appeared in Hermione's sight and used the floating charm to slowly lift up the wall that was crushing her. "Jump out of the way Hermione!" He exclaimed.
As soon as Hermione did the wall splattered over the muddy ground, only it wasn't because Joseph stopped casting his charm, he got struck down by the killing curse from behind. He fell down on his knees, then face down in the mud.
"No!" Hermione screamed out realizing what just happened. Worst thing was… Joseph wasn't supposed to be here, he must have seen they where outnumbered so he came up to help, only to be killed by the masked ones that ruined the whole world. Hermione's mind was now filled with hatred and rage. Momentarily freed from the chains of fear, she didn't care for her life or safety, only vengeance on the dark figures which surrounded her.
Hermione rolled over and snatched her grey wand off the ground. Not wasting a moment, she instantly Apparated up on the roof of the nearby stone hut which was conjoined to the base of the tower.
Loosing balance she slid down the steep roof-tiles until she slammed against a chimney that ended up blocking a few curses fired from below. Feeling backed into the last corner, Hermione took the spare wand on her shin and with wand in each hand she jumped off the roof. As she flew trough the air, Hermione fired curses from both wands down on the Death Eaters below. She landed down in the soft, muddy puddle, instantly rolling forward and continuing to dispense some merciless justice to the masked figures around her.
As more Death Eaters lurched out in front of her in a blurry haze, Hermione dealt with them with cold-blooded efficiency. She was dodging curses, blocking them and firing her own in one thoughtless and unbroken flow.
As Hermione Apparated behind her last opponent she didn't even have the sense this was real. She felt no remorse as she rammed her wand in the back of the last Death Eater's ribcage and finished him of with a killing curse.
Was it justified to kill these killers? She wondered, as only then the thought appeared in her mind. Hermione dropped down on her knees for the sole reason of catching her breath. She was breathing heavily as she looked around at the bodies scattered around her, mostly Death Eaters that she killed herself, but there where a few Valant's men as well.
Hermione wondered in anyone else even survived when the general and the broad-shouldered man stepped out of their covers and walked up to her.
"Excellent work Hermione." Valant said with a surprised expression, while the large man observed her with a mixture of admiration and caution.
"Yea…" Hermione managed. "Let's find the overseer and get this over with." She said getting up.
They found the overseer cowering behind a crate on the top of the tower. Valant and the large man picked him up by each arm and dragged him out.
As they walked out of the tower, Hermione spotted Joseph's still body on the left side. She walked over and flipped him on his back. His eyes where still open, though partly covered in mud. "Memento mori." Hermione whispered closing his empty eyes for the sake of the still breathing. This made death seem like a slumber. Perhaps it was… Hermione thought until she heard a voice calling her.
"Hermione, we have to go!" Valant urged.
"Right…" Hermione moved on. This was all respect she could pay to the foolish young man that saved her.
As they descended down the hill with the captured overseer they could see that the battle still raged below them. Why was she here? Hermione wondered observing all the death and destruction. Just to get another fill of this abhorrent horror? To prolong the suffering until her own inevitable day comes?
When they descended down to the hole in the ground, the cruses where still flying around them. The prisoners where jumping down and running away trough the tunnels in droves as the general's men tried to keep the Death Eater's at bay.
Hermione remembered the flask of smoke she had on her waist, so she threw it as far as she could into the Death Eater group to impede their desperate assault. They where fighting for their own lives as well, Hermione figured, she knew Voldemort wouldn't look kindly on those who failed him. Still Hermione had no sympathy for them, it was on them after all for letting it get that way.
With the last few flasks of smoke the leftovers of Valant's men bought enough time for the last prisoners to escape. On the general's signal the rebel soldiers started retreating and jumping down into the hole.
Hermione didn't linger. Given the chance, she was among to first to jump down and tuck away into an empty tunnel. She couldn't believe she actually made it back here in one piece, and now she was staring down a path to freedom.
"Hold on, we're not all clear, the general is still up there." One of Valant's men hailed her back.
Hermione shuffled over cautiously, keeping her head low not to catch one of the stray curses coming from somewhere up above until the old man shows up.
Finally Valant jumped down the hole. Several Death Eater followed after him, but they where promptly cut down from all directions by the remaining rebel soldiers.
"Go! And bring down the tunnels behind you, they must not follow us!" Valant shouted as he ran towards Hermione.
"Are you alright?" Hermione asked noticing that he vas holding his chest on the place where a large hole was burned trough his outfit.
"I'm fine!" He managed gritting trough his teeth. "Just go!"
Given the permission, Hermione and the others didn't waste a moment.
They vanished into the tunnels and collapsed them behind themselves. The Death Eaters above ground where left staring down a large round hole, while the attackers and all the prisoners once held here simply vanished into the ground.