**Disclaimer: Any Harry Potter characters and concepts used in this story were created by JK Rowling. No profit is being made from the writing or publishing of this content.**
A/N: This is the first thing I've ever written. Be gentle but do provide feedback!
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"Hermione, are you alright?"
She shifted her focus from her lantern-lit books to meet bright blue eyes. "Yes. I couldn't sleep. I thought I would review some of the reports that Wood completed yesterday."
The rotting floorboards groaned as Ron stepped behind her. He pressed a kiss to her temple and placed his chin to rest on her shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her waist. His eyes skimmed over the stacks of parchment. She closed her eyes and tried to lose herself in his warmth.
He sighed. The weak comfort he had provided evaporated as he released her.
"Blimey… I wasn't expecting Bristol would go this badly." The corners of his mouth drew down and he shook his head. "I suppose I ought to start drafting the next attack. In the morning, you and Harry should get in touch with Neville and Kingsley to see what we more can do to advance everyone's training. We can't keep taking hits like this or we'll lose the footholds we have."
"I'll put on some tea."
"That's alright, 'Mione. You should try to get some rest. Big training day tomorrow, you know. If you don't sleep you'll be miserable."
"Misery loves its company, Ronald. Besides, I think it would be a waste of time to try to sleep now."
She gave him a weak smile and went about making tea for the two of them while letting her mind wander. The Order had been playing cat and mouse with Voldemort and his followers for nearly 5 years. Sometimes it seemed not an inch could be gained in their favour. Others, the losses and grief were overwhelming. Rarely, though, they would make a breakthrough; a lead, a well-coordinated battle, an unusually generous haul of food or supplies. These were the moments that kept them from being swallowed by their anguish and desperation, the moments they held on for.
She handed Ron a mug and stirred in a spoonful of sugar and powdered milk before adding the same to her own. Supplies had been limited for months, severely so, but sometimes being reminded of the comforts of before the war was what they needed to be able to see that speck of light at the end of the tunnel again; to help them find hope again and keep their eyes forward. More and more, the losses were so immense that Hermione could feel them crushing her, restricting her chest until she could no longer take a breath and her heart struggled to pump against the pressure. These days had become more frequent and so, she reasoned, the indulgence of milk and sugar was both appropriate and necessary.
Tea was sipped in silence for several minutes before Hermione spoke, "Do you suppose we need to schedule more training hours or do we need more advanced spellwork?"
"Both."
"Alright. I can revise everyone's training schedule now," she responded with a bit of the determination she'd been known for in her school days. "It will take me some time to research the spells. I'll need a list of which curses we've been getting hit with most. And perhaps what–if anything–has been effective against those? Has anyone said?"
Ron nodded and pulled her in close to his side to review the papers in front of them. Hermione reached down the table for a loose scrap of parchment and quill before leaning back into his embrace.
As she looked through reports of injuries and fatalities, Ron pointing out emerging patterns of recent battles, she found that the nature of the Death Eaters' curses was becoming more brutal. New dark magic had apparently been developed. This was far from a new phenomenon; over the last 18 months, it had been evident that the curses slung by the opposing side had advanced, becoming more difficult to block and more lethal.
Hermione's first encounter with this new dark magic was during the raid of a known compound for new Death Eater recruits. She had been paired with Dennis Creevey for that mission though she'd worked with him before; the boy could be heavy-footed at times but otherwise was quite skilled in both duelling and field-ready healing spells. Just as they were clearing the last bit of the compound's first floor, a jet of orange flashed inches to Hermione's left. She turned to see it fly past her towards Dennis who threw up a shielding spell. The orange curse slipped through the shield as if a needle in fabric. When the curse struck Dennis, his eyes had rolled back and his body dropped, heavy on the stone floor. The caster, having witnessed hitting his target, bolted out of the compound exit and Disapparated with a pop.
Hermione had rushed to Dennis' side, his body unmoving, eyes rolled back. He was still for just a moment longer before he began convulsing and choking on a pink foam. Hermione had turned him to his side while attempting to vanish the foam from his airway. She held herself together as best as she could, watching as the foam kept flowing from his nose and mouth. Seeing that she had made no progress, she then summoned a vial of antidote from her beaded bag and poured it into his mouth. However, the pink sick persisted and seemed to wash it all away. She hadn't been sure how long she held Dennis' trembling form with tears streaking her face before he went still again.
