Once again, My beta-readers, fredfred and InquisitorCOC, deserve a huge thank you. They helped a lot.
Chapter 23: The Insertion
Black Lake, Scotland, Britain, September 19th, 2005
"Scuba gear?" Sirius shook his head. "Who do you think we are, the Special Boat Service? Scuba-diving, at night, from the open sea to an unfamiliar shore? That's too dangerous."
"I wouldn't expect you to make the dive yourself - you'd only be using the gear while being towed by underwater sledges operated by experts," Dumbledore replied.
"I don't like diving," Hermione said. She looked very tense, and even Ron reaching out and squeezing her hand didn't seem to help.
"Oh?" Dumbledore looked at her.
"I had a very bad experience during school," she told him.
"Does that extend to swimming as well?"
"No."
"But using scuba gear is still too dangerous," Sirius cut in again. "A friend of mine was in the Special Boat Service, back when it was the Special Boat Squadron. We would need to spend weeks training for this."
"I had anticipated about a week of training, but I concede the point." Dumbledore smiled. "I fear I've been a little too optimistic in estimating your capabilities."
"We could do it," Harry said at once. "But it's not worth the risk of something going wrong."
"Of course," Dumbledore replied. "Although I don't think that there are many alternatives. The former USSR remains, despite the end of the Cold War, a dangerous territory for clandestine operations. Following their internal troubles with separatists and terrorists, they have increased their domestic security, and I think we have to assume that Kirikov will have contacts among the security services in the area. I do not think a group of British tourists will escape attention. Certainly not should he be aware of Sokolov's disappearance."
"Sokolov was hiding from him," Hermione pointed out. "And his disappearance hasn't yet been noticed by the Swiss authorities."
"Indeed. But, by now, Sokolov's former bodyguards will have started looking for new employment - and some of them might even decide that selling their knowledge about their former employer's disappearance is worth the risk of contacting Kirikov. Short-sighted, but that is a common flaw of many in that business," Dumbledore explained.
"And we can't pass for locals," Ron said. Perhaps Americans, but they would still stick out.
"We could split up," Luna suggested. "Disguise ourselves as couples, for example, and travel separately."
"That wouldn't have fooled my old opponents in the KGB, and I doubt that their successors have lost their touch," Dumbledore replied. "And I don't think that Kirikov lacks contacts in the FSB, either - many of his former co-workers in the KGB will have risen through the ranks of that agency."
"Swell," Ron said. "So posing as tourists is too dangerous as well. What does that leave?"
"Insertion by air?" Luna asked.
Ron knew that she didn't mean parachuting out of a plane. He glanced at Hermione. She shook her head. "I don't think that that would work."
"Aw." Luna pouted. But the distance was too great for an RC helicopter.
"Even experienced parachutists are prone to accidents under such conditions," Dumbledore pointed out - not that anyone wanted to drop out of the sky.
"That leaves boats," Sirius said. "Zodiacs would be hard to see, nearly invisible under the right conditions - and much safer than scuba diving."
"Not entirely safe, though."
"Far safer than the alternatives." Sirius shrugged. "And easier to learn to use, too, in case you don't have expert boatmen on hand."
"Indeed," the old man conceded the point. "And my preliminary plans will only require slight adjustments."
Ron looked at Hermione again - she had been rather uncharacteristically silent during the discussion. And though she seemed to be recovering, she was still tenser than usual, too.
"So… are you alright with the plan?" he asked half an hour later after Dumbledore had left and the party had officially ended, with everyone heading to their rooms. Or Hermione's room, in Ron's case.
She sighed and sat down on her bed. Their bed, probably, by now. "Yes." He frowned, a little, and she added, sighing: "It's not the insertion by boat. I'm fine with boats. It's just… Berisha was bad. We almost died. This is going to be more dangerous. We're not going to have a support team on hand."
"We didn't have a support team in Switzerland, either."
"But we weren't facing a small army and corrupt authorities there," she retorted. "In Russia, we'll be completely on our own."
"Dumbledore will have people on a ship out at sea."
"They won't be able to intervene quickly, or in significant force," she said. "And he'll be on his guard. Even if he doesn't know about Sokolov's disappearance, he knows about Berisha."
