Ivayr lurched when Draco fumbled his hold.
"Start talking, Granger."
Her whole body was ablaze with astonishment. "All night, we've been wondering who Julia could be working with."
"I'm well aware. And…"
"The coins," Hermione said, parts of the final puzzle pieces still slipping into place. "I thought they were Apparition magic, but they can't be if they let us through the wards from Verdell."
"No, they work more like adapted Portkeys."
Hermione's heart hammered at the confirmation. "And Apparition doesn't work more than a few hundred miles for even the most talented of wizards."
"Which is relevant because—" Draco whipped back to stare at Hermione when the remaining pieces clicked for him as well. "Fuck."
"I know."
"And you think—"
"It's the explanation that makes the most sense."
"Julia said she was trying to get ahold of him."
"And maybe she did."
"But didn't tell us."
"Which is why no one showed up on the map until after the other keepers had started Apparating throughout the sanctuary."
"No one would have been suspicious if they saw him."
"They would have thought he just came back."
"When really he was taking the horn."
"While Julia played innocent, likely using Doru's map of the keepers to direct him towards which one to attack."
"Fuck," Draco breathed again, disbelief continuing to echo through them both. He shoved one hand through the loosened strands of his bun. "This also explains why Doru wasn't targeted."
Hermione gave a weak nod. "Every meal, it's always just the two of them."
"And with his transfer coming up, the Seven Brothers knew their 'in' inside the sanctuary wouldn't be around much longer."
"Or he finally had enough of their demands and wanted to be free from them."
Draco looked down at the map of the keepers still displayed in front of him. "His dot isn't anywhere on here."
He glanced at Hermione, eyes wide open, and the same thought passed between them. Of course Llewellyn's dot wasn't anywhere on the map. He wouldn't have been stupid enough to linger. And he wouldn't have been stupid enough to keep the horn on the premises either. He was probably getting rid of it tonight, just like he had with Norberta's egg. Which meant one thing: Llewellyn was in Verdell, waiting for the Seven Brothers.
Draco clicked his heel into Ivayr's hide two times, calling, "Faster, girl," and Ivayr flapped her wings in rapid succession. They had already wasted too much time flying over the sanctuary. What if the trade was complete? The Seven Brothers gone and Llewellyn free from incriminating evidence? Hermione's only solace was the fact that Llewellyn wasn't back on the grounds yet. Maybe, just maybe, that meant they weren't too late.
Ivayr landed in a clearing at the far edge of the sanctuary. The second her feet reached the grass, Hermione and Draco leapt onto the earth.
"Stay here," Draco told the dragon before casting a protective charm around her body. He hastened to the exterior wards and cast the necessary spells to split them. The lilac, green, and teal seemed to peel away at an excruciatingly slow rate until they opened wide enough for Draco and Hermione to run through and Apparate directly into the heart of Verdell.
Past midnight, the town was pin quiet. The lanterns in storefronts were extinguished, the cobbled streets deserted. The sole sign of life came from a dingy pub at the end of the way.
"The Shooting Star," Hermione whispered. "Do you think the deal could be happening there?"
Draco shook his head. "Too obvious. From what we learned from Mundungus, he used a pickup spot outside of town with a charmed passcode."
"But that's the way trades were conducted before the Seven Brothers got involved. The Seven Brothers wouldn't agree to a trade that requires them to leave money without the good already in hand."
"Unless the operation now works in reverse. Llewellyn leaves the horn, the Seven Brothers retrieve it and leave the money, Llewellyn comes back for it."
"Assuming the pickup spot was Llewellyn's, not Mundungus'."
Hermione wanted to curse herself. Why hadn't they considered this part of the smuggling before? They'd had Mundungus as a resource for days. They could have asked him all of this, should have asked him all of this. Hermione clenched her eyes closed and tried to think past her frustration. Surely they had some other hint as to where the trades could be happening. What else had they been told?
She mentally flipped through the dozens of pages she'd recorded throughout her stay. All those meticulous notes archiving everything she and Draco had learned. Every tidbit, regardless of how small. None of it seemed relevant.
Until she remembered something not yet in their notes.
