"What the bloody hell is going on!" Severus thundered, his head submerged in the Floo box.
Hermione waited while he was silent, as if he was listening to a reply.
"Well, I figured that out, Remus," Severus said angrily. "Do you have anything to add to that observation?"
"Stop it," she hissed at him. He threw a dirty look at her.
Severus stared into the kitchen of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place and fixed Remus Lupin with a stare that would melt steel.
"My orb had been orange for a total of seven seconds, Severus," said Lupin, visibly panicked. "I don't know more than you. Just be prepared to receive casualties, if needed."
Severus nodded sharply. At least it gave them something to do.
He pulled his head back in his laboratory and turned to look at Hermione.
She was bristling like a wet cat. The state of her damp, windblown hair didn't help. She had hastily donned her Muggle clothing and was clutching her wand, white-knuckled. Her eyes were aflame with rage.
"Heavens, that would make me think twice," said Severus as he looked her up and down, an eyebrow raised.
"It isn't funny!" shouted Hermione angrily.
Severus took a step back.
"Your friend isn't out there, part of some stupid prophecy out to wreck his life before it started!"
"I lost friends in the first war as well, Hermione," Severus said in a deadly calm voice. "They weren't all Death Eaters. Now, I suggest we follow the measly orders we were given."
Hermione swallowed hard and nodded. She slipped her wand into a long pouch she had hung on her belt, turned abruptly, and marched out of the laboratory.
Severus rolled his eyes and sighed. She didn't even know their orders yet.
0
Hermione knew exactly what was to be done. She ran out of the ice tower and down the drawbridge, several Amazonian archers were with her. They were scanning the sky, bows at the ready.
"What's wrong?" Dumbledore asked sharply as he stood.
"Ministry!" Hermione gasped out. "Attack!"
"I'm going," Alexandra said abruptly, rising to her feet.
Sophia looked alarmed.
"We have sworn a feud with the Dark One as well," Alexandra reminded her stubbornly.
Sophia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "You will be missed greatly if you are killed."
"I have to say goodbye to Kari," said Alexandra excitedly, running up the drawbridge.
Hermione followed so she could return to Severus through the Floo.
Dumbledore looked as if he were going to argue, but shook his head and Apparated with a loud 'pop' instead.
Sophia stood on the drawbridge, alone.
0
Severus paced in front of the ballroom fireplace, biting his nails. Idiot wife.
Flames burst up in the fireplace and Hermione walked through the flames with a pretty blonde girl in a yellow toga behind her.
"Hello," said Kari, holding her hand out to him. "I will be hiding here until things calm down."
"Kari can be tracked to the Tower by her bloodline, and we don't know who her father is," Hermione said breathlessly. "The location must be kept safe."
As Hermione made introductions, the flames crackled and Charlie Weasley's head appeared in the fireplace.
"They stormed in and there was nothing we could do to stop them!" said Charlie, half-shouting.
"The Death Eaters?" Hermione asked, panic stricken.
"No! Ron, Harry, Neville and the others!" Charlie yelled, nearly hysterical, obviously distracted by some local pandemonium. "It's all we can do to keep Mum under control. She's gone completely mad!"
Hermione took a deep breath.
"I have to go," she said, pulling her wand out and appearing to ready herself to walk into the flames.
"I don't think so," snorted Severus, grabbing her arm.
"You can't stop me!" Hermione shouted at him.
"I most certainly can!" Severus said, drawing himself up to his full height and fixing her with a steely glare.
"It's my duty to go!" Hermione yelled, ignoring his posturing.
"It's not your prophecy, Hermione," Severus said sharply. "You don't have to die!"
When he opened his eyes, there was a loud ringing in his ears and his jaw ached. Also, he was on the ground.
He looked up to see Hermione wincing and waving her hand about in pain. She was eighteen years old and only by pulling some strings and she looked so very young.
"I just want you safe. Please," he pleaded with her.
"I hate to break this up," said Arthur Weasley, his head popping up in the fire near Charlie's. "But we're going to need your help."
"Anything," said Hermione, turning around to look at him, her face set in a mask of grim determination.
0
Hermione had never seen a spell of this magnitude before. She sat on a flying carpet before Kebnekaise Mountain in Sweden with a hundred Amazonian archers, all Disillusioned, lined up on flying carpets behind her.
A deafening bird-like scream ripped through the air, and Hermione looked up to see the sky ripple as if something huge was passing overhead.
"What the hell was that?" Hermione blurted out as their carpet rocked in the air.
"Probably K'pluur's mother," smirked Severus. "The snow dragon was just a hatchling, you know."