"You're right," he conceded the point. "But we don't exactly have a choice, do we?"
"We could stay here until I finish my work," she said. "And with the resources from my home world, we could get to Kirikov without much danger."
Her wand. Possibly allies, too. "And what if your side lost the war?" he asked. They would have to deal with both the 'Death Eaters' and Kirikov's men, in that case. And Dumbledore might demand his reward before he supported them against Kirikov.
She pressed her lips together and didn't answer. Which was answer enough.
Off Marina Dinevi, Bulgaria, September 21st, 2005
Well, Dumbledore certainly hadn't skimped on this mission, Ron thought as he stepped out on to the deck of the yacht that the old spymaster had provided for them. She was large, fast and sported some of the latest equipment available on the market, as well as some additions that would be best kept hidden from any authorities. If Luna hadn't found out that this particular type of yacht hadn't been designed until the middle of the nineties, Ron would have thought that Dumbledore had taken a ship built for MI6 with him when he quit the service.
Almost as important as the secret gear on the ship was the fact that while she wasn't quite an ocean-going yacht, she'd handle the Black Sea just fine. Which was a good thing since they'd be making their way across that sea soon enough - once they had established their cover here in Bulgaria and finished their training for the mission.
Leaning against the railing and watching Bulgaria's coast in the distance, he sighed. He wasn't entirely on board with this mission.
"Something wrong?"
That was Harry coming towards him. Ron was obviously not paying enough attention to his surroundings since he hadn't noticed his friend before Harry had spoken up. He looked around.
"The others are below deck, getting ready for the trip to the port."
And his subtlety was lacking as well. Ron sighed again. "I'm just…" He shrugged. "I don't really like this mission. We're not ready for this."
"That's why we're training," Harry replied, looking around as well. "But I know what you mean."
Ron nodded. "Six against a small army, if things are as bad as with Berisha. Or worse." And two of the six had no business being here at all, in his opinion. "It's too dangerous."
"For us, or for the girls?" Harry asked.
"Don't let Ginny catch you calling her a 'girl'," Ron said.
"I won't." Harry chuckled. "Though she calls me 'boy' often enough."
"When she's mad at you."
Harry nodded. His friend hadn't forgotten about his question, though, Ron knew. Sighing once more, he said: "Ginny and Luna shouldn't be on this mission."
"Luna's the best amongst us at handling computers and electronics," Harry pointed out. "And she can pilot the drones."
Ron pressed his lips together. He knew that. But Luna was, for all her involvement in illegal activities such as hacking, still innocent in many ways. Especially when it came to violence. "And Ginny's a decent driver?"
Now it was Harry's turn to frown. "You know how she is."
"Too stubborn for her own good." And too stubborn for Harry. They had had this particular talk before.
"At least if she's driving, she won't be shooting," Harry said.
Ron nodded, even though that was a small consolation. The girls could still get shot at. "Well…" he began, but Harry cut him off.
"They're coming."
Ah. Ron nodded and forced himself to smile. It wouldn't do to start the evening on a low note.
Luna, unsurprisingly, was the first to step on deck, wearing a blue sundress and a wide smile. "Ah, there you are." She scrunched her nose as she looked Harry and Ron over. "Well, you look boring, but I guess that's acceptable. We are undercover, after all."
Ginny, following behind Luna, laughed as she went and hugged Harry. "Well, we know they aren't boring." She was wearing a tank top and jeans - both black, matching Harry's shirt and slacks, Ron noticed.
Hermione, on the other hand, who, together with Sirius, appeared on the top of the stairs behind them, wore capris and a blouse. They fit her well, in Ron's opinion. Mary Janes, too - sensible shoes in case they had to run. Ginny and Luna's sandals barely qualified, but at least they weren't wearing high heels.
He snorted - some of Ginny's stiletto heels might have threatened to puncture the zodiac that would be taking them to port.
"Well, let's go - I'm a mite hungry," Sirius said. "And we've got reservations at nine."
In the best restaurant in the Marina, of course. Even undercover, Sirius preferred to live in style. On the other hand, anyone who had the money to rent a yacht like this one wouldn't skimp on food during their vacation.
