Charlie was growing frustrated.
Every camp has been the same story. He would arrive, talk about the need for learning self defence the muggle way so they weren't all completely helpless and inform them all of his training times and then have maybe one or two people show up. Half the time they would also give up after one or two sessions and he would accept defeat and move on to the next camp.
He just couldn't understand why everyone was so willing to lie down, roll over and accept defeat. Why none of them wanted to keep fighting, why they didn't want penance for all they had lost and why nobody seemed to be angry enough to keep pushing back or die trying.
He should have just given up and returned to the base camp a long time ago, back to where he could be out with Hermione and Neville actually doing something useful. But,if he was being honest with himself, staying away was more to do with putting distance between his family and himself. He needed the distance to escape the constant reminders of what and who they had lost.
He may have been a Gryffindor, but he knew there was nothing brave about his avoidance. He had faced dragons everyday as a career for Merlins sake and enjoyed every second of it, yet here he was running away from the people whom he loved with every piece of his soul.
He couldn't keep running, couldn't keep wasting his time trying to convince people to raise their arms and push back, couldn't make them want to give themselves a better chance to survive when they had all but given up and accepted their fate.
No, he needed to go back.
He needed to face his demons.
He needed more than anything to get back out there and feel like he was doing something, anything to actually chip away at the monsters that had pushed them all into running like animals.
Charlie was a dragon and it was time to take a deep breath and reign down upon those who had wronged them all and watch them burn.
He was returning with news that required action, and he would need both Hermione and Neville at his side.
"These four have all seen Death Eater activity within a three mile radius to their camps, it's only a matter of time before they come across them."
Charlie had returned to camp and had brought some terrible news with him. As he pointed out the four camps that were compromised the whole table was silent, the gravity of having to evacuate these camps not lost on any of them. How they were able to move large amounts of people without any form of magic unnoticed seemed almost impossible, and doing it in a timely manner before any of the camps were discovered just added to that impossibility. The fact there were four camps altogether that were in danger was just the icing on the cake.
"We have a week until the full moon, if they suspect there are camps nearby they will bring the werewolves in to sniff them out… It isn't even worth thinking what would happen when discovered on a full moon…" Remus trailed off, he was as pale as a sheet as Bill guided him into a chair. "We need to get in contact with Andromeda, her camp is by far the most secure they will have to take in the most vulnerable of the evacuees."
Neville was unnaturally quiet beside Hermione, the only noise was from his foot jittering on the ground as he surveyed the maps on the table. She couldn't blame him, the task in front of them had created a pit deep within her stomach and the idea of all those people whose lives depended on them coming up with a decent plan was almost too much.
"Honestly with the heightened senses they probably have more like three or four days of relative safety." Bill replied, his lessened effects of lycanthropy meaning he didn't get the same aches and pains as Lupin with the moon cycles. His senses would increase, his temper would flare, but neither were marked by the toll it took on one's body when they were approaching a transformation. There was no doubt that with Greyback within the Deatheater ranks there would be more than just Bill who would have had a run in with him and come away not fully turned.
Remus nodded in agreement then turned to address Charlie, "You were there the most recent out of all of us, which camp do you think we need to start with? Any idea of the terrain around them? It has been relatively dry recently so I am guessing there's no massive issues with marsh areas?"
As the group carried on plotting escape routes and which of the Order members would help execute the plans Hermione couldn't help but think it was a waste of time. They would be sitting ducks no matter what plans they came up with, few Order members had bothered with Charlie's training, and even fewer still were decent at it. They would be moving large amounts of people with no magic to defend, ward, or hide them. Not only that but they would be moving large amounts of extremely vulnerable people, people who found it difficult to travel at the very best of times.
Any plan would be full of holes, and every second was a second closer to one of the camps being discovered.
Hermione had always thought knowledge, research and preparation were of the utmost importance but in this case even the best laid plan would be a bad one. They needed to move - fast - and pray that there was some deity looking out for them.
As Hermione had predicted this was an absolutely terrible plan, only made worse by the fact Ron had somehow been included in her assigned team. He had complained the whole walk to the camp, decided to walk at the back of the group eating sweets with the kids, and then proceeded to throw up said sweets in the bus ride. The nerves of being responsible for such a large amount of people mixed with his ridiculous behaviour had her temper boiling, and if he so much as breathed in her direction she would surely lose the last strands of her self control.
"We could always leave him here" Charlie muttered as he exited the bus behind her, clearly even familial ties weren't enough to tolerate Ron today.
"He would find his way back come dinner time." She replied and he chuckled.
