The Order headquarters was like the calm before the storm. The tension during the meeting was palatable. Originally the meeting had meant to be about trying to source some ingredients for potions when out, however the agenda had changed only moments before everyone had gathered.
When Hermione had entered the meeting room she noticed how pale Remus was, he was shaking and trying to hide it by shuffling papers. It was two weeks to the full moon, this wasn't anything to do with his werewolf, and her stomach sank as she realised something was seriously wrong. Three hours they spent arguing, shouting, crying, and trying to find a plan to bring Kingsley home.
But there was no plan, no way to retrieve him, no way to protect the secrets he held in his head.
Once Kingsley had gotten tired enough that he could no longer occlude the Order would fall, all their secrets would be spilt and they would have to flee. This may seem like an obvious decision, but given the fact they had no magic, moving large masses of people without being noticed would be impossible. Rescuing Kingsley was equally impossible, it would be sending a team to their inevitable death. Eventually Remus had asked everyone to leave while he, Snape and Bill conversed. Snape and Bill were the obvious next in line to take Kingsleys space given their history in the Order and their proclivity to strategy.
Hermione had grabbed Neville and Luna as soon as they left the room, they had made their way out of headquarters as quickly as they could and text the Slytherins to meet them as soon as possible. They didn't even wait for a reply, heading straight to the meeting spot and sitting in silence while they waited.
"I can't fucking believe you lot!"
All three whipped round to find Draco storming over to them, the other three Slytherins following at a distance with amused looks on their faces.
"Fucking Dragon seditive!? Are you actually serious!? You could of fucking killed me!"
He was now squared up in front of Neville and shoved him back. Neville looked down at Dracos hand on his chest and raised his eyebrow. "You sure you want to do that mate?"
"Do you think this is actually funny? I said stun, not knock me the fuck out with a sedative, a sedative not even designed for humans!"
"Mate, chill out. It's kind of funny you got to admit." Theo said as the other three came to a halt in front of them. Theo and Blaise were smirking, while Pansy very clearly trying to hold her amusement at bay. Merlin forbid she admit the Gryffindors have even an ounce of humour in them.
"Ah stun? Did your over inflated head forget we can't do bloody magic! Hardly our fault we had to get creative. Which one of you were playing with engorgio?" Hermione said while glancing round at the group, "He's an even bigger dickhead than usual today, and we don't have the time nor energy for this shit." She gestured towards Draco who snarled but took a step back from Neville.
"Oh you think you're so clever don't you Granger? As you've pointed out, we are the ones with the access to magic in this group. Maybe you should bite your tongue. " Draco practically had steam coming out of him at this point.
"I am going to pretend that wasn't a threat, Malfoy. You underestimated me once, you would do well not to do it again. I understand you aren't the smartest, but I advise you to make that sink into that ponzi little head of yours."
She went to take a step towards Draco but Neville put his arm out to stop her, "He isn't worth it Hermione. Let him have his tantrum."
"Tantrum? Fucking tantrum? Am I the only one here that can comprehend the gravity of what you two did!" Draco turned to the rest of the Slytherins as if he were looking for back up, but their amused faces quickly showed him he wasn't going to have any of them speak up for him. "You could have killed me, Longbottom had his grubby hands round my bloody neck and if that wasn't bad enough you then proceeded to stab me with FUCKING DRAGON SEDATIVE!"
"Lets be honest Draco, you brought this on yourself all those years ago in Hogwarts. The Slytherin Prince and his downstairs dragon, isn't that the rumour you tried to spread?" Pansy spoke up for the first time, she had a pink tinge to her face through the sheer effort of trying not to laugh. However her two fellow slytherins couldn't hold it any any longer, Blaise and Theo were doubled over in pales of laughter.
"When I tell you I hate you all with every fibre of my being, I truly mean it." Draco muttered, clearly admitting defeat.
"I never knew you were a dragon tamer Draco" Luna said, with the most genuinely curious and innocent expression on her face. At that, the whole group bar her and Draco were crippled with laughter and it took them a few minutes to gather themselves together again. Draco didn't seem to be able to make the redness of his face die down, and Luna just smiled at them all completely oblivious to what was so funny.
After a few moments Hermione wiped the tears away and took a deep breath. "In all seriousness, can we ignore the man child and his proclivities towards euphemisms for a moment please."
"I presume this has something to do with Shacklebolt? We were already trying to excuse ourselves when you text, we thought this might be a team effort." Blaise said while very discreetly encouraging Draco by the arm to stand back beside him. "We were talking on the way here, there is absolutely no way we would be able to get him out. He is the Dark Lord's prized possession at the moment, hasn't even called Draco in to do the Legilimency, he is doing it personally."