"Let's go!" Harry echoed his godfather.
They moved to the back, where the zodiac was gently swinging from its mount. Harry waved back the two crew members - Jack and Karl - who were about to lower it. "Let us do it," he told them. "It'll count as training."
"Of course, sir. Does that mean you won't require a pilot, either?"
"We'll pilot the zodiac ourselves, but we'll need one of you with us anyway, to keep an eye on it in port, Jack," Ron replied.
"As you wish." Jack nodded. He was smiling, and it seemed honest to Ron. The staff probably had been planning to stock up on a few perishables and snacks in port, he imagined, and that plan would have been ruined if the group had disembarked without one of them.
"Alright, let's do it like we trained: Slowly and carefully!" Harry ordered.
They tried. But while none of them fell in the water, it wasn't exactly a smooth operation. They would have to train some more, all of them. As Sirius was fond of saying, they weren't the Special Boat Service. Or the Royal Navy. At least for the actual mission, the crew could lower the zodiac for them, so they could focus on piloting the thing.
Which, currently, Ginny was doing. And not doing a bad job of it, Ron had to admit.
"Have you ever been to Bulgaria?" Ron asked Hermione a few minutes later, after they had made landfall in the port.
"Yes. When I was still at school."
"Oh?" He hadn't heard about that.
"Yes. I visited a friend here."
A friend? Bulgarian? "Oh. Your date at that ball? Viktor?" She had mentioned him, hadn't she?
"Yes. Viktor Krum."
"Viktor Krum? Liverpool's striker?" She hadn't mentioned his last name.
"Well, he's a striker here. Back home, he's a famous Seeker," she replied.
"Ah." Swell. She had dated the counterpart of one of the best-paid football players in the Premier League. Who was also a wizard.
At least this Krum didn't know her. And was unlikely to be in the Marina.
Off the Bulgarian Coast, Black Sea, September 22nd, 2005
"I think a landing at Kirikov's private beach isn't a good idea," Luna told them, nodding in a sage manner. "He's bound to have the entire area under surveillance." She pointed at a picture on the table. "It's a pity - it's the best spot on the coast there."
"So…" Sirius leaned forward, putting his drink down next to an enlarged aerial picture of the area. "...that leaves the coast east or west of his compound."
"East," Harry said. "Otherwise, we'll have to go through or around the village to the west to reach Kirikov's house."
"And the residents and tourists in the village might use the nearby beaches even at night," Ginny pointed out. "For beach parties or some midnight swimming."
"They might use the more secluded beaches to the east as well," Harry told her.
"It's possible, but not as likely. It's quite a distance from the village, and they'd have to go around Kirikov's villa," Ginny retorted.
The two stared at each other for a moment, then Harry sighed, conceding the point as Ginny grinned. "We'll have to check for witnesses before landing," he said.
"I can do that with a drone!" Luna replied. "Anyone around will show up on the thermographic cameras. Though if there are people on the beach, what do we do?"
It was a good question, of course. And it was a good planning session, too - Dumbledore had provided them with good intel about their target. Although the fact that they were doing this in the middle of the day, on the deck of the yacht, with everyone dressed for sunbathing and swimming, was more than a bit distracting, in Ron's opinion. Even Hermione was wearing a bikini - and Ron didn't completely believe her claims that it was to make them look like harmless tourists.
He shook his head and focused on the question. "We'll have to find an alternate landing site in that case." There was no way to deal with witnesses. Nothing that was both morally acceptable and safe enough, at least. "There are a number of possible locations," he pointed out. "Though we'll have to examine them in detail, first." Which meant having Dumbledore provide them with more intel.
"And we might have to cover Kirikov's private beach, too," Sirius added. "If only to prevent him from escaping in a speedboat or something."
That was true. But there weren't enough of them to both cover the beach and enter the villa. "We'll need help," Ron said.
"The yacht can't get close enough to the shore to cut off an escape attempt," Sirius replied. "Not without being detected and revealed as a threat. They'll have to use a second zodiac."
"Those aren't very fast, though," Ginny pointed out.