"Marcier and Ardelean," Hermione whispered, one hand clamped around the base of her wand, the other on Draco's wrist. "Tavian said he spotted them outside his window at the Dennfyre. What if last night was the preparation? The Seven Brothers giving Llewellyn their instructions for tonight?" Suddenly, it all made sense. "You're right. Of course they wouldn't do it at the Shooting Star. People are suspicious of everyone in there, just like at the Hog's Head. It's exactly what Sirius tried to teach me during fifth year. If you don't want to be overheard, you go somewhere busy. Somewhere packed with people. Somewhere like—"
"The Dennfyre." Draco cursed again. "This entire time, they've been right under our noses."
They sprinted down the cobbled street, passing dozens of darkened buildings until they reached the familiar pub. The building was dark at this hour. Not a single candle illuminated the windows. But Hermione and Draco didn't need anything inside the often crowded pub. No, they needed the outside where countless patrons would cross on a typical evening, away from familiar faces like Marjorie and Tavian—or so the Seven Brothers thought.
Draco ran faster than Hermione and dashed past the Dennfyre's entrance. He skidded down the adjacent alley, stopping abruptly. With three more long, urgent strides, Hermione caught up to him where they spotted a cloaked figure standing in the alleyway.
Hermione's heart thudded as Draco pulled out his wand.
"Stupe—"
The figure turned around. "You shouldn't be here."
The pathway seemed to crumble beneath Hermione's feet at the sound of that voice. Not Llewelyn, but not a surprise either. All along, Hermione had been secretly hoping they were wrong. Determined to find another possibility. But here was the answer right in front of them, as plain and clear as a freshly brewed vial of Veritaserum: Julia, alone in Verdell in the early morning hours, holding a long, glittering horn.
Draco gaped, the validity of their suspicions sinking in. "I didn't want to believe it."
Something cracked behind Hermione's rib cage. "How could you?" she cried, words equally broken. "To the dragons? To Charlie?"
Julia held up her hands as if pleading her innocence while the proof of her wrongdoings remained tight in her hand. "It's not what you think. I can explain."
"Not what we think!" Draco's yell bounced down the alley. "All this time, we thought you were our friend. But we were just pawns in some greater scheme weren't we?" Hermione reached for Draco's hand when his words became more ragged. His grip was tight. Painful. "I came here trying to get away from that bullshit, not get manipulated into someone else's game! But no, you've been lying to our faces every day. For months!"
Something darkened behind Julia's glare. "I know you're upset, Draco, so I will not fight with you right now."
Hermione staggered. She'd heard those words before. Almost exactly. Only, not with that voice.
Julia lowered the hood of her cloak, and it was only then that it all started to feel wrong. Something about Julia was off. Something Hermione had never seen before.
Her hair wasn't in a ponytail.
Hermione may not have been at the sanctuary long, but it was something Hermione had noticed about Julia since day one. The witch always had her hair in a slicked back ponytail. Hermione had envied it. With straight hair like Julia's, it was easier to manage when spending all day with the dragons. The same ponytail Julia had worn at the Quidditch match with a black ribbon as its holder. The ponytail she'd been wearing just earlier tonight. But not now.
The realisation hit Hermione like a blow from the Whomping Willow. When analysing the logs from the Apothecary, they'd been so focused on Sleeping Draught ingredients that Hermione had been blind to the other potion she'd memorised during second year.
A bag of leeches. Powdered bicorn horn. Boomslang skin.
Purchased individually, over several transactions, they were innocuous. In combination with fluxweed, knotgrass, and lacewing flies, they created something else entirely.
Hermione clamped her wand. It hadn't been an easy spell to learn and had been even more difficult to convince the head Goblin liaison to teach her. But after the war, she had deemed it a vital enchantment to learn. Maybe all those years working at the Ministry were worth it for this single moment, right here, in which Hermione channelled the magic of the Thief's Downfall.
"Omnia revelate."
Immediately, the skin of Julia's—or rather, not Julia's—face began to bubble like a boiling cauldron. Thick, round blobs spread across her cheeks, down her neck, to her fingers. The person cried in surprise as their features started to morph. The long, sandy blonde hair retreated back into the skull. Their height shot up at least four inches. The skin began to lose its youthful glow. Second by second, traces of Julia washed from the surface in a wave of transformative blisters, until any remnant of her was fully erased.
