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Thanks to all who reviewed last time. Here's a new chapter!
"Who's all here, Sirius?" Hermione asked, tiredly, as she pressed a cool cloth to Snape's forehead. They had him back in Black Manor in a bed on the second floor. The door was open to the banister overlooking the very quiet, grief-stricken room full of young order members.
"Hermione, Tonks is fine, let her come in and do that. I know she's been outside the door since you both got here," Sirius said, quietly.
"No, he's my partner, therefore he's my responsibility; Tonks, go downstairs and take care of the others!" she called. "Now who is all still alive," Hermione snapped at Sirius, testily.
"Here's the list," Sirius said, grimly, handing it to her. She left the cloth on Snape' forehead, and turned in her chair to fully face Sirius. She took the paper and looked at it. They had a surprisingly few number of losses in the order.
"I guess the partner idea really worked. We only lost three partnered pairs. Only three ministry members aurors are left: Cadence Marvin, Joshua Harvey, and Patience McDermott," Sirius said.
"It just happened that there are only three Weasleys left?" Hermione muttered, wrinkling the paper on the edges as she looked at it angrily. "They were going for the Weasleys. We've lost all senior members of the order, you realize that right?"
"I think they were," Sirius nodded, sadly. "Bill's watching over Ginny."
"We will win this, Sirius. It is not over," Hermione growled, throwing the paper down.
"I know, Hermione. We'd never doubt you," Sirius said.
"Me?" Hermione looked up sharply.
"You and Snape were pretty much the reason we got out of that battle. It's been voted that you two are in charge. There's not a person down there that you did not revive in that battle, and he kept you alive long enough to do it. I still hate the bastard, but it's unanimous," Sirius said.
"Do I get a say in this?" Hermione asked.
"No, not really," Sirius replied, chuckling slightly.
"What about Moody," Hermione asked. Sirius shook his head, signaling that he didn't make it. "Professor McGonagall?" She received another no.
"King-no, Mr. We-no," she answered herself. Is there no one else?" Hermione asked. "I don't know if Professor Snape will warm up to the idea…" Hermione trailed off.
"Too bad. You're going to get him through this, and he is going to lead us, whether he bloody likes it or not," Remus' voice reached Hermione's ears from the doorway.
"How are you holding up, little 'Mione?" Remus asked.
"It's a teetering balance really," Hermione said, "but I'll hold up until we find somewhere safe. Who's on guard?" Hermione asked.
"The three ministry aurors," Remus said.
"Did you get a hold of your werewolf friend?" Hermione asked.
"Yes I did, and his vampire friend said we could stay in his hotel, provided we don't set him on fire or anything," Remus said; his eyes were dark and sad.
"I think we can handle that, as long as he doesn't go sucking the blood of any of ours," Hermione muttered.
"There's another condition, though," Remus said.
"Which is?" Hermione stood.
"We will have to help them if we call on them. It's a debt to be repaid type of deal," Remus said.
"Well, I thought that would go without saying. What do they think we are so lacking in nobility that we wouldn't… never mind. When can we leave?"
"Whenever we need. They're connected to American floo, so we can floo there from here, if I just link them, which will take five to ten minutes," Remus replied.
"Good, then do it," Hermione said, turning abruptly back to Snape, when he groaned in pain, and took his hand. His body began to convulse, and he gripped her hand hard, as a relief of the pressure. After a few moments, the shaking of his body subsided, and Hermione sighed, brushing a piece of hair from his face.
"Hermione, I'll be in the main living room," Remus said. "Come down in ten minutes. I'll have everyone ready and the fireplace connected by floo to the Hyperion Hotel in Los Angeles."
"The students are safe?" she asked.
"Yes, they are downstairs with the house elves," Sirius nodded.
"Keep them that way, Sirius," she stated. The two both nodded and left. Hermione sat beside Snape again, brushing the cool cloth along his brow again.
"How does he do that? He can just pretend that nothing that has happened in the past few hours effects him. Does he realize that Harry is really dead?" Hermione thought
"You heard that, Professor, that they want us to lead them? My god, how desperate we have become. I'm eighteen and they expect me to be second-in-command to none other than the potions master most of them have hated for so long," Hermione mumbled. "I hope we can pull this off, though the chances are slim."