That wouldn't really matter, as long as the zodiac was fast enough to get within weapons range before the hypothetical boat managed to leave the area. As long as they didn't kill Kirikov by mistake, they could do whatever was needed to stop him.
"I don't see any boats in the compound," Hermione said, tapping two pictures showing the entire beach from the air, "but I wouldn't put it past Kirikov to hide them to surprise an attacker."
"Of course he'd do that!" Luna piped up. "We might even plan for that and fake an attack on the villa so he'll flee over water."
Ron shook his head. "I don't think we can bring enough firepower to bear to convince him that he can't hold out until the police arrive."
"He's not a normal criminal - he's got the authorities in his pocket," Harry added. "But we could search for any hidden boats once we are in the compound before we sneak into his house."
"And sabotage them!" Ginny said. "Leave him stranded and defenceless on the open sea!"
"That seems a little optimistic," Hermione told her. "I think it'd be best not to make overly complicated plans."
"Keep it simple, stupid," Sirius agreed. "Yes, I think so as well. Disable his escape vehicles, then sneak in and grab him."
"We could take one of his boats to get away," Luna suggested.
"They'll probably have a locator beacon installed somewhere," Ron told her.
She pouted. "And we won't have enough time to find and deal with it?"
"I don't think so," Harry said.
"Plan for the worst," Hermione added.
"That would be the Russian military holding a combined arms exercise in the region," Sirius said. "Do we have torpedoes and surface-to-air missiles? Enough of them to beat the Russians?"
It was a joke, but Hermione had to answer the question anyway: "I don't think we can withstand the Russian military no matter how many missiles we might have available. But we don't have to fight them, anyway - we can simply wait until they're finished."
"Right," Ron agreed - even though he didn't think anyone apart from, possibly, Luna, would deal well with having to wait a few weeks without being able to do anything about Kirikov. Or work on Hermione's project. And posing as tourists for so long without drawing attention might also be difficult.
"Shall we go for a swim?" Hermione interrupted his thoughts.
He smiled. "That's a good idea."
Taking a swim with Hermione would be better than making plans without sufficient information. It wasn't as if he could do anything about the Russian military, anyway.
Off Yalta, Ukraine, Black Sea, September 25th, 2005
Hands on the railing, Ron stared at the city in front of them as the yacht entered the harbour - and all he could think was that this was just a half-way stopover. They had to refuel and resupply, of course. Also, they had to pretend to be tourists so that they would have the correct electronic and paper trail in case the Ukrainians or Russians decided to investigate, so there were several good reasons to make a stop here. And Yalta was a good spot for sightseeing as well, with quite an interesting history, too - thanks to Hermione, he was very much aware of the city's past.
But he didn't really care about all of that. He wanted to push on and get Kirikov. Catch the man behind the attacks in London so that his and Hermione's families would be safe again.
Or, he amended his thoughts with a wince, find out for whom Kirikov was working - although the more he learned about the man, the less likely it seemed that Kirikov was working for someone else. Being a subordinate just didn't seem to fit the man, not with his background.
Unless, and this was the real 'worst case' scenario, Kirikov was working for Vladimir Putin. The current president of Russia had been a Colonel in the KGB, after all. If anyone knew how to control Kirikov, it would be him.
Well, Dumbledore must have considered that possibility as well. Probably felt downright nostalgic, too, Ron thought with a snort.
"Smile, Ron!"
He turned his head and looked at Luna, who was leaning against the railing on his right side. "We don't have to play our roles, yet," he replied.
She frowned at him. "You shouldn't smile because it's a role, but because it's nice."
That made him smile, and she beamed at him. "See?"
"I don't, actually," he told her.
"I don't mean it literally." She shook her head. "Everyone's too serious."
"Well, our situation is serious," he said. They were going to risk their lives attacking a Russian mobster in his home, after all.
"That's a reason to smile and laugh." She turned around, putting her back to the railing. "Besides, you've got good reasons to be happy."
He knew what she meant. Or whom. "I know."
"Good!" Luna nodded sharply and patted him on the shoulder. "You don't want her to think you're not happy when you're together."
That cut a little too close. Ron pressed his lips together and ignored how Luna fell silent for a moment, blinking as she realised what she'd reminded him of - and now herself, too.
