A/N: Happy belated birthday to Jocelyn! If anyone hasn't found her stories yet, check them out: Dumbledore's Men, Duel, International Magical Cooperation, and the story we wrote together: Harry Potter and the Battle of Wills. Thanks for all the reviews. I love hearing from all of you.
Chapter Fourteen
"Merlin, Granger…you're going to have the cell right next to mine!" He stared at her in disbelief.
"I know," Hermione moaned. She dropped into the chair. "I go over this in my mind, around and around, and the situation seems so hopeless. I don't know what I'm doing anymore."
"I've known for a long time that I was on the wrong side of this fight," Draco said. "But I never expected to find you in the same situation. Still," he shrugged, "can't say I'll mind the company. We can yell to each other through the walls, and…"
"Oh, stop!" Hermione begged. "That's not even funny!"
"Seems to me that both of us better hope that the Order wins this war, and that they're inclined to show mercy to those of us who played both sides."
Hermione looked at him intensely. "Draco, you won't give him away…please."
He didn't answer for a long moment, then shook his head. "Not me. I like old Snape; he's gone to a lot of trouble on my behalf."
She leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes. "Thanks. Now I just have to figure out how to deal with the boys. They think I'm involved with you."
"That should be easy enough. Let 'em go on thinking that. You can use me as a cover for when you're meeting with Snape."
Hermione thought quickly. This could be the solution to the problem of sneaking around the castle without alerting the boys to where she might be going. She could tell them that she was going to see Draco. They'd hate it, but they wouldn't suspect that she was meeting anyone else. If she could trust Draco. She eyed him speculatively. He was a Slytherin, and wouldn't be willing to help someone out unless there was something in it for him. Well, she was a Gryffindor, and sometimes the direct approach was the best.
"You're not doing this out of any fondness for me, Draco. So…out with it! What's in it for you?"
Draco grinned. "I'd enjoy it, especially since it will drive Potter and Weasley mad thinking about it."
Hermione laughed, and kept laughing. Draco joined her, and they laughed until they were exhausted.
Still giggling, Hermione gasped out, "You're awful! But I can just see the boys…" She laughed again.
"I've been sitting in this place bored out of my mind for days now," Draco said. "This could be the most fun I've had in awhile. But," he continued, "if we're going to make this believable, you're going to have to spend time with me. And bring the others with you. And let me touch you when they're around."
Hermione shuddered. "That just might be the most difficult part of it."
"Thanks, Granger. I needed that."
"No…I'm sorry, Draco. That didn't come out quite the way I meant it." She hesitated. "It's just…it's hard enough trying not to let anything slip about Professor Snape without adding another scenario…I just hope that I can keep everything straight."
"And keep the other two members of the trio from killing me on sight."
Hermione huffed. "Don't you worry about that. When I get through with them, they'll be sorry that they ever stuck their noses in my business!"
Draco raised his eyebrows. "Wish I'd be there to see it. Make it good, Granger."
"I will," she nodded. "Okay, it's settled. From this point on, we're a couple." She slid out of the chair and headed for the hearth. "And stop grimacing…it's not going to be that bad!"
"I'm not grimacing."
"No? What do you call it?" She took a handful of Floo powder and watched his face.
The usual Malfoy smirk was back in place. "Actually, I was hoping that before you go, I might get that snog you owe me."
"Oh, honestly!" Hermione snapped. "Can't you just forget about that?"
"Probably not…" He answered. "And why should I? After all, I'm as Slytherin as the next man…or in your case, as Slytherin as the previous one!"
"You…you're impossible!" Hermione threw down the powder and made a hasty departure.
With a whoosh, she exited the Floo into the Gryffindor common room. Staggering for just a second, she regained her footing, and turned to glare at the group gathered there. Focusing on Harry and Ron, she moved forward to confront them.
Ron regarded her snidely. "Been to comfort Malfoy, Hermione?"
"He'd better plan to keep away from you." Harry added.
"You had BETTER think twice before interfering in my life again!" Hermione pulled out her wand and aimed it at them. The others scattered, Ginny diving away from Harry's side with a shriek.