Hermione, Neville and Luna had discussed this as well on the way there, they knew the ability to get Kingsley out would be pretty much non-existent.
"We thought as much," Neville glanced at Hermione before he continued, "If that's the case Kingsley will want a way out before they get any information."
"What part of we can't get him out don't you understand Longbottom?" Draco sneered.
Neville put his hand in his pocket and pulled a vial from it.
"I said way out, not get him out, do keep up Malfoy." Neville couldn't help grinning at the slight look of shock on Draco's face. "We are in a war, him getting too weak and leaking information will kill hundreds of people and he knows this. He will want to stop that from happening at any cost, that includes his life."
Even Theo looked serious at this point, suddenly the gravity of the situation hit them all as they looked at the vial of roots Neville held out to them. Pansy stepped forward and took it from his hand, holding it up to her face to take a closer look. Neville, noticing the curiosity on her face, continued.
"That is water hemlock root, do not touch it, do not breathe it in, just do not unstopper it. Kingsley can open it himself, and all he needs to do is ingest it. It's pretty nasty stuff, could probably kill you just by handling it but ingesting it is certain death. As much as I could take or leave the lot of you, this is specifically for contact with Kingsley only, understood?"
"So you want to kill him...No you want us to kill him?" Pansy's voice came out barely louder than a whisper.
"At the end of the day youre just giving him the vial, he will make the final decision." Hermione didn't know why she was trying to reassure Pansy, but the woman clearly felt distressed over what they were asking of her. "He will know what it is and what he has to do, my only advice is stay away if he does take it. You won't want to witness it."
Blaise went and placed a hand on Pansy's shoulder, muttering something to her that the rest couldn't hear. She nodded at him and he turned to Hermione, "Pansy is the one stationed where he is being kept. We will find a way to get it to him as soon as we can. I can promise you that, but right now I have to take Pansy home. We will have this done by the end of the day okay?"
Hermione could see how pale Pansy had increasingly become as the conversation had continued, clearly she needed a few moments in private to gather herself so she nodded. What did surprise her was Theo and Draco didn't follow Blaise and Pansy as they walked away, in fact the tension lessened slightly as Theo's excitement became evident.
"So when do we get to learn everything you did at Rowles? Swear Draco you have no idea what you missed!" Theo was almost vibrating with his excitement, "I NEED to be able to do that stuff, I just feel it in my bones, this is my true calling."
Draco's eyes narrowed at Theo, "Oh I know that I've no idea what I missed, I was too busy lying on the cold ground, in the dark, drugged."
"Would you ever stop going on about that, it happened, you need to get over it mate." Theo clapped his hand against Draco's back. "Worse ways to spend your night, could have been inside the meeting room."
"If you don't stop moaning we could easily demonstrate what went down that night if you want?" Hermione growled out at Draco, it had been an absolute shit show of a day and his whinging was getting on her last, very frayed, nerve.
"Don't listen to him, he's forgotten how to be interesting over the years, we can't all be gifted with my charm and charisma." Theo winked at Hermione before continuing, "That's why they all need me, I make them all ever so slightly more appealing. Took years of practise, had to train them all a bit, but reckon they pass as civilised beings at this point."
Draco's hand made contact with the back of Theos head with a thump, he shoved at Draco who didn't move at all. After he shook his head a little, clearly trying to shake off the pain of Draco's hand, he shrugged at them "Some need more work clearly."
Hermione snorted, Theo was by far the easiest to get along with out of the group of slytherins. Whether it was the sazzy humour, the quick wit, or those green eyes, he reminded her in so many ways of Harry. Maybe in another life they would have been friends, maybe all of them would have eventually became friends, but for now she was just glad to feel even for a second like Harry wasn't completely gone. Maybe she should feel guilty for clinging to the deja vu that talking with Theo gave her, but she didn't have room to feel anything else.
"Theo, I think we may have someone you would like to meet. He taught us all we know, and he makes us look like amateurs." Hermione gave Theo a smile as she spoke to him, she knew he would love Charlie, and she had a suspicion Charlie might be fond of Theo as well. It would be a very long time before she could imagine placing Charlie in the same space as the rest of them, but maybe there would be a way for the two of them to meet.
"Oh yes, you would like him too, Draco! He also likes dragons!" Hermione often wondered if Luna purposely only spoke when she knew she could make a conversation more awkward. The girl was typically quiet, and it was either something highly intelligent or completely embarrassing that came out of her mouth when she did decide to join in a conversation. Draco brought both hands up to his face in exasperation, a loud sigh escaping him.
"Does he now? A dragon wrestling man who can kick ass better than these two?" Theo raised an eyebrow as he addressed Luna, "Well, now I am just dying to meet him."