"Yes." He nodded. If Hermione thought that, she'd surely decide to return to her home world for good.
"I can't wait to meet my counterpart," Luna went on, craning her neck to look up at the sky. "Imagine talking to a different you. With a different life."
"Yeah," Ron lied. He didn't want to meet his counterpart. Who was a wizard and Hermione's first love, if you didn't count Krum, which Ron didn't. "It'll be interesting," he added. But painful, too.
West of Novorossiysk, Black Sea, September 27th, 2005
"We've got the latest pictures of the target area!" Luna announced as she started to clear the table on the afterdeck, interrupting breakfast.
Ron reacted quickly and managed to save his and Hermione's cups from being put down on the deck. "Here," he said, handing Hermione's cup over to her.
"Thank you." She took a sip - no, a swallow, he noticed. He downed his own. It was time to plan.
"As you can see," Luna started to explain, "we had a drone do a few flyovers at night, with the engine turned off so the people on the ground wouldn't hear the noise. Now, the compound is occupied, and judging by the number of guards we see patrolling at night, it's likely that Kirikov is present."
"That's great," Ron said with as much sarcasm as he could muster.
"Indeed!" Luna beamed at him.
Sirius agreed with her. "It would have been a pity if we had come all this way, just to find an empty house."
"I'm more concerned about the actual number of guards," Ron explained. "That will make sneaking into the area very difficult." Especially for half-trained people like the girls.
"We can use the tiny helicopter if we need to," Luna said.
"Our 'special fuel' is running a little low, though," Hermione pointed out.
Ginny shrugged. "Hoarding it won't help."
Ron agreed with a nod. Trying to save potions for 'an emergency' usually meant you finished the game with half your inventory full of magic potions you'd never use. "If Kirikov's the one behind the attacks, then snatching him means stopping the attacks. Hermione, you'll be able to restock soon enough in that case."
She didn't look convinced, but Ron hadn't expected her to - not when he knew she carried a huge quantity of supplies around in her beaded bag of holding. Most of which she would probably never use.
"Well, let's look for a landing site, first," Sirius cut in. "If we can't make it to the coast, it's all moot anyway. Where's the tidal chart?"
Luna handed him the chart, and Sirius started studying it. Ron wasn't well versed in such nautical matters and focused on the aerial pictures of the compound again.
And he didn't like what he saw. Not at all.
"They've cleared the area around the house," he said.
"Hm?" Hermione leaned over.
"In the pictures Dumbledore showed us in Britain, there were trees and bushes around the house. They've been removed," he explained.
Harry cocked his head, then nodded. "Yes, you can still see traces in the soil where they pulled the trees out."
"Yes. They must've wanted clear lines of fire." Ron frowned. "Probably with motion-detectors linked to floodlights, South African style."
"Oh, that could be nasty," Luna chimed in. "We might have to go in by air, then."
"More importantly," Ron pointed out, "we now know that Kirikov is expecting an attack."
"Unless this is a decoy," Harry said. "He fortifies this compound, but is hiding somewhere else."
"That is a possibility," Ron admitted. "On the other hand, if this is supposed to be a trap, wouldn't he want it to look less defended?" Of course, the man could be trying for a double bluff, but Ron didn't think so. On the other hand, a triple bluff…
"And would he risk hiding somewhere with - presumably - a small number of bodyguards? That's what Sokolov did, and we got him," Harry pointed out.
"He could have a lot of bodyguards in his real hideout as well," Ginny said.
"That would make it more difficult to remain inconspicuous," Ron retorted. "And he doesn't have unlimited manpower - he had to hire mercenaries for the last attack in Britain. If he had enough men on his payroll to guard two houses, he wouldn't have had to do that."
"But his bodyguards could have pointed directly to him," Harry pointed out. "So he wouldn't have wanted to risk them."
That was true. "Right." Ron conceded the point with a nod. "But there's also the matter of trust. The more guards he hires, the bigger the risk that one of them will betray him. As Sokolov proved, loyalty is hard to come by in this business."
"We can't rule out this being a decoy or a trap, though," Harry insisted. "If Kirikov is supported by the Russian government, or even just the FIS, all bets are off."