But when the Polyjuice completely subsided, it still wasn't Llewellyn.
Doru stared at his wrinkled hands as sheer panic took over his gaze.
"It can't," Draco gasped. Hermione couldn't believe her eyes either.
Doru took a concerned step forward. "We can talk about this later. But right now, you need to get out of here. They'll be here any second."
Cracks echoed down the alley as two figures Apparated mere feet from where they stood. Hermione recognized them at once: the living, breathing forms of two pictures she'd had adorning her bedroom wall the past few nights. The same two Brothers Tavian had spotted.
Marcier, the taller of the pair, scowled at the sight of her and Draco then back at Doru.
"Trădător!" Marcier screamed. "You made the Unbreakable Vow."
"I said nothing, I swear," Doru scrambled in defence. His voice wavered. "They must have followed me."
"You old fool," Ardelean snarled and struck Doru square in the chest with a Stunning Charm. Doru crumpled like a cut-loose marionette, slinking lifelessly onto the ground. Ardelean snatched the horn from Doru's grip. "Toma will deal with you later. As for these two."
Hermione had a single second to think before the first attack came. "Accio horn!"
The horn whizzed into her hand right as a jet of red light streaked their way.
Draco's cry echoed down the alley. "Protego!"
He covered her body with his as the invisible shield sparked where the curse struck.
A second Stunner shot their way, and Draco deflected it back at Marcier and Ardelean, mixed with a subsequent Bombarda. The red jet crashed into a dumpster, triggering a rainfall of rubbish. In the few seconds of distraction, Draco pulled Hermione into an alcove.
"What were you thinking?" Draco gripped both sides of her face, hands trembling. "That bastard nearly got you."
Her hold on the horn tightened. "We can't let them get away."
"Forget the ruddy horn! We can't stop them if you're dead."
"And the moment they have it, the Seven Brothers are gone," Hermione said, exasperated. "This is it, Draco. Our chance to stop this. For good."
She searched his eyes, pleading. It would be easy for him to run away. To Apparate back to the edge of the Sanctuary and escape to safety, protecting himself first and foremost. It was what Draco from four years ago would have done.
But that was far from the Draco that stood before her now.
Concern plagued his expression. Not for himself. For her, she realised. But Hermione wouldn't turn away from a fight. Draco had to know that. And when his concern dissolved into incensed determination, she knew his decision had been made.
He pressed his hands tighter and kissed her in firm resolve. "Then let's fucking get them."
Wands at the ready, they stepped back into the alley where Ardelean and Marcier were still getting returning to their feet. Except, they were no longer alone. A new figure stood between them, older, but no less intimidating. The wrinkles lining his aging face spoke of decades of experience, not elderly fragility. It was a new face: not one Hermione recognised from her pictures of the wanted Seven Brothers, yet something about him still felt familiar.
"Give back the horn and no one gets hurt," the older man said. Three wands pointed at Draco and Hermione. But Hermione was no fool. She'd seen what they'd done to Tavian. Witnessed just moments ago how they Stunned Doru with little regard. The second Hermione let go of that horn, she and Draco were worth less to them than a single drop of dragon blood.
Hermione cast a nonverbal Sticking Charm on the horn. "If you want it, you'll have to get through us first," she challenged. Her wand-tip thrust forward. "Stupefy!"
Draco echoed her cry and twin spells shot down the alley, both aimed at the older Seven Brother. But when the Stunners struck him, the wizard didn't topple. Didn't even flinch. He stood there, perfectly unharmed, and laughed.
"Idioti!" The older wizard laughed as Hermione and Draco stared, dumbstruck. His laughs turned to wild cackles as he pulled back the opening of his robes to reveal armour hidden underneath.
Hermione's lungs tightened. The armour was similar to the ones at the sanctuary but with one key visible difference: it was made of metal. But Hermione knew at once that this wasn't just regular metal armour. Only Goblin-wrought silver could fend off charms so easily.
Or metal imbued with dragon blood.
The Seven Brothers hadn't been collecting dragon blood for resurging Dark Wizards. They'd kept it for themselves. To make themselves impervious from repeated capture.