"Prominensus Proboskis!" The spell flew from the tip of her wand before either of the boys had a chance to react. They fell back with a cry, hands over their faces. Hermione looked at them and nodded in satisfaction.
"Since you're both so eager to stick your noses into my relationship, you should have the appropriate appendage for it!"
Ginny came up from the floor, and stared at the boys in amazement. She turned to Hermione with a look of admiration on her face. "Nice spell! You'll have to teach me that one. I have other brothers I could use that on."
The boys had uncovered their faces, and both sported elongated, red noses, appearing like nothing so much as small elephant trunks. Harry was feeling it gingerly.
"Thith thing hurths! Thake ith offth!"
Ron attempted to speak, but what came out was an off-key imitation of an elephant's trumpet. With that, the others dissolved in shrieks of laughter, rolling on the floor, and clutching their stomachs. Hermione slid her wand back into her sleeve and crossed her arms.
"Don't you ever even think about harassing Draco again!"
The two boys looked at her entreatingly. She ignored them, and instead, addressed Ginny. "I'll be back later…I have things to do."
As she exited through the common room door, she smiled in satisfaction, hearing the trumpeting brays of protest from Harry and Ron.
With the intention of avoiding both the boys and Severus Snape, Hermione stayed away from her usual destinations. Obtaining a packed picnic hamper from the house elves, she spent the rest of the day sequestered in the small rustic cottage that had been built to replace Hagrid's hut after the fire. Hagrid himself was away on Order business, so she had the place to herself. She'd brought several books with her, and enjoyed her solitude, snacking on the contents of the hamper while perusing the volumes for further information on the Convergence spell. She returned to the castle at dusk, quietly making her way into her room while the others were at dinner. Carefully warding the hearth and door against entry, she curled up on her bed with Crookshanks on the pillow beside her.
She awoke with a start, realizing she must have dozed off. There was a sound issuing from the Floo, as if someone was trying to get past her wards. The boys…she thought, no doubt wanting her to reverse the spell. She picked up her wand, casting a couple of additional wards on the Floo, and turned back over. All in all, it had been a rather satisfactory day.
She skipped breakfast the next morning, wanting to prolong the boys' torment as much as she could. She fed Crookshanks the last of the scraps out of her picnic hamper, and went off to shower and dress. After completing her ablutions, she settled herself at the desk in her sitting room, preparing to write a quick letter to her parents. A soft tapping at the door interrupted her. It was followed by Ginny's voice, asking to enter and assuring Hermione that she was alone. Lifting the wards and opening the door, she invited her in.
"Oh, Hermione! You missed such fun at dinner last night." Ginny's eyes were dancing with merriment. "The boys are beside themselves. They were sure that Remus or McGonagall would be able to reverse the spell. When we got there…"
"What happened?" Hermione giggled.
"Well, Remus was going to reverse it. Only he was laughing so hard that he dropped the wand…twice…before he could even attempt it! And then…it didn't work. So he just sat there and said, "I think you're stuck with them," and…and…Harry and Ron almost choked right there!"
"Did the Headmistress try it?"
"Nope. She picked up right away on the fact that you'd added something to prevent anyone but yourself from reversing the spell. She told the boys that they might get further by apologizing to you. Then she left the room rather quickly. She never cracked a smile, but I swear…her shoulders were shaking so hard as she left. I bet she was screaming laughing as soon as she got out in the hall!"
"That's perfect," Hermione said, between giggles. "Do you think they've learned their lesson?"
"I've no doubt of it." Ginny laughed and wiped her eyes. "You do realize that you're going to be hearing about this from Fred and George. I imagine they'll be ready to promise you anything to get you to teach them how you made that hex irreversible." She paused. "So, how did you do it?"
"It's in the hand motion. If you add a certain little jog at a specific point, it identifies the spell with you, and then you're the only one who can reverse it."
"Brilliant…absolutely brilliant."
"I suppose I'll have to…reverse it, that is, before the end of the day. It's the new moon and we should be performing the ritual to destroy the Horcrux tonight."