"What? Do you honestly think that the Russian government would authorise the attacks in London?" Ginny gasped.
"If they knew the truth about Hermione's work, yes," Ron told her. "But if they knew the truth, and if they were involved, I don't think that they'd have bungled the whole thing."
"The FIS isn't perfect," Harry said. "Even Mossad has made mistakes in critical operations."
"Yes, but messing up three times?" Ron shook his head. "That doesn't look like the work of an intelligence agency like the FIS. Either they would have succeeded, or stopped trying earlier."
Hermione, who had been uncharacteristically silent, Ron noted, nodded. "No offence to you, but I don't think you could have protected me against them if they were involved."
"And we wouldn't have heard about their inquiries in advance, either," Ron pointed out. "They wouldn't have used local 'talent', but their own sources."
"Yes," Luna nodded several times. "If an oppressive police state like Russia had been involved, they wouldn't have escalated slowly, but brought the full might of their secret service to bear from the start!"
"So, we probably don't have to deal with the FIS or the FSB," Harry summed up. "Just a small private army, mostly veterans of Afghanistan and the Chechen War and former KGB spies."
Luna nodded. "Exactly. And I don't think that he has too many former spies among his guards since he probably can't trust them not to try to take over."
Which was a small consolation, in Ron's opinion. But it was better than the worst case scenario.
Marginally.
He went back to studying the aerial pictures. They had a raid to plan.
West of Novorossiysk, Black Sea, September 28th, 2005
"Careful, the sea's not as calm as we'd like," Jack said as Ron gripped the ladder leading down to the zodiac, where Karl was already waiting.
Ron nodded, ignoring the slight reproach he heard in the man's voice. Yes, the sea was rougher than was ideal, but between the weather forecast and the new moon, they only had a limited window of opportunity for the mission. Kind of like D-Day, he thought with a chuckle as he started to climb down.
Halfway down, the yacht suddenly rolled, and he was swung away from the hull. Gasping, he barely managed to bring his legs up to brace himself before the movement reversed and he was slammed against the ship. He hit his hand, too, but fortunately didn't lose his grip.
Might've been easier to rappel down, he thought as he continued his descent, a trifle more quickly now - he was secured by a line, after all. But that would have been more embarrassing, too.
Karl grabbed his legs as soon as he got close and pulled him into the bucking zodiac. "Scheissidee bei diesem Wetter!" the man cursed as he released the safety line from Ron's harness.
Ron winced, but there was nothing he could say in their defence. So he sat down and waited for the rest of the group to make their descent. And hoped they didn't hurt themselves while they were at it.
Ginny quickly climbed down the ladder and, despite being swung around like he had been, she dropped into the zodiac before Karl could grab her. She didn't even fall down. Ron didn't have to look at her to know she was grinning, too.
Luna and Hermione, though, were lowered into the zodiac hanging from the safety line without letting them use the ladder. Ron carefully didn't make a comment, just pulled Hermione in next to him - the sea was growing worse, and a particularly tall wave splashed the entire zodiac just as they took their seats.
Sirius followed, taking the ladder, but bungling it on the bottom half. Karl pulled him in despite his claims that he could finish himself.
Then came the crate of supplies Dumbledore had provided - at least the stuff they hadn't sneaked into Hermione's beaded bag yet - before Harry brought up the rear. Ron's friend got lucky and didn't have to deal with the yacht suddenly rolling, so he was mostly dry when he reached the boat.
That didn't last long, of course. Karl turned the zodiac away from the yacht and towards the coast, barely visible in the distance, despite the lights from the village, and everyone was drenched within minutes.
Well, they had dressed for that, mostly - they were wearing neoprene suits under their harnesses. Not the most inconspicuous outfits, but then, if you landed on a foreign shore at night in a black zodiac, odds are even a tourist disguise wouldn't fool the authorities.
They took about half an hour to reach the shore - or rather, until they were close enough to signal the yacht to do another flyover with the drone, to check for witnesses at their first choice of landing site.
Several waves splashed everyone and left about five inches of water inside the boat while they waited, despite the small aft pump working steadily. But as long as Karl didn't look worried, Ron wasn't overly worried either - the German was the one who had to return to the yacht with the boat, after all.