Hermione seethed. She clenched her wand tighter, masking the mild trepidation that threatened to drip in. One glance at Draco's hardened determination, though, gave her all the confidence Hermione needed. Armour or not, the Seven Brothers would not get away with this. Neither she nor Draco would let them.
"Relashio!" Marcier said as Ardelean shouted, "Expulso!"
Hermione and Draco cast quick hexes for distraction before he seized her wrist and they sprinted down the alley. The horn wobbled in Hermione's grip, but the Sticking Charm stayed strong.
"Fucking witch charmed it!" the older wizard yelled. "Get them!"
Draco kept Hermione in the lead as they ran faster down the alley, shooting curses over their shoulders each breath they could spare. Each curse failed. The older Seven Brother wasn't the only one with armour.
"We need to get the horn somewhere safe," she said after another blow.
"Where do you think I'm— Move!"
Draco yanked Hermione to the side, but her unsuspecting feet fumbled over a loose cobblestone. Purple sparks flared in her periphery, inches away from her ear.
"Our spells," Draco said between jagged breaths. "They're not working."
Hermione flung another useless Stunner behind them. "It's their armour. Use number twelve of dragon blood: Fortification of metal materials."
A curse struck a nearby lamppost in a firework of sparks. The lamppost collapsed onto the ground and Hermione and Draco jumped over its fallen form.
"Then we'll have to work around the armour," he said. "Think of charms, jinxes, and hexes that will take them down in other ways."
Draco whipped around with an unyielding flourish of his wand. "Confringo!"
His spell hit the street, causing the stones to explode into a dozen large projectiles.
"Toma, look out!"
The older Seven Brother—Toma, apparently—charmed the stones away from him. They crashed into a nearby storefront, shattering the main entrance. "Run all you like but we'll get you eventually," he yelled in a mocking tone. Hermione cast a Leg-Lock Curse on his unprotected ankles, but Toma cast it away just as easily. "Accio horn."
Hermione's arm involuntarily yanked outward, the horn gravitating towards his command.
"Tarantallegra!"
Draco's spell broke Toma's concentration long enough for him to lead Hermione through the blasted shop door. Marcier and Ardelean shouted curses their way, but Hermione worked quickly to cast a temporary Shield Charm while Draco used Reparo to fix the store's facade.
"Help me with the Containment Charms," Hermione said once the door was back in one piece. They surrounded the building with enchantments, but Hermione knew they wouldn't hold long. She and Draco would only have a few minutes before Toma, Marcier, and Ardelean were able to break through.
"Hide the horn somewhere in here," Draco directed. "I'm not giving them another opportunity to take you like that."
They looked around the clothing store for a satisfactory spot. Robes of varying degrees of formality, wizarding hats in every colour, jumpers for the approaching colder seasons. A two-foot horn would stand out against any of those.
The sound of cracking wood interrupted her searching. Behind her, Draco had moved aside one of the area rugs and sliced the adhering around a floorboard.
He shrugged when Hermione assessed him in impressed silence. "I thought we'd take a page out of Julia's book."
A boom from the exterior jostled the clothing on their hangers. Hermione steadied herself on Draco as the Seven Brothers attempted entry.
"It's perfect." She kissed his cheek then wedged the horn into its hiding spot. After she returned the floorboard, Draco cast a Sealing Charm and slid the rug back into place. The horn was safe. For now.
Repeated booms once again rocked the store and an illuminated crack glowed from the opposite side of the display window. They didn't have long before the Seven Brothers broke through.
"We need a plan for when we get back out there," Hermione said. "Pair up so that we're taking each Seven Brother down at a time."
Draco gave a short nod. "We should start with that Toma bloke. He seems to be the leader."
"Agreed. And we'll have to work quickly. Avoid giving them any time to perform counter-jinxes on one another."
"Exactly."
Explosions fired from beyond the window and the enchantment wards started to fray. Draco pulled her hands into his.
"We've got this, Granger. You and me." His gaze flickered between her wide open stare. "We're a team. Remember?"
Her whole body tremorred with anticipation, apprehension, and overpowering affection. "Teammates."
She closed her eyes and sealed her lips against Draco's, needing the reassurance that only his kiss could give. The commotion outside dimmed to a dull clamour. For those few seconds, it was just her and Draco. A reminder that when all this was over, they would still have each other. They would make sure of that. Hermione couldn't afford any thought right now that suggested otherwise, no matter how uncertain their future was under current circumstances.