"Hermione," a soft voice said in the doorway. Hermione looked up into the face of her best friend.Ginny stared back at her, ghostly white, her hands shaking. In her hands was the dark wood of two wands. "You have to take these, Hermione. Someone has to, and everyone else is falling apart," Ginny choked. "You never were the emotional one. We thought- we thought that you'd be able to be strong and hold onto these… for all our sakes," Ginny cried, softly. She handed the two wands to Hermione. She took them, her own hands beginning to shake.
"Ginny," Hermione whispered. She felt the tears well up behind her eyes. She forced them down and swallowed hard. "Go back downstairs to your brother. He needs you right now as much as you need him." She turned her face away, not able to look at her any more. She couldn't start crying now, or she wouldn't be able to stop. They wanted her to be strong, to be a leader… at least until she saved the professor, a miraculous feat in itself… so she would not show weakness, until she brought the professor back to them.
Ginny nodded and went back downstairs. She heard her footsteps fade. "Damn it, Hermione, do not cry," she scolded herself. She gently tucked away the two wands, and pulled out her own. She walked across the room and pulled on her blood-and-mud-stained cloak over her equally dirty robes. What had previously been black, spotless robes were now caked, reddish-brown rags, but she paid no mind.
She muttered a spell over Professor Snape. He began floating. She gently led him ahead of her, while she walked down the stairs, careful of his head, when she passed through each doorway.
"Hermione, you're already hear," Remus looked up. "Well, we're all ready. I'm just worried about getting all the students to the right place. They're a little too scared to talk loudly and clearly."
Hermione muttered a spell, waving her wand. The fireplace grew until it took up the area of the entire wall.
"I'll have to learn that spell sometime," Remus said.
"No, you won't. It is dark magic," Hermione muttered, she lowered Snape gently until he was lying on the ground. She took two hands of floo, and stood over Professor Snape, as Sirius began showing all the students in. "Everyone, in three seconds, you will step into the fire, and be completely silent," she said to the group of students.
"Follow behind, and don't forget the order members on guard; bring Professor Snape personally or I will break both your legs," Hermione whispered to Sirius, who nodded and walked over toBill and Ginny. He whispered something and they stepped forward, to help get the students through.
"One… two… three…" Hermione said, throwing the floo into the fire. As one, the group stepped into the large fireplace. "Hyperion Hotel! Los Angeles!" she said loudly.
The fire rushed about them, and seconds later, they were thrown out of a fireplace at the feet of a tall man clad in all black, a short one in an unbuttoned shirt, over a white shirt that said ACDC, and a woman wearing a jean skirt and blue tank under a jean jacket. They stood in shock.
"How'd you do that? The fireplace is like… huge!" the woman said.
"Magic," Hermione muttered, helping a few students up, who had fallen off-balance.
A moment later: Bill, Ginny, Tonks, Remus, Lavender, Patil, Seamus stepped out and Sirius came last with the three ministry members, the levitated Snape at his side.
"It's good to see you Oz," Remus stepped forward and shook the shorter man, then embraced him, before shaking the hand of the taller man in black.
"You are Remus Lupin?" he inquired, while shaking Remus' hand.
"Yes, and you must be Angel O'Connor, I presume," Remus replied.
"Yes," the tall man nodded.
Hermione took over Sirius' levitating spell and lowered Snape gently to the ground. She sat and supported his head in her lap, putting away her wand.
"You must be Hermione," the woman said, holding out a hand to Tonks, who shook her head.
"Then..." the woman frowned.
"Where'd she go?" Remus frowned, looking around.
"She's back here, taking care of Snape," Sirius called. The students all stepped aside to give them a sight of the ragged, tired, and dirty Hermione, who didn't even look up. She was holding both sides of the professor's face, gently, with her eyes closed.
"What's she doing?" Sirius frowned.
"Ligilimency, it looks like," Remus replied.
"She's in his mind?" Angel O'Connor asked, raising one of his dark eyebrows. He took a step forward, his duster flowing behind him, much like how Professor Snape's usually did.
"He won't wake up," Hermione whispered, so quietly she was sure no one would hear it or the pain in her voice, but Remus and Oz's ears pricked up and Angel walked to her side, and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Oh, right, vampire, enhanced hearing," Hermione mumbled to herself. "You are the vampire right?" she asked, slowly sliding her hands from the professor's face to look up at the man with a hand on her shoulder.
"I am the vampire," he agreed.
Hermione drew her wand slowly. "But he's a good vampire! There's no need to pull out stakes!" the woman said quickly.
"It's called a wand. We wizards use them to channel our magic," Hermione muttered, sarcasm in her voice.
"Oh, sorry," the woman mumbled quietly.
"It's fine," Hermione replied.