"That's right. I almost forgot. The Headmistress wants us all in her office by four o'clock, to receive instructions and prepare for the ritual. If you can stay away from the boys between now and then, you can reverse it in the office. The more people there to see it, the better they'll learn their lesson. Don't you agree?"
"A great idea," Hermione agreed. "I'll lay low until then."
They gathered in the Headmistress's office: the students, those teachers who had remained at Hogwarts, and various Order members. The atmosphere was somber when Hermione entered the room. Professor McGonagall turned to her, brusque and impatient.
"Really, Miss Granger, do attend to that…" She made a vague motion in the direction of Ron and Harry, and turned back to her consultation with the Order members.
Hermione pulled her wand and aimed it at the boys, and was gratified to see them both flinch. "Finite Incantatem!" Their respective noses shrank back to original size and returned to a normal color. Ron shook his head, while Harry rubbed his nose, letting his breath out in a sigh of relief. From the group around the Headmistress, Remus Lupin gave her a wink.
"All right!" The Headmistress called for attention. "We have no doubt that Voldemort has anticipated that we will attempt the destruction of the Horcrux tonight. He is as aware of the calendar as we are, and we are sure, has prepared plans to disrupt the ritual."
Everyone in the room had gone quiet. Hermione felt her own throat go dry.
"We will keep a large force here on the grounds in case of Death Eater attack. But we expect multiple attacks outside of Hogwarts itself to try to draw out our defense. Steps have been taken to get those who would be likely targets out of harm's way."
My parents…Hermione took a step forward in panic.
"Mr. Longbottom, your grandmother has been sent to a safe house, as has your father, Miss Lovegood. The Grangers were sent out of the country some days ago."
She hadn't known. She'd sent off her owl this morning without really thinking about it. She hadn't even considered the danger they might be in.
"What about my family?" Ron demanded.
"Don't worry, Mr. Weasley. Your brothers, most of them anyway, are with your father and the other Order members on the grounds. Your mother is in the Infirmary, preparing to assist Madam Pomfrey as needed." She took in their white faces, but allowed no softening of her own features. There was danger for all of them tonight, and she didn't want them to forget that. "Alastor, if you will…"
Moody stepped forward. "At dusk, which should be in about forty-five minutes, all Order members are to be in their assigned places. The students will accompany Lupin to the ritual site. Once everyone is in position and darkness is complete, the Horcrux will be brought to the site, and the ritual will begin. How long it will take will depend on your ability to destroy the Horcrux. The longer it takes, the more risk there is to those of us exposed on the grounds. During this time, we may receive reports of diversionary attacks or Hogwarts itself may fall under attack, but nothing…I repeat, nothing must prevent the completion of the ritual. Questions?"
No one spoke, and the Order members began to file out of the room. Hermione felt her panic increasing. "Harry…Ron? If…if anything should happen…"
Without hesitation, they put their arms around her. "It's going to be fine," Harry assured her. "After all, you're on our side."
"Yeah," Ron agreed. "One scary witch.
Luna took hold of Ron's arm. Silently, she gestured towards the other end of the room. They watched as Remus and the Headmistress pulled their wands and began chanting softly. A buzz of sound seem to reverberate through the room, and a shimmer of light hovered for a moment, and the chest appeared in the exact spot from which it had vanished before Yule.
Remus turned to the students. "Meet me at the main entrance in thirty minutes. Remove any makeup, perfume, or jewelry, hair unbound, bare feet," he instructed them.
They were there in less than the allotted time, and he was waiting for them. Taking out his wand, he passed it over the head of each one. With a nod of satisfaction, he opened the doors. "Follow me."
To Hermione, it all seemed surreal, walking across the Hogwarts grounds in silence, following Remus in the gathering dark. The very mist in the air around her seemed ominous, carrying its own weight of tension. She pressed in close to the others.
Out beyond the Whomping Willow was a large area of open ground. Remus stopped just out of reach of the tree and raised his wand. He called out, the short phrase in a language that Hermione had never heard before. And so suddenly, that she could not have said when they were there and when they were not, a series of structures stood out in the mist in front of them. Arranged in a circle, evenly spaced, were a series of stark gray stones of varying heights. Some appeared to be five or six feet tall and others towered above them. In the center of the circle was a raised slab, cracked and weatherworn. The entire circle seemed sunken into the ground.