"It's clear!" Luna announced, taping the radio bud in her ear.
"Go! Go!" Sirius snapped. "Let's get on dry land before we start to grow gills!"
Ron chuckled, and Hermione huffed as Karl steered the zodiac towards the shore, with the engine at a low setting to keep the noise down. A few minutes later, they reached the beach, and Ron jumped out of the boat, then turned to help Hermione and the others through the surf while Harry and Sirius moved ahead.
"We're invading Russia in autumn," he mumbled, then chuckled at the absurd thought before he had to focus on not stumbling and dropping the supply crate Karl shoved at him. "Viel Glück!" the man said, then put the engine into reverse and slowly pulled back from the beach.
Ron gritted his teeth and carried the crate up the beach. So much effort for a deception!
Harry helped him halfway to the treeline - no, it was more of a bushline - past the sand, where the others were waiting. "Let's get out of these wet clothes!" he whispered as they dropped the crate behind the tallest bush.
Ten minutes later, they were all reasonably dry and wearing camo clothes. Hermione was pushing the last suit into her beaded bag of holding. That left the crate.
They were supposed to bury it nearby according to the plan Dumbledore's men were privy to, but it was easier to tear it apart and stuff the pieces into the bag as well. And more satisfying, too, after struggling with the thing from the surf up the beach.
"I've wiped our tracks!" Luna announced as they finished, pointing back at the beach with a broken-off branch in hand.
Ron checked with a glance - in their limited light, it looked like she had done a thorough job. Certainly good enough that it wouldn't be obvious come daylight. "Alright," he said, "let's move!"
The night wouldn't last forever, and, come morning, they needed to be under cover.
West of Novorossiysk, Russia, September 29th, 2005
MREs for breakfast. Ron glanced at his, then at Hermione. She was smirking at him. "See? They come in handy."
He snorted. "These are extraordinary circumstances."
"For which I was prepared," she retorted.
"Just admit she was right," Ginny said, leaning over to peer at his meal. "What did you get?"
Ron pulled his ration away from her. "Ask Hermione for another if you don't like yours," he told her.
"I'm planning to," she replied with a huff. "I just want to know what they look like when open. I'm not going to steal your breakfast - we're not six any more."
"You were six; I was seven," Ron corrected her.
She shook her head and turned away to inspect Luna's meal. Presumably, she had already checked Harry's ration and deemed it less appetising than her own.
Ron snorted as he started to prepare his meal.
Hermione joined him, her own bag already heating up. She made a point of looking around, then at the mouth of the cave in which they were hiding, where Sirius was serving as a lookout. "I still can't believe this cave isn't visited regularly," she said.
Ron shrugged. "We didn't find any trace of people in here." No debris, no signs of a fire, nothing.
"A cave like this should attract teenagers," Ginny said. "It's an ideal spot to hide from their parents to make out," she added with a glance towards Harry.
Of course. Ron shook his head at her antics. She was correct, though. However, they were quite a distance from the village, so it wasn't really close to a settlement - not counting Kirikov's compound. "Perhaps Kirikov scared them off?"
Hermione pressed her lips together before saying: "That would indicate that he regularly has his men patrol this area."
"Perhaps the cave is haunted?" Luna speculated.
"I doubt it," Hermione retorted. "We should have seen signs of that."
"Well, it's still the best hiding place, but perhaps we should consider moving to an alternative spot," Ron said.
"If there are patrols, then that won't really reduce the risk of being discovered," Harry pointed out.
He was correct, of course. Ron still didn't like it. If something seemed too good to be true, odds were, it was.
They hadn't seen any patrols in the area, but they left the cave in the early afternoon, anyway - they needed to move to a spot from which they could observe Kirikov's compound. Preferably during the day, so they didn't miss anything - even night vision gear only went so far when it came to details. And Ron preferred to move during the day; the guards would be using night vision gear as well, and the group wasn't properly trained in hiding at night from that. They knew the theory, but they simply hadn't had enough time to prepare for it in Scotland.