"What happened to him?" Angel asked.
"You could ask Seamus, seeing as he's the one who did it," Hermione muttered darkly.
"One of your own?" Angel asked.
"It was an accident, Hermione. You can't blame this on him forever," Parvati said, sharply.
"Well, then who the hell am I going to blame it on?" Hermione shouted. "You know what, you're all safe, and for now, I'm just going to do my one job right now, which is to revive my potions master, okay? I have spent the last year learning my ass off to be a healer, and I passed the test, all right?" she snapped, tears streaming down her face. "I'm going to get him back to health so he can tell you everything's okay and take care of you. I'm going to do my job so he can do his and you can all feel safe in that little fantasy world you've all built," Hermione cast a levitating charm on Snape and jerked away from Angel's hand. She stormed over to the corner beside the desk that had once served as the reception desk, and lay him down beside it. A black mist began to swirl around her.
"She was crying. Hermione Granger was actually crying,"Parvati whispered, staring at the black mist.
"My god, she's only eighteen, isn't she? why do you sound so surprised?" Cordy walked after the girl, disappearing into the mist.
"I've never seen her cry before in my entire life and I've been her dorm mate for sevn years,"Parvati whispered.
"Pressure of the weight of the world?" Oz mumbled.
"Is she involved with Severus?" Angel asked. He frowned at the mist.
"Oh god, I'm going to be sick,"Lavender muttered, looking slightly green.
"No, we split into partners for the big battle. He was her partner. She feels responsible for what happened, even though it happened after the battle," Remus said.
"A very responsible girl for her age… possibly too responsible. You said she's a healer?" Angel asked.
"She is," Remus nodded. "She's best healer in the order."
"Well, only certified healer in the order,"Bill pointed out.
"She's only eighteen?" Angel inquired.
"I thought we already clarified that," Seamus muttered.
"It takes years to become a Healer!" Angel exclaimed.
"She's a quick study," Remus mumbled.
"Actually, she only sleeps about ten hours a week, sometimes less," Ginny whispered.
"What were you thinking throwing that type of pressure on a child?" Angel crossed his arms.
"No different than throwing pressure on a slayer, is it?" a voice from the other room called, unlike the other three he didn't have the twang of an American accent.
"Wesley, she's not a slayer. She doesn't have super strength. She's an ordinary witch, just like any other," Angel said, turning his pale face towards the office behind the counter.
A man in a pale yellow button-up shirt and grey slacks walked out with a heavy leather-bound book in his hand, Wesley. His slightly curly hair fell in his blue eyes as he caught the black eyes of his vampire boss. He glanced at his quieter coworker, who just looked at him patiently. Wesley glanced at his friend's spiked hair with green tips and shook his head, hoping his hair didn't look as messy, though he was sure it did.
"I was just making a comparison, Angel. There's no need to get angry," Wes said, after thinking for a moment. He set the book down. "I found another prophesy. You asked for a prophesy on werewolves. It has nothing to do with our time, however, but for the fun of it, you can read it," Wes smirked. "There are no prophesies about vampires, werewolves, or slayers lately. I wonder why that is… no matter, though. It's not as if we do not have enough problems around here," Wes said.
"Thanks Wes," Angel said, sarcastically.
"I shall go into witches and wizards then shall I?" Wes asked, with another smile, until his sight caught Cordy coming out of the smoke. "That's bad for your health you know; dark smoke screen… not the purest of spells," Wes said.
"She refuses to come out until he is healed," Cordy said.
"She can't very well heal him in there," Wes muttered, waving his hand. The smoke disappated, and a sad-looking girl was revealed on her knees beside the potions-master.
"How'd you do that?" Cordy asked.
"I've been a watcher since I was twelve years old. You don't pass for a real watcher, until you can at least to rudimentary magic," Wes said.
He set the book down, and walked to Hermione, who moved away from him quickly, when he held a hand out to her. "Come on, let's go. You'll have to take him to a room." Hermione levitated Snape and followed Wes, not making eye-contact with anyone.
"We don't have enough rooms furnished for all these people yet," Cordy said, to Angel.
"Um…" Remus held his wand up in the air. "Wizards, remember?"
"Oh ya. Oz will show you where you can go," Cordy said, nodding to the quiet, wild-haired man. "Angel and I need to talk." The brunette turned on her heel and led the dark-haired man into the office, behind the counter.
Review please. I'm having an off-week with my writing. I hope this chapter is okay. Just tell me if you want me to retract it and write another.