"Right everyone, same process as getting to the bus, we are about 45 minutes from the camp. Go back into your groups, keep quiet and move as low to the ground as possible. There's plenty of foliage to keep us covered too, but we can't afford to be complacent. Hermione, take the front, Neville you're on the left and I will take the right, Ron, stick to the back and for Merlin's sake try to keep up" Ron's face reddened at Charlie's words, and he moved to the back of the group muttering under his breath.
"What's that my dear little brother?" Charlie chidded.
"Nothing asshole," Ron responded, which earned him scathing looks from all the adults who were trying to shepherd the children into their groups. By the time they actually got moving Ron's face was an even deeper shade of red than his hair, which lightened Hermione's mood tremendously.
Not having Neville right beside her threw Hermione off a bit, she was so used to working as a duo now that she felt like she had lost an arm out on a mission with him behind her. The forest was wildly overgrown and it was evident that this was not a place that humans would normally venture into, which made her even more on edge as surveilling the area was difficult due to all the hiding spots. They hadn't had time to come out here and do a sweep of the area before the evacuation, meaning not only was the journey unfamiliar but they also hadn't had a chance to stake out any cover if something went wrong.
They were the last group to be moved, the journey painfully slow given the majority of the group were children and twice one of the toddlers had fallen and hurt themselves, the cries causing Hermione to nearly leap out of her skin. It definitely wasn't ideal, and without the use of silencing charms they all had to make an effort to keep the children as quiet as possible.
Within what turned out to be an hour and a half journey rather than forty five minutes she had vowed to herself that in the unlikely event she made it out of this war she would never work with children, and had gained insight into why Snape was so intolerable during her school years - quite frankly she had a new found respect for all the teachers she had ever encountered.
When they finally reached the border of the camp, rows of tents located around an old farmhouse, Hermione felt like she took her first breath within hours. Some of the camp's members were waiting for their arrival, and Andromeda approached her with open arms.
"I am so glad to see you here safe," She said as she embraced Hermione before addressing the group, "Welcome everyone, we have much to discuss but I assume you have all had a very long day. We will get you settled into your accomodations along with a hot meal before we do anything else. If there is anything at all we can do to help just let us know, either myself or Minerva will be in the cottage at any given time."
As much as they would have liked to take up Andromeda's offer to stay the night and rest up, they couldn't leave the bus where it was. If any Deatheaters happened to stumble across it they may become suspicious as to why it was left unattended and start searching the area, so the group made the trek back just in time for nightfall. Hermione, being the only one of them who had even entered a muggle car before the war had been tasked to drive it and the fact they couldn't turn the headlights on without risking drawing attention made the trip even more difficult than it would have been on her tired eyes in the daylight.
When they finally managed to abandon it they had another two hours walk to get back to base camp, and by this stage she was dead on her feet. Too dog tired to even register the moaning Ron was doing, or the scolding he was getting from his brother and Neville. Her earlier plan to catch up with Charlie once they returned was quickly pushed aside as they finally entered the camp, she offered him a quick "goodnight" before she trudged to her tent using Neville to prop herself up.
The small camp bed, that normally provided quite an uncomfortable place to sleep, felt as soft and fluffy as clouds when she threw herself down on it and succumbed to sleep.
Introducing Charlie to the idea of the Slytherins had not been an easy conversation to broach, and it had become even more heated when he had found out Nott and Malfoy were among them. It took quite a long time to convince him that the sons were nowhere near as bad as their fathers, the fact Hermione was defending Malfoy was not something she ever thought she would be doing and she wasn't even entirely sure she believed it herself. Neville and Luna were making a far better case for the Slytherins so she decided it was probably wise to let them take the lead on the conversation, knowing eventually Charlie's first reaction of anger would subside and then he could be reasoned with.
Charlie would be one of the Weasleys who was the least easy to rile, he was loyal to a fault and normally very level headed but if he distrusted you, or felt he had been wronged, the full force of the infamous Weasley rage would come to the forefront. Definitely nowhere near as irrational as Ron or Percy when angered, but the quiet fury that you could see bubbling within him was far more intimidating.
They definitely couldn't have him join training today if this was his reaction to just hearing their names. Hermione couldn't say she was fond of all the Slytherins, but she would probably be a little rattled to see Charlie let loose on one of them.
"You can't seriously expect me to believe they aren't up to something? We could be training them just so they can turn against us!" he said as he ran a hand through his hair.
"Well they have wands silly," Luna replied, "They could avada us any time they want, they don't need to learn how to fight to get rid of us."
"Not helping," Neville muttered. "Although a valid point I suppose…" He sighed and looked Charlie directly in the eyes, "Listen mate, you know we wouldn't put you in a position we weren't sure was safe. We had our own doubts but they've done nothing but prove they are willing to work with us. I don't think they will ever be truly on our side, but they want rid of Riddle as much as we do and they know we are their only hope of that."