A crash broke through their wards and wood shards splintered into the shop. They pulled away from each other and fell back into battle.
"Oppugno!" Hermione summoned.
Clothing hurled off the walls and flew in Toma, Marcier, and Ardelean's direction. Hermione and Draco darted through the splintered doorway and past the Seven Brothers, back into the open air.
Toma flung the jumpers off his face. "Get them!"
Marcier ran forward while Draco shouted, "Caderetus."
An invisible rope cast between them and Marcier and Toma both fell to their feet.
"Locomotor Mortius," Hermione directed at Toma's ankles as Draco followed with a swift Stinging Hex.
Toma's susceptible flesh sizzled with red blisters, causing him to shout in agony. Draco hexed him again, but Toma blocked it, right as Marcier got back to his feet and cast the counter-hex. He was too fast for Draco and Hermione to strike him as well.
Marcier hurled a Bombarda and the orange jet zipped towards them, more fatal than a dragon's fireball. Hermione met the spell with a Reducto while Draco diverted it back at Marcier. The spell crashed into the pavement at Marcier's feet and he stumbled into the newly formed crater.
"You'll fucking pay for that!" Marcier yelled. His face twisted in pain, his ankle appearing broken. "Ardelean, check that store. The witch must have stashed the horn in there."
Ardelean dashed towards the clothing store, only a handful of strides away. Hermione cast the first spell she could think of. Oil appeared on the ground and Ardelean slipped across the slick surface. He throttled upward before his head crashed onto the hard street.
"Fulgari!"
A luminous cord shot out from Draco's wand-tip and wrapped itself around Ardelean's wrists in an intricate knot. Ardelean twisted, trying to find freedom, but the bindings held firm. For the first time in minutes, Hermione allowed herself a sigh of relief, yet the reprieve was short-lived.
Toma lunged forward. Hermione tried to cast a Silencing Charm, but she wasn't fast enough.
"Emancipare."
The bindings vanished from around Ardelean's wrists. Hermione and Draco hurled curses, jinxes, and curses his way, but Toma shielded them all with a firmly cast, " Protego Totalum." A translucent wall streaked between them and the Seven Brothers. Expulso, Reducto, Confringo. None of them worked against the shield.
Through the diaphanous guard, Hermione watched helplessly as Ardelean returned to his feet despite the obvious bump on his head. He glowered, a newly fueled outrage blazing in his menacing stare. Marcier, too, limped back to Ardelean and Toma's side then cast a Brackium Emendo, bringing his ankle back to rights.
Hermione's heart sank. Just like that, all three Brothers were ready to fight again—as if she and Draco hadn't inflicted a single spell.
But they couldn't back down. Not when they were this close. If she and Draco could survive a war, then they'd survive this as well. They just had to find what would make the Seven Brothers break. No one was invincible. Not even Voldemort.
Toma removed the shield and an onslaught of curses rained down on Hermione and Draco. Stunners they narrowly missed. Blasting Charms that threatened their every step. Hermione scrambled for any defence she could think of, but it was difficult to cast a sustainable shield when attacked from several directions at once.
Around them, lights had started to illuminate in the nearby windows. The late-night turmoil had not gone unnoticed by the people of Verdell. Adrenaline raced through Hermione's veins, a desperation to protect not just herself and Draco but the unsuspecting bystanders, too.
Hermione summoned as much magic as she could garner and cast her own Protego Totalum down the side of the street, blocking the building from further damage. Draco noticed her spell and did the same on the other side.
"Granger, we should—"
"Watch out!"
Blue sparks headed their way and Hermione cast an Impedimenta, slowing the curse down enough for them to avoid its path. Three more spells jetted towards them, but Draco blocked them all while Hermione fired back with more offenses.
"We need to return efforts back on Toma," he said when their attacks once again failed. An opportunistic Disarming Charm caused his wand to temporarily leave his grip, but Draco seized it before it escaped too far. He countered with a Flipendo that sent Toma whirling through the air.
He landed with a resounding crash but Toma didn't stay down long. When he returned to his feet, Hermione cast a Jelly-Leg Jinx. Toma's legs folded like butter on a summer day, only for Ardelean to cast the counter jinx mere seconds later.
