AN: Thank you to DramionEverlarkPeetatoRichonne for reviewing! Here is the next instalment for all of my loyal readers.
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Chapter Fifty Six: Idiocy in the Most Unlikely Circumstances.
The distant sounds of battle echoed in the distance, screams and exploding stones and the crackle of magic, it called to her as she clutched her wand tightly. Holding a permanent Protego around herself, she crept through the trees blindly, listening for anything out of place and deadly. She knew how foolhardy and reckless she had been apparating into a war zone, but she couldn't stop herself from taking another step forward. Her heart bled for her best friend and she couldn't stop herself wanting to find him, to truly know he was gone. It was nonsensical and stupid, but her grief stole her logic and her sanity.
"Are you crazy, Granger? Are you suicidal?" Draco's voice hissed at her, startling Hermione, and she spun around to face the direction of his voice.
"I thought you hadn't got my message." Hermione huffed and lowered her wand, after having raised it.
"I could have been anyone!" He continued to berate her, unconcerned by her previously defensive stance, "You're gallivanting around the forest as if Death Eaters aren't casting avadas at anything that moves! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
"I had to-Harry, is he really…?" She stammered, regaining her purpose. Her heart ached at the thought, but she needed to know, for her rational mind remained in denial. After all of the times Harry had miraculously avoided death, surely this time was a mistake. A misunderstanding on Draco's part. Perhaps a hazy sighting from across the battlefield causing the most awful of pre-emptive warnings.
"And sending me a Patronus with your location! Are you mad? Anyone could have overheard your message!"
"Draco! Please! Is Harry really gone?" Reaching forward, she snagged Draco's sleeve desperately between her trembling fingertips.
"No." Draco shook his head in amazement, "He wasn't really dead. Everyone thought…but he…the boy who lived lives to fight another day."
"Harry's alive! But you said-"
"I know what I sent you, but he somehow survived. We all thought he was dead." Taking a breath to acknowledge the astounding events of the last hour, he frowned at the curly haired witch, "You shouldn't be here."
"I'm here to fight." Hermione said firmly. Although now certain Harry had once again dodged the hand of death, she knew she wouldn't turn tail and walk away. She would stay for her cause, as always intended, "It's my f-" A branch cracked to her left and she spun, raising her wand defensively, "Protego! Stupify! Impedimenta!"
"Expelliarmus!" Draco disarmed an opponent wandlessly, catching it with quick reflexes and turning to their next attacker, as Hermione continued to yell spells in the direction of the original noise, "Diffindo!" Slicing through the Death Eaters stomach, he turned and cast a defensive spell around Hermione, as a spell flew through the air at her, "Granger, three o'clock. Five opponents. One injured. Two defending." He informed her, as she flicked her wand at the two opponents firing her way.
"Petrificus Totalus! Protego! Impedimenta!" Hermione threw spells in the direction Draco told her, feeling his own spells crackle passed her.
"Reducto! Protego Maxima!" Draco aimed at a large tree, before forcing Granger to crouch, "Two incapacitated. Aim four o'clock, I'll take the other two. Now!" As the sharp remains of the exploded tree settled, Draco yanked Hermione back to her feet, already aiming at a Death Eater emerging from behind a thick oak tree, "Diffindo!"
"Stupify! Incarcerous!" Hermione's words rang through the air, sharp and purposeful, as the Death Eater's stunned body was folded into a foetal position by the invisible ropes, "Protego!" Throwing the spell over herself and Draco, she felt the hot sizzle of the remaining Death Eater's spell inches away.
"Sectumsempra!" Draco watched the final black cloak crumple to the forest floor. The surrounding forest lapsed into it's previous quiet hush of wind through leaves as they listened for any more unusual sounds of movement.
"Done?" Hermione panted, still hoping a strong Protego around the pair. She didn't trust the silence, but her senses alerted her of no more threats.
"Done." Draco confirmed and they both sighed in relief. Glancing over at Hermione, Draco rolled his eyes at her small, self-satisfied smile.
Hermione couldn't believe she and Draco had taken down five Death Eaters with only a few grazes between them, where spells had come too close before a Protego was performed. She could feel Draco meticulously healing each scrape on her skin, before attending to his own minor injuries. But she paid him no heed as she delighted in her achievement. She had helped take down a group of Death Eaters without her sight. It was incredible, impossible, and yet true. Adrenaline lingered in her limbs and she couldn't help the smile tugging at her lips. She would no longer be considered a burden to the cause. She had regained her sense of self and purpose, which was far more important than her sight.
"How did you get here?" Draco inquired quietly, breaking her exuberant thoughts, as his eyes continued to scan the trees for any more threats.
"I apparated." She explained, listening hard to the sounds of the forest, "Only the edge of the Dark Forest is within the anti-apparation barrier surrounding Hogwarts. I knew where I could safely apparate to."
"You're lucky you didn't get caught, Death Eaters were crawling all over the forest only a few minutes ago." Draco narrowed his eyes in the direction of the castle, while Hermione tilted her head in that direction.
"We should go." Hermione murmured, walking carefully towards Hogwarts.
"Granger, it's dangerous up there." Draco attempted to warn her, but knew his words would fall on dismissive ears.
"You didn't train with me all this time to stop me now, did you, Draco?" She smirked over her shoulder at him. He rolled his eyes at her persistence, but followed after her. The stakes in this final battle had just been raised farther than Draco ever would have bet on, but hope treacherously danced in his chest, as they broke the treeline.