"And if another option comes along?" Charlie snarled.
"Then they may choose to take it, but they wouldn't turn against us. They aren't bad people really, they've just got a fucked up view on right and wrong. You probably would too if you were brought up by their parents."
"And you Hermione? You've been awfully quiet." Charlie turned to look at her.
"I don't necessarily like who they all are as people, but I do trust them. I don't overly like some of the members of the Order either but I wouldn't turn my back on them, the only difference is the Slytherins are actually getting shit done." She had responded before she had even thought about the words that were coming out of her mouth. When had she started to believe that the snakes were actually better allies than the Order? It was true that they had achieved more working together than the Order had achieved in the last year, but still it felt like a betrayal to say out loud.
Charlie slumped in his seat, leaning his head back and looking up at the tent roof. He was even broader than the last time they had seen him, evidently despite the lack of interest in other camps in his training he clearly had continued it.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of silence he sat up and shook his head, "I will help train them, but I'm not going to pretend to like it, or them."
With a large smile on her face Luna chimed in, "That's okay, neither does Hermione!"
"Understatement of the century" Neville sniggered
"Oi I'm not that bad!" Hermione tried to defend herself.
"Oh yea? Have you and Malfoy made up yet?" He replied, his lip quirking up at the corner.
"Uggghhh" She sighed, "I've already told you I'll try to be civil if you stop bringing that up!"
Because indeed she had told Neville that she would be after he had chastised her for her behaviour at the birthday party, pointing out that although he loved her she could be a complete bitch. She was fully aware of this, in fact she had felt terrible about how things had played out that night, but she also couldn't fully get over the fact Malfoy was a complete ass. Still, no matter his complete lack of social etiquette, she knew what it was like to lose your parents to Voldemort and that had left her with guilt she couldn't shake off.
Charlie was willing to train with the Slytherins, the camp evacuations had worked out without any incidents, and she finally had all those she loved back in the one room. Now all they needed was to work out how they would finally wield the old magics. If she had to put on a fake smile and play nice with Malfoy to finally achieve that she thinks that it is an easy sacrifice to make.
"Holy mother of Salazar." Theo whispered as he came to a halt, Pansy - having also taken in the sight before them - offered a quiet whistle of appreciation. "You're seeing what I'm seeing, right?" He continued, honestly surprising himself that his brain was still able to process words.
Right there in front of him were not only their normal training buddies, but a red headed god, shirtless, sweaty, and with abs like a washboard.
"Fuck sake Nott, close your mouth before you catch flies." Draco chastised jokingly as he caught up with them.
"I have to agree, your perv is showing." Blaise added.
Undeterred by their comments Theo made a b line towards his favourite Gryffindor, sure she would introduce him to what he presumed must be the dragon taming, kick ass that Hermione had brought up before.
She had just walked over to pick up her water bottle, and seemed to be far more out of breath than she normally got when they were training.
"Hold on…" She said as she took a large drink, "Bloody hell, hope you guys are ready for some real training today. Charlie takes no prisoners."
"Pity" He sighed, clearly louder than he had intended as a chorus of laughter filled the clearing, his only saving grace that Charlie seemed to be slightly too far away, and too deep in conversation with Luna, to know what had caused everyone else to laugh.
Neville was the first to pull himself together, and he gestured towards a gym bag on the ground. "You will want to put these gloves on today, we are going to work on some sparring and we don't need you all to be breaking bones. Be it your own or whoever you're paired with."
Once the Slytherins had all got their gloves on, and had reverently argued that a 'gum shield' was not only disgusting but unneeded if they just avoided each other's faces, they were brought over to be introduced to Charlie.
"I'm not going to lie, I am extremely hesitant about all of this but if these three trust you then I will try. I grew up in a house with six other siblings, two of which being Fred and George, so I should warn you all I am the most likely to see through any bullshit." The dreamboats first words definitely weren't the most promising start Theo would have hoped for, but he would be lying if he denied the authoritative tone did something to his insides.
He was sure he would be able to win him round eventually, especially with the help of Hermione who for all intent and purpose, seemed to find his clear infatuation amusing.
She had been right about this training being like no other they'd done, within minutes he already knew his body would feel like he had gone through a few rounds of cruciatus in the morning. He was really trying to be able to keep up, and he thought he was improving a good bit from when he originally started training with the Gryffindors, however once he discovered Charlie would actually move his arm or adjust his body stance if he wasn't doing it correctly he couldn't help but make a few more mistakes than usual.
If anyone asked, they were completely unintentional mistakes of course.