The Dark Lady
Chapter 21 – Confrontations
By gracie5412
Thank you to the people who let me know you are still reading! You guys are the best! (Even if there are only three of you lol)
Weasely,
JKIJ,
badagoo
It took a whole two months to get a fixed timetable of what Harry and Ron spent their time doing and Hermione grew, slowly, more and more agitated while waiting. Most days, when she woke up, she felt that she'd rather just swoop in unexpected and kill them all. But that was not the way to do it. In all great battles there had to be the fight and then once the enemy had been overpowered there had to be some spiteful words spoken before the person was killed. It was all very cliché, but it was the way all evil geniuses worked; or so she had been told.
So finally when she was presented a well laid out piece of parchment with where the two boys usually were at all times, very little gaps had been left, she was eager to get started with the rest of the plans.
The afternoon was spent devising plans and sorting out when would be best to strike, where and with how many people. Finally after a few arguments between Draco and Hermione, where Draco was held at wand point countless times, the decision was finally made. They would strike in a week's time.
The week was spent with train schedules doubled for all the deatheaters, much to their annoyance. But they did not complain, they feared and respected Hermione the way she dealt with the stupid Deatheater who had called her a mudblood.
--
When the week was up Hermione addressed her followers again.
"My loyal people, I thank you for your efforts which will, tonight, be rewarded as we wipe out another one of our oppositions. You all know your stations, who are going and who aren't. This will be the big one so I want you all focused. This time it's for real if you get stunned then I'm not bringing you back unless we feel the dire need to. It will be your own fault, as you should have been doing more training. Now Team A you shall go now. Team B, with Draco and I, shall depart when they have gone."
With that nearly all the deatheaters in the room disapperated, leaving Hermione, Draco and a five others in the hall.
"Well off we go then." Hermione smirked. She disapperated with a sharp pop and the others followed.
They arrived at a small bar in Hogsmade. Walking inside calmly Hermione stopped at the threshold and looked around her. It was a couple of seconds before the screaming started. But when it did she started to laugh.
That was the signal for Draco and the others to join her. Acting quickly they killed all the occupants of the bar, apart from Harry and Ron who were trying in vain to hold the seven of them back. Once everyone was dead Hermione locked all the doors and sealed the windows with a special spell only she and Draco knew how to reverse.
"Harry! Ron! How lovely to see you again." She joked, "You stopped owl-ing me I think that's rather mean of you."
"Well you started killing people," Harry shot back "I think that's rather mean of you."
"Oh this is going to be fun." Hermione said happily, clapping her hands together. "In fact I think we should get on with it now."
Almost simultaneously the three of them pulled out their wands and all yelled a different spell; Harry's to disarm, Ron's to knock out and Hermione's to kill. The spells met in the centre and bounced off in various directions.
They continued in vain to try to hit each other, very few spells making it even half way across the room before being deflected and very soon thy were getting worn out. The six others that Hermione had brought with her were doing very little. Sometimes they would deflect a spell if it got too close to their Mistress but they were not actively fighting.
"Is that the best you've got?" Ron shouted as he ducked from a spell that Hermione had shot at him.
"Oh Ron if you're going to shout come backs at me at least make up a few new ones," Hermione laughed "That one is so used."
--
"You don't have to do this Hermione!" Harry informed her a little while later as the spells were becoming less frequent and their movements more sluggish due to being so worn out. "You can give up now and it will all be over."
"Why would I do that Scar Face? I'm winning. It's two on one; I'm still ready for whatever you throw at me. You two are all red and sweaty and pathetic. I think I'll just stay where I am, it'll be more fun for me that way." Hermione snorted.
"Hermione there must be some good left in you, if you look deep enough it will be there just try!" Ron called in vain hope.
"Oh for goodness sakes Ronald could you be anymore cliché? Nope, no more goodness in me. The devil took it all away when we gave him the angel that would have taken Ginny to heaven. I wonder if she ever got there." Hermione said and paused thoughtfully for a moment.
A second later she shrugged dramatically and shot another spell at Ron, this time he wasn't ready. This time it hit his shoulder causing him to stagger backwards a few feet. His face contorted in pain as skin was burnt and blood started to seep from the open wound. It was his right shoulder, the arm he used to hold his wand. The arm that was now useless. He quickly swapped hands so he could deflect the next spell but he was not as quick or agile as he could have been.
Both Hermione and Harry noticed this and took only seconds to react to it. Harry quickly moved closer to his redheaded friend, vowing to himself that he would let Ron be killed too. He had already lost everyone else dear to him; Ron wouldn't follow in their path. But in defending Ron he was having to work twice as fast keeping his eyes on all sides of the room in case a deatheater decided to send the odd spell their way as they had started to do.