Her palms grew clammy, her nerves on edge. Their plan wasn't working. They couldn't defeat the Seven Brothers fast enough.
"Face it, Draco," Hermione said. Her breaths were short as she fended off Weakening Hex. "We're outnumbered."
"If we just—"
"Draco," she said, voice coming out more as a plea than anything, "we need backup."
All week, they'd been investigating on their own, but she and Draco could no longer keep it that way. If they had any hope for success, their team needed more than just two.
His shoulders slacked, objections nonexistent. "Cover me."
The Seven Brothers didn't relent as Hermione stood the sole resister of their advances. A Diminuendo from Toma, a Petrificus Totalus from Marcier. Hermione worked her wand at double speed, making sure the spells didn't hit her or Draco while he slouched down behind her.
"Shit, shit, shit," he murmured, and the floor of Hermione's stomach fell out.
She cast a Protego and a poorly-aimed Freezing Charm . "What's wrong?"
"My coin. I must have dropped it somewhere."
Panic rushed through Hermione. Without his coin, they wouldn't be able to contact the sanctuary.
"Hold out a little longer, Granger," Draco said, and Hermione channelled her trust into whatever solution he came up with.
Ardelean ran towards the clothing shop, the Seven Brothers taking advantage of their apparent opening. Hermione concentrated her magic into a single spell.
"Deprimo!"
The ground shook as a cavern split the ground in front of Ardelean's feet. The stones crumbled into rubble, leaving a canyon between him and the shop. He charmed a bridge over the gap, but Hermione immediately set it to flames.
"Hurry!" Hermione yelled at Draco. She wasn't sure how much longer she could hold them off on her own.
"I know, I know," Draco cried back. "I just— I need to think of something. Something that—"
His words fell away and a new sense of dread pricked Hermione's bones. She risked a glance at Draco, nervous a spell had struck him when she wasn't looking, only to find him already staring back at her, a peaceful glaze over his eyes. She blinked, confused, until a smile crossed his face.
"Something that makes me happy." His eyelids settled close as the spell left his lips. "Expecto Patronum."
Hermione could hardly bring herself to look away as his Patronus started to materialise. Not just any Patronus. A full, corporal one. Its silver light illuminated the surrounding night as it flew around them, providing her and Draco temporary reprieve from the Seven Brothers' continued attacks. Hermione couldn't stop staring. Draco. Draco's Patronus. And a fitting one at that. Of course the wizard named after such a majestic beast would have a Patronus to match. But this wasn't just any dragon. His Patronus was a translucent facsimile of Ivayr.
"Charlie. We're in Verdell. Four blocks down from the Dennfyre. Across from Fitinguri Fabuloase. Cornered by the Seven Brothers. Bring help. Now."
The glowing dragon flapped its wings and disappeared into the distance. The Patronus didn't need to travel far; the only question was if Charlie was still awake. But after everything tonight, Hermione had little doubt that he wasn't sleeping a wink.
"We just need to keep them at bay a little longer," Draco said. "We've got this. I know we do."
With the Patronus gone, she and Draco were once more susceptible to Toma, Ardelean, and Marcier's attacks. But the Seven Brothers now seemed to have their intentions set back on the horn. Ardelean once again tried to get into the clothing store yet he only made it half of the way there before Draco charmed a brick wall in his path.
Ardealean scowled. "Amateurs!"
The brick wall shattered into a thousand brick shards. They flew across the night sky like tiny sharp bullets, their intended targets not far from the blast radius. Simultaneous wands lifted and Hermione and Draco spoke at once. The shards disappeared, replaced by transfigured feathers and cotton balls.
Determined, Ardelean dashed for the store again. Her arm was growing tired, but Hermione managed the spell all the same. Blue flames flared from where she had previously formed the cobblestone canyon, and Ardelean stepped back in terror.
"Aguamenti," he attempted, but the flames didn't extinguish. It would take more than simple water to get past her signature Bluebell Flames.
Beside her, Draco was taking on Toma and Marcier. He blocked a Babbling Curse, a Finger-Removing Jinx, and a Horn Tongue Hex. They were growing desperate. Trying any spell to prevent Draco from casting more of his own.