The side of the mountain rippled, and a large door appeared in its side.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked as Severus shifted uncomfortably.
"They can only be killed by gods, haven't been a ground for nearly two thousand years, and aren't rumored to be very polite." Severus said in a low voice.
"The Jotun…" Hermione rolled the word around in her mouth. Severus could see realization dawning on her. "Are they mad?"
"I'm fairly certain he won't be showing up," said Severus testily.
"Severus," said Hermione warily. "According to legend the Jotun never had problems having children. The last time we saw them was two thousand years ago."
Severus leaned over to the next carpet with Alexandra and several other archers sitting on it. "Is this a good idea?"
0
Hermione stared at the eight-legged horse flying next to her carpet. She was desperately trying not to stare at the rider on its back, but it seemed to be as fascinated with her as she was with it.
His skin was black and shiny like obsidian, although it moved like normal flesh. His eyes were clouded over like storm clouds; if you watched, you could follow small bolts of lightning through them. His mouth was a toothless yawn of bloody saliva when it opened.
Right now, his mouth was closed, and his lips pursed in thought. His dark hair was intertwined with small black adders, slithering about.
The Jotun were shape-shifters, and if Hermione didn't know better, she would have thought they were all different species.
Some had more than one head. Some were fair, others dark. Some no bigger than a cat, some huge. A covered figure let her veil slip, and Hermione was stunned into awe by the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.
The Jotun wove a strange magic that Hermione didn't understand, and the air rippled. They flew their carpets through a ring of blue fire that blossomed in the sky, and found themselves in London.
Hermione had never seen or imagined anything like it.
The Ministry had been blown apart, leaving a wide, gaping maw of splintered bits of wood, steel, and concrete where the Muggle buildings above once were.
Muggles were running through the streets screaming. Small fires burned here and there, and firefighters had to fight the panicked crowds to get to them.
The Jotun barely had to do anything but growl, and hundreds of Death Eaters began breaking formations in terror.
The few Death Eaters that took to the air seemingly vanished into nothingness, followed by loud crunching noises and the occasional wail.
Hermione was relieved to see Ron unconscious on the ground, a broken flowerpot by his head. She breathed out a sigh of relief.
She searched desperately for any sign of anyone she knew in the ruins. They could be anywhere. How many levels were there, anyway?
A hole melted in the floor of the entrance hall and Death Eaters began flying out on their broomsticks in organized ranks to attack. They were met with a volley of ebony arrows. As they reached their targets, they encapsulated them in a clear, pink, glowing egg. The prisoners' wands and brooms were sucked from the egg and expelled, clattering to the ground.
Hermione watched as the pink capsules fell from the sky, wands and brooms raining down into the wreckage.
Hermione was disappointed to feel her carpet fall back behind the action.
"What are we doing?" Hermione demanded.
"Apparating," said Severus grimly as he raised his wand and grabbed her arm.
Hermione and Severus appeared near Ron, and she assessed his wounds. Just a bump on the head. She saw his wand near him and put it in his hand, so he could find it if he woke up.
Severus was dodging a curse from a small Death Eater and slipping behind a bust of Lothar the Lucky.
"Petrificus Totallus," said Hermione with a swish of her wand, and the figure fell to the floor.
"Thank you," said Severus, brushing the marble powder from his clothing. He walked to the figure and ripped the mask off.
Hermione was startled to see the face of a young boy behind the mask.
"Second year," Severus sneered, kicking the boy aside. He marched to the melted hole in the floor and looked down.
They found Neville in a room full of Pensieves with locked covers.
"Crucio!" Neville screamed, and a Death Eater's back bowed violently.
"Neville!" Hermione cried out as she ran to him.
Bellatrix Lestrange panted and her fingers convulsed as they scrabbled at the floor. A thin line of drool fell from her mouth and pooled on her robes.
Neville shrieked madly as he raised his wand again.
"Accio wand," Hermione heard a calm voice behind her.
Neville's wand flew past her ear, and she heard it 'thwap' into a hand near her.
"I think that's enough, Mr. Longbottom," said Severus sternly.
The fury drained out of Neville's face, and he stood, shaking and pale, before them. He threw up.
"Professor?" Neville whispered. His eyes were dilated.
"He's in shock," said Severus, moving to him slowly.
"We've got you," Hermione reached out for him and he took her hand.
They could hear fighting deep within the bowels of the Ministry. The Jotun were efficient.
There was a low rumble growing under them, and the floor began to shake. She looked at Severus, who was examining Neville.
Just then, a wave of green energy vibrated up through the floorboards and hit them like a freight train.
The world went dark.