Within seconds of Ron being injured he was hit again, this time by Malfoy who was stood over by the door. The burn to his shoulder now ran all the way down to his elbow. The robes he was wearing were dark and heavy, the blood sticking them to his skin. When he moved the robes would move, tearing layers off his arm. As much as he tried he couldn't help but cry out in sheer agony. He had seen Harry move in to defend him and was glad that someone was watching his back. He had seen the others in the room killed so quickly he had no doubts that once Hermione was bored with the fight they would be going the same way.
He could let that happen, he resolved, not now. He had to fight; he had to protect the rest of the family. He had already lost Ginny; Hermione would take no one else from him. The anger riled up inside and for a few seconds he forgot the pain. He forgot everything and just reacted. He hit one deatheater square in the chest with a spell and watched as the crumpled, legs folding into themselves and the head banging down against the chest as they made contact with the floor.
Hermione took advantage of Ron's injury and sent a constant stream of spell towards him, but Harry always seemed to get in the way, be there a second ahead. He caught Malfoy's eye and he stepped forward to join in the fight. For a few seconds Harry was distracted and Hermione had free target at Ron's back as he killed one of her followers. She didn't care that one had died, as long as she didn't everything would be fine.
"Crucio!" She yelled, a beam of red light shot from the tip of her wand and found contact with the skin between Ron's shoulder blades.
His knees buckled and he fell to the floor, body twitching as the pain made its way around all of his body, stretching out through his limbs. Hermione watched the man with a smirk playing across her lips, she didn't care that he used to be her best friend. If she really wanted to she could kill them both right at that moment. It would just take two small words. But there would be no fun in that. The kill wasn't what she wanted then. She wanted to make them suffer. Feel true pain like they couldn't even imagine.
She pulled her wand away and the spell that had held Ron released him, she allowed him to get, shakily, to him feet before she attacked him again.
This time he managed to block a couple of the spells and even skim her left arm with a spell he had gotten just slightly off target before she was able to hit him again.
When the spell was released this time, though, Ron did not get back up. He was not dead, Hermione knew, as his chest was still rising and falling but only very slightly. Knowing that he wouldn't pose any type of threat for quite a while she turned he attention back to Harry.
She watched for a few seconds the duel that he was having with Malfoy before intervening and starting her own duel. Draco stepped back into the ring that the other deatheaters had created around them, waiting to step in if they were needed.
"Just you and me now buddy." Hermione informed Harry.
"Goodie!" Harry deadpanned.
"Harry I'm so touched that you think so!" Hermione shot back.
"Of course I do," Harry told her through gritted teeth, "I wouldn't want anyone else to kill you before I got the chance."
"You're all talk boy. You could kill me even if I was tied to a chair with a target on my head." Hermione sneered.
"Oh yeah? Just watch me!"
With that he dived forward grabbing her shoulders and ramming her against a wall. The deatheaters all stepped, ready to get him off her but Hermione shook her head and they stopped. She took his hands, which were around her throat and with ease peeled them off her. Holding both of his wrists in one hand she made the other into a fist and hit he in the jaw.
Harry fell backwards and, as he got up, spat the blood that had collected in his mouth from the punch on the floor and Hermione was very glad to see a tooth went with it.
Walking over to him she hit him again, this time sending him flying backwards with quite a bit of force. She followed his path and stood over him with her wand pointed at his throat.
Harry looked up at her but she didn't say the spell that was begging to be used.
"Well?" He asked, "What are you waiting for Hermione? Just kill me already."
"Harry, Harry, Harry, dear simple Harry. Don't you think that if I wanted to kill you you'd be dead already? Of course you would." She said with a smile, "I just wanted to distract you."
She moved away and let him get up before continuing.
"You see this whole time since I got here there's been another, bigger, battle going on right back at Grimmauld Place. I just wanted to get you out of the way so we had a clear shot at the order, which, by now should be burnt to the ground with whatever members were in it going down with it." she stopped to laugh at the image that conjured in her head. "If you hurry back you may be able to save them Harry."
Harry looked at her for a few seconds before getting ready to disapperate.
"But wait!" Hermione stopped him "What about Ron?"
Harry opened his eyes and looked at his friend who was sprawled out on the floor nearby.
"So you're in quite a pickle now aren't you? Apperate back and save all those people and play the hero like you always did love to or save your friend who can't apperate because I knocked him out. That's a toughie. Now you see how much you need me. I was always the one that would make sure your dear friends were safe while you went away and grew your ego by saving the complete strangers."
Hermione laughed at the torn expression on Harry's face.
"See now what are you going to do without me? You need me Harry, such a shame I got a better offer really."
She laughed as Harry quickly grabbed Ron in his arms and ran from the room.