"It's a henge," Hermione breathed. "But we've been out here before, all of us, and there was no sign of it."
Remus spoke quietly. "It's hidden for a very good reason. Magic performed in a henge creates a spell of overwhelming power. It's not something that students would be encouraged to experiment with."
"It looks old," Ginny said.
"It is," Remus explained. "Older than any known henge in the British Isles, and far more ancient than Hogwarts castle."
"The ritual is going to take place here?" Harry said.
Remus nodded. "Let's get you in position. We're using very old magic here, and that means the women will take the central role." They followed him into the henge and, under Remus's instruction, took places between the sentinel stones, on the rim of the circle, but not in it. The space between the stones that stood directly across from the central slab was left vacant. Remus directed Ginny and Luna to take the places directly across from the slab on either side, and Hermione took the position directly across from the vacant space. The boys and Remus filled in the other empty spaces.
The last of the light seemed to suddenly disappear from the sky, and it was dark. It was also cold, and Hermione shivered, wrapping her arms around herself, wishing that she'd been able to wear something on her feet. The others around her appeared to be feeling the same chill, for they shifted uneasily where they stood.
And then again, suddenly, without a sound, a figure was standing at the central slab, laying upon it the bronze seal of Rowena Ravenclaw. It took Hermione a moment to recognize the figure as that of the Headmistress. She was dressed in black, with a tartan shawl hanging over her shoulders that brushed the ground at her feet. Her hair was also unbound as theirs was…black, threaded with silver. She's a priestess, Hermione realized, and wondered how many other facets there were of the Headmistress's character of which she was unaware.
Professor McGonagall lifted her hands, and cried out in the same, strange language that Remus had used to reveal the henge. To Hermione's astonishment, she understood what was being said. Almost instinctively, she lifted her own hands in imitation of the Headmistress. Around the circle, she could see that Luna and Ginny had done the same.
"We call upon the Earth to witness what is here before us. We implore the Goddess to expose what is unnatural, what has been twisted and warped, what has assumed the powers of evil!"
The air around her seemed to be humming in response, and Hermione stifled a gasp as she felt the ground heat beneath her bare feet. From somewhere in the distance, she heard voices raised in alarm. Ignoring them, the Headmistress continued the ritual, calling out again.
"We summon the powers of the Earth to our aid and to our service, to strengthen us, to Converge with us. As children of the Goddess, we shall destroy what has been altered for evil, what has been created with hatred and destruction at its core."
The ground beneath Hermione's feet was vibrating, as if it had a pulse. Around the henge, the mist was drawing in, wrapping them in a gray veil that hid the ritual from those without. The Headmistress left the slab, leaving the Horcrux in its center, and took her position between the two stones directly across from it. She drew her wand and directed it at the Ravenclaw seal. Hermione pulled out her own wand and aimed it, but kept her thoughts focused on the Headmistress. Around her, she sensed the movement of the others as they did the same.
"Converge with me, all of you!" The Headmistress's command could not be ignored. "Powers of the Earth, Converge with me! Will of the Goddess, Converge with me!"
The air around them vibrated, the sound of wind rushing between the stones and winding around them. The mist compacted around the henge, completely muffling all sight and sound from without. Hermione could no longer feel the ground beneath her feet; for all she knew, the henge could be suspended in the air. A burst of energy that seemed to emanate from the Headmistress herself engulfed her. She focused on combining her own energies with it, adding to it, increasing its power. Other energies were surging in, combining with hers. She felt the casting of the spell, before she even heard the Headmistress's cry of "Destructio!"
The Converged energies slammed into the seal and it leapt off the slab, hovering above it. Hermione could feel power pushing back against the combined energies, trying to force them away. The Horcrux was fighting its own destruction.