Hermione ran to help him, but a Tripping Curse got in her way.
Ardelean smiled a wicked grin. "Not so fast, you ruddy witch!"
His wand-tip illuminated, mere inches from Hermione's face. With a half second to think, Hermione swerved her legs around her body and struck Ardelean at the ankles. He collapsed face-down with a thud.
She aimed the spell at his unprotected neck. "Immobulus."
Ardelean's body grew frigid, surprise still etched in his glossed over gaze.
An accomplished grin spread across her cheeks. "Who's 'not so fast' now?"
With one Brother down, Hermione turned to help Draco, only to have her spirits lift even further when she discovered that he was no longer alone. Charlie duelled alongside him, working in unison to keep Toma busy, while Markus, Aurel, and Julia fought Marcier. When she ran to join the fight, Draco whipped his attention between Toma and Hermione, then cast a loud, "Flipendo Maxima!"
The spell hit Toma in the chest, powering through his armour in a forceful blow. After so many attacks, the protection of the dragon blood seemed to be thinning.
Marcier scrambled to help Toma off the ground while Draco called the keepers to order.
"Pair up and spread out! Charlie and Julia, Markus and Aurel, me and Granger."
Marcier unfroze Ardelean, and once more, all three Brothers were back in action. But for the first time all battle, Hermione had hope that this would be the final time.
She and Draco took charge of Toma, determined to bring down the leader of the group. They struck him with Knockback Jinx after Knockback Jinx, each one sending him back a few steps. He deflected most of them, but his stamina was shrinking.
"There's no need for you and your friends to get hurt," Toma said over the surrounding noise of spells clashing against one another. "Just give us the horn, and we'll go."
Draco let out a derisive laugh. "I know how your type operates. You promise refuge as a means to get what you want, but you'll never let us go unharmed."
"Ah, the young wizard isn't as naive as he appears." Toma grinned in mock amusement. "Perhaps you aren't as removed from 'my type' as you so boldly imply. That's an interesting tattoo I see on your arm. Covering something underneath?"
Draco struck Toma with three successive Stunners, all of which failed. Toma's grin spread wider.
"Oh yes, I thought I recognised you. The Malfoy boy. I've heard all about you." Toma blocked another curse. "Do you really think catching me will right all your other grievous wrongs?"
A hatred Hermione hadn't felt in years incensed her insides. "You have no right to say that!"
She lunged at him with a Hurling Hex, but he struck her first with a firm, "Colloshoo."
The Stickfast Hex rippled through her body, and at once, Hermione couldn't move her feet. It was like her shoes had been cemented to the ground. She wrapped both hands around her knee, but her leg didn't budge.
Toma lifted his wand, poised for a second strike, but Draco worked faster.
"Lacarnum Inflamari!"
Toma's robes set on fire, starting at the ends and making their way up. Toma dropped his wand at the sudden heat but retrieved it before either she or Draco could summon it.
"You'll regret that, boy," Toma seethed.
Draco and Toma broke into a duel, curses and hexes flinging so fast, Hermione could hardly register them. Her heart thudded like a stampede of hippogriffs. Legs still stuck, Hermione blocked when she could, but Draco and Toma were moving too far out of range for her aim to stay accurate. She had to free herself. Fast.
Hermione squeezed her eyes shut and tried to concentrate. Somewhere in her brain was the counter-spell for the Stickfast Hex. Collo came from the Latin prefix for "to bind together." Colloportus sealed doors shut. Its countercharm was Alohomora. Which meant the counter-spell for the Stickfast Hex was—
"HERMIONE, LOOK OUT."
The urgency of Draco's cry startled her out of her thoughts, right as a streak of jet black magic cut straight towards her.
The world slowed to a near standstill.
Toma: proud of the Dark magic hurling her way.
Charlie, Julia, Markus, and Aurel: distracted by their own fights.
Marcier and Ardelean: on the brink of defeat.
Draco: never more terrified.
Hermione tried for her wand, but it was too late. The curse was too close.
She hunched down and braced for impact, unsure what damage it would do.
A crack dissipated through the air. Impact never came.
When Hermione opened her eyes, she wished it had.
Her whole body shook as she helplessly watched Draco collapse at her feet, inky blood spurting from his torso.