As the use of these unique and rapid-acting curses grew more common, the effects were felt by all of the Order. There was an evident need to begin their own research and development. Hermione initiated a task force after returning from that mission with Dennis. She collaborated with Padma and Luna to break down this new magic to its most basic elements and find ways to counter each element. The challenges were endless, the primary being that they weren't housed in the same dwelling for more than a week at a time and any communication that wasn't direct was ill-advised, lest it be intercepted or expose the location of another safe house. Still, they had managed to develop antidotes, countercurses, and a few fortified shielding spells to counteract the dark magic being churned out of the Death Eater labs. As remarkable as their inventions were, they weren't enough. They were all defensive and in response to a new evil which meant they were always, at minimum, one step behind.
Tucking her bushy hair behind an ear, a thought occurred to her. Hermione snatched up the battle plans Ron had been drafting for the last quarter hour and began examining them with wide eyes.
"Oi! What are you doing?"
"Reviewing our strategy."
"What for?"
"Ron, I'm wondering if we need to take a different approach."
"What'd you mean?"
"All of this," she motioned to the papers strewn across the table, "It's all defense. We wait for them to act, we react. It was effective when all this started, but they aren't as reckless as they were then. Between that and their magical advancements… We can't expect to win this war if we're caught in an interminable game of catch-up. We'll need to be more proactive if
we are to gain any ground."
"I don't disagree, 'Mione. But we can't just wave a wand and outplay them. We're doing our best to just avoid casualties."
"Don't you see, Ron? That's exactly my point! We need to turn the tables. Hit them first. Let's make them be the ones reacting to us."
"So what's your brilliant idea then?"
"We formulate our own assemblage of lethal magic. Along with the counterspells and antidotes, of course, as we do with their invented spells."
"You want to create more dark magic? Are you mental? That's completely counter to the point of this whole war, 'Mione!"
"This war is not about classifications of magic, Ronald. It's about who is allowed to practice it. It's about genocide."
"No, you cannot be serious. I'm not having everyone start using some hodgepodge of temperamental dark magic. Absolutely not!"
"Can't you at least be receptive to this? Something needs to change here. This isn't just some duelling club! The more we putz around, the more people die."
"Don't you think I know that? We've all seen good people die at their hand! It's a matter of principles. I don't think lowering ourselves to their level is worth what we'll lose."
"I'll remind you that your opinion is not the only one that matters!"
He scoffed. "Sure. Anyone's opinion but mine, right? Unbelievable–"
"That is not what I said." Ron got up and made for the entryway. "Ron! Wait!"
"I need some air," he said without turning.
Hermione squeezed her eyes shut and listened as the front door opened and shut. Her ears rang in the silence, knuckles pale as they gripped the mug of lukewarm tea. A moment passed before she sensed movement in the room beside her.
"Sorry. I didn't mean for us to wake you, Ginny."
"S'alright," she responded with a yawn. "What was that all about?"
"Ron doesn't agree with my stance on methods of combat."
"Well, of course, he doesn't. He gets off on disagreeing with your stance on any subject. What methods, may I ask, was he so obdurately opposed to?"
Hermione sighed. "I just think we're going about all this wrong. Each raid and skirmish we approach the same way and each result is… less than favourable. At best, we're maintaining the status quo."
The redhead arched a brow. "And? What's your solution? Had to have been bloody brilliant to have made him storm off like that."
"I think we need to learn from what the other side is doing. Make our own magic to turn against them. We're already doing it, just in the form of countering their advancements. If we can change our weaponry, so to speak, I think we could gain an advantage."
Ginny thought quietly for a moment. Hermione could see the sun starting to ignite the horizon, colouring the edges of the sky to match the other witch's hair.
"What did you have in mind?"
"I hadn't quite worked it out yet. I wouldn't want to use any technique too similar to what I have deduced they're using. It would be too easy for them to counteract. Perhaps a starting point could be combining principles of various spells. Overlapping effects could make them more incapacitating and difficult to block or reverse."
"And if one of our own was accidentally hit with one of these Order-manufactured hexes?"
"It would be no worse than using Unforgivables which we've resorted to for years. We would at least have a means to cancel the effects."
"Wow. This could be huge. When do you plan on presenting this to the others?"
"I dunno, Ginny. I have to think on it some more. Ron could be right. Maybe dipping into this is too risky."
"Hermione, don't let my brother cause you to second guess yourself. He loves you and he's gotten rather good as a tactician, but he's still a bloody git and that fact is immutable."