Trying to escape notice during the day, however, was something for which the girls had trained. Some more than others, of course. He glanced ahead. Ginny and Harry were on point, somewhere.. There! He caught a glimpse of one of them moving, but couldn't tell who it was - both wore the same camouflage fatigues, after all, and Ginny's hair was hidden beneath a cap just as Harry's was.
"Why did you stop?"
He glanced over his shoulder. Hermione had stopped a few yards behind him, running a hand over her forehead - it was still quite hot here - accidentally smearing the camouflage face paint on the back of her hand.
"I wanted to check on Harry and Ginny," he replied.
"Ah."
Luna appeared behind her. "Are we there yet?" she asked, then giggled.
Ron snorted. She had been hanging out with Sirius a little too much.
"No," Hermione replied.
"Aw." Luna pouted, and Hermione pursed her lips.
"Still no traces of any patrols?" she asked.
"None," Ron told her. At least Harry and Ginny hadn't found anything.
"That is weird."
"It's not as if Kirikov owns the entire area, and sending out patrols means he would be spreading out his forces and drawing attention," he pointed out. Kirikov might have the local authorities in his pocket, but even Russia cared enough about keeping up appearances to make running your own patrols unfeasible. Probably.
Hermione huffed. "That's sloppy, though. His compound isn't that big - his guards won't be able to retreat very far in the face of an attack."
"I don't think he's preparing to repel an actual invasion," Ron said with a grin, which quickly faded. "And the smaller area will make it harder to sneak inside."
"We've got magic on our side, though," Luna said.
"And a schedule to keep," Sirius, who had finally arrived, told them. "Keep moving. You can rest later."
Sometimes, Sirius was a little too much the officer.
But they got moving, Ron leading Luna and Hermione through the worst of the terrain. Between Luna's training and Hermione's experience, they managed well enough, but they were the weakest among their group when it came to such things.
Their other talents made up for it, of course.
They still took an hour until they had finally made it up the last ridge separating them from Kirikov's villa. A ridge that reminded Ron a little too much of the one on which they had almost become spider-food in Kosovo. But they made it, and the bushes would provide decent cover to set up an observation post, as Sirius called it. Drones and cameras were fine, but nothing beat direct observation, in Ron's opinion.
He crawled the last few yards upwards and carefully avoided disturbing any of the foliage until he could finally study the area through his binoculars.
And he still didn't like what he was seeing. Even at first glance, it was obvious that the compound had been fortified. Clear lanes of fire, no cover for attackers, reinforced guard posts - Ron wouldn't even dismiss the possibility of land mines after looking at the remains of the lawn.
This was either a bunker or a trap, in his opinion. Perhaps even both.
"Is everyone ready?"
"Yes," Ron replied at once.
She wet her lips with her tongue and tightly gripped her wand before she answered. "Yes."
She caught Harry glancing at her, and frowned. She was ready. And she knew that this had to be done. To protect those who couldn't fight back. Everyone was doing their part, after all, and it wasn't as if they had anything better to do while they waited for the latest news about the Ministry's defences.
"Do it," she snapped.
Harry nodded and walked into the small clearing below them. Once he was in the centre, he cleared his throat, then said: "Voldemort."
A moment later, he apparated to a spot between her and Ron, forming a triangle - or a half-circle.
Seconds passed. She clenched her teeth. Shouldn't the Snatchers have arrived already? Or had the other ambushes and attacks by the Order convinced them to stop?
Suddenly, markers appeared floating in the air. Ah - Voldemort's helpers had grown more cautious. Disillusionment Charms, and Silencing Charms as well - she hadn't heard the typical sound of someone arriving via Apparition.
But she and her friends had prepared for that - the Human-presence-revealing Charm let them know exactly where their enemies were.
The clearing blew up, struck by Harry's Blasting Curse. The markers were thrown away, some of them fading as the still invisible Snatchers died. But some survived.
Until Ron's and her curses hit the area.
"Accio wands!" Harry yelled, summoning the dead Snatcher's wands - second and third wands were always useful - they could never have enough caches with supplies.
And Hermione fought to keep her breakfast down and tried very hard not to think about what her curses had just done. Or look at the cratered area.
But those Snatchers wouldn't murder anyone ever again.