She forced herself to concentrate on the energies, trying to submerge her entire will into the Convergence. The spell forced its way back, slamming into the Horcrux's defense, and the seal elongated and flattened from the stress, spinning wildly above the slab. A glow of light surrounded the spinning seal, compressing it still more. Hermione closed her eyes, and emptied her mind of everything except the spell, her breathing shallow, and her chest aching with the effort.
The explosion rocked through the henge, buffeting the stones, the mist shattering around them. Hermione sank to her knees, leaning on the ground for support, trying desperately to catch her breath. She gazed around her, the others were doing the same. The only one still standing was the Headmistress and she was picking up the seal from the center of the slab. Hermione forced herself to her feet and joined her there. The seal was burned black, but the eagle in the center shone through it like gold. Professor McGonagall smiled. "Welcome home, Rowena."
The others joined them. "Let's get back to the castle," Remus instructed. They had taken just a few steps when the Headmistress crumpled to the ground. Quickly, Remus bent over her, checking her pulse and breathing.
"Is she…?" Harry seemed unwilling to finish his question.
"No," Remus said, "just exhausted." He picked up the unconscious woman in his arms. "Hermione, bring the seal." He headed off again, with the others trailing behind him. Hermione looked back and saw the stones of the henge beginning to fade into the mist. Then it was gone. Gone, she supposed, until summoned again.
"That was incredible," Harry said beside her. "I suppose the Headmistress was speaking some form of ancient Gaelic. I wish I'd understood what she was saying."
Luna turned on hearing Harry's statement, and gave Hermione a vague smile. An ancient rite, a woman's rite…
In the Hospital Wing, the Headmistress was settled in a bed, and Madam Pomfrey began working on her, while Mrs. Weasley checked over the rest of them. "None of you seems to be injured," she said with relief. "We're expecting casualties from the fighting on the grounds. Go to the dorm and get some sleep, and we'll bring you up to date on things in the morning."
"But how bad is the fighting?" Ron demanded. "They may need us."
"It's just sporadic now. And none of you are going anywhere near it, Ron Weasley."
Remus was sitting next to the bed where the Headmistress lay sleeping. "The Order will handle things tonight. I agree with Molly…to bed with all of you."
No one wanted to be separated after what they'd just gone through, so they accio'd pillows and blankets, and curled up on the floor in the common room. Sheer exhaustion won over, and they were asleep within minutes.
Hermione woke the next morning to the sound of the common room door opening. Still half asleep, she sat up and pushed her hair out of her eyes, and gave Remus and Tonks a sleepy smile as they entered the room. "Shall I wake them up?"
"Please." Remus nodded an affirmative, and Hermione noticed for the first time that neither he nor Tonks were smiling. In fact, the set look on their faces encouraged her to quickly rouse the rest of the sleeping group.
"What's happened?" Harry was demanding, before the others were fully awake.
"Let's get everyone up and alert so we don't have to repeat things," said Tonks.
In a matter of minutes, they were sitting up, alert and waiting. Remus settled himself in a chair, and Tonks perched on the arm. "We told you that we expected diversionary attacks to disrupt the ritual, didn't we?" They nodded in response, staring at him anxiously. "There was a minor skirmish on the grounds with a few injuries resulting, but nothing major."
"Then…something happened somewhere else?" Hermione asked, nervously.
Tonks nodded. "There were several attacks on Order members and their families, and on Muggle families." Her face was grim. "The Creevey family was one…I'm sorry to say that there were no survivors."
Hermione felt sick. Poor Colin and Dennis…they were so excited about being wizards, about everything to do with magic. How unfair…
Tonks was speaking again. "The Bones family was also targeted. Susan was not at home, so she escaped, but her parents were killed. And with Amelia having been murdered…well, she has no surviving relatives."
"How awful," Ginny said. "What's going to happen to her?"
"Her parents anticipated this possibility, and had previously named the Headmistress as her guardian should anything befall them. She'll be brought here as soon as it's safe."
Harry was watching Remus's face intently. "There's something else…something worse, isn't there?"
Remus grimaced. "Unfortunately, yes. The major attack took place at Azkaban. Guards and Order members fought back, but the prison was breached." His hands clenched. "I'm afraid that Lucius Malfoy has been freed."
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