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Chapter 22

"It's so good to see you, 'Mione," Ginny said, still engulfing Hermione in a bear hug.

"You too, Ginny."

"We really missed you at the Burrow. It wasn't at all the same without you and – well, you know."

Hermione looked over Ginny's shoulder at where Neville stood, shifting his feet uncomfortably. They were in the Great Hall, and Hermione worried that this reunion might cause a scene. She gave Ginny an extra squeeze and stepped away to greet Neville properly.

"We have a lot to discuss," Hermione said a moment later, taking a seat between her two friends. "What with the new developments on the Hogwarts Express."

"You know," Ginny whispered, her eyes racing to Hermione's. "About Luna. How? I – I didn't think I'd be able to get you a message safely, so – "

"Yes, I know," Hermione interrupted, her voice low. She glanced around and caught Malfoy's eye as he slid past the Gryffindor table. He nodded slightly. She returned the subtle acknowledgement, and his eyes narrowed. She turned back to Ginny. "I can't tell you how I know, but I'm aware that she was taken. I want to hear all about it – later. We'll do the usual for now," Hermione gestured around at their fellow Gryffindors, "and then meet up in the Room for debriefing."

They ate quickly, with Hermione, Neville and Ginny each taking it in turns to gently rebuff any DA members who asked after Luna. The atmosphere in the Great Hall was subdued, with the exception of a small group of Slytherins comprising of Pansy Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle and a visibly reluctant Malfoy. Snape did not make an announcement at the end of the Feast, and everyone adjourned quickly. Hermione slipped away from her friends and followed Malfoy out of the Great Hall at a safe distance.

The three of them stood in the middle of the DA Headquarters in a small, tight circle. They were a pale, sad trio in the vast space, and Hermione reach out to grasp each of her companions tightly by the shoulder. They looked at her, her own despair written across their faces.

"I've had a while to think about this," Hermione said at last. She took a deep breath and released her friends, stepped back from them and straightened her spine. "We could keep reasonably safe before. It wasn't perfect by any means, but at least we could keep each other…" she trailed off. Ginny nodded slowly, and Neville brushed a tear from the corner of his eye. Hermione took another deep breath and continued: "It's time now. With what happened to Luna… We have no choice." She gave a fierce, hard grin. "We are now officially fighting back."

Ginny met Hermione's eyes, and for once Hermione was able to return the blazing brightness she found in her friend. Neville gave a great sniff and threw his arms around Hermione. Ginny followed suit, and the three held one another fast for a long moment.

"What will we do first?" Ginny asked after they broke apart.

"We will reframe our mission," Hermione answered. "Where before we just wanted to have one another's backs, we let the Carrows – the Death Eaters – set the terms. Not anymore. They've shown that they are not above kidnapping students in order to subdue support for Harry. By taking one of our own, they've declared war on the DA. We declare war in return. Neville," she turned to the young man, "pick out a team of fighters. You are now in charge of all armed conflict against the Carrows, Filch, and the junior Death Eaters."

Neville frowned.

"You mean Parkinson and her lot?"

"Exactly. I want you to recruit enough strong fighters to counter everything they throw at us. We will go on the offensive, but we're going to be very, very careful about it. Our goal is not retaliation – we have to be clear on that from this point forward – our goal is to slowly but significantly cut their resources, and we will pick our battles very carefully. We want to gather intelligence for the time being and then plan out how we will move forward. That –" she turned to Ginny, "is where you come in. You will consolidate all of our allies – the faculty, of course, but especially the ghosts and portraits and students. I want a network of informants to get us as much information as possible. We will know what goes on in the Slytherin Common Room. We will hear what the Carrows talk to one another about. We will know what the junior DEs are planning. In short, we will know everything."

Ginny, who had been nodding along, narrowed her eyes.

"How am I supposed to do that, 'Mione… I don't exactly have a ton of stuff to work with here."

"I know," Hermione said, smiling. "That's why we're going to change this Room again. It's not just our headquarters anymore. I want it to be our intelligence hub, with a space for paintings and ghosts to come in and submit information, and a bunker for those of us who aren't safe to circulate in the castle anymore. Neville?"

"I…" he trailed off after a moment, peering around the Room owlishly, "you want some DA members to live here?"

"That's right. You're in charge of changing the Room and closing any loopholes. By the time we adjourn tonight, we'll have made a list of at-risk members. I'm thinking those related to any prominent members of the Light, and especially to the Order of the Phoenix. I don't think they need to stay in here all the time yet, but I want them here at night, and we will be following their movements closely on the Map to make sure they're not ambushed. They'll retreat here as needed."

"We will be following them on the Map?" Ginny asked, tilting her head to the side.

"That's right," Hermione smiled. "We will now have someone monitoring the Map at all times. That will be part of your lookout, Ginny. It's our best asset, so I want to use it more effectively. Other than when I'm out in the castle on my own, I want the Map it to stay in the Room at all times – I'll put a spell on it to that effect. I want you to use it as part of your mission."

"Are you…" Ginny trailed off – it was the first time Hermione had ever seen the younger girl blush. "Even after…"

"Yes," Hermione said firmly. "I trust you Ginny. And you, Neville. We are together in this no matter what."

"And what about you?" Neville asked after a moment.

"I will coordinate the DA as usual," Hermione said, grimly, "and I will handle Professor Snape. Starting tonight, in fact. But first," Hermione checked her watch, "we have someone else who needs to join our inner circle."

Neville and Ginny exchanged puzzled looks. Hermione walked to the door, but paused.

"Neither of you are to attack him, understood?"

Both of her friends frowned, but then they nodded. Hermione swung the door open, and Malfoy stepped into the DA headquarters, his empty hands raised in surrender. She shut the door quickly after him.

"Granger," he said.

"What the fuck is he doing here?" Ginny demanded.

"Get out!" Neville shouted.

"Nice to see you too," Malfoy said sarcastically, his eyes glinting with faint amusement.

"Shut it, Malfoy," Hermione said, turning her back on the smirking Slytherin. "He's here for a very good reason," she told her friends, both of whom had their wands pointed behind her at Malfoy.

"That's right. I come in peace."

"Hermione," Neville said, "we can't have him in here. He can't be trusted."

"I agree," she answered immediately. "And we won't trust him. Which is why you're to keep your wands on him throughout this meeting."

"Oh come on," Malfoy whined.

"Shut it," Hermione said again. She waved her friends to take a seat, and Malfoy followed suit. She sat down last, between her friends and Malfoy. She nodded at the latter to begin.

"Right," he said, relaxing back into his chair as though he owned the place. "I'm here in peace. The Carrows know about the DA, but they don't know just how organized you lot are. They don't realise that you've recruited most of the faculty and some of the portraits. They know about the ghosts, of course, but that was obvious enough for even them to realise."

"Is this supposed to be valuable information?" Ginny asked scathingly. "Because we know all of this already, you twit."

Malfoy sneered before continuing as though he hadn't heard her.

"The Carrows are organising their own force to counter the DA. It'll be just like the Inquisitorial Squad, but I doubt they'll call it that, or give the members badges just yet. Did you know about that?" He shot the last at Ginny, who just glared in return. "Now, many members of Slytherin are interested in helping the Carrows. I can give you list of names. Many more are only interested in finishing out the year and keeping their heads down. A minority… want to help the DA."

"Bollocks," Neville interjected forcefully.
"No," Malfoy answered with a faint, grim smile. "There are those of us who don't want to sit still while students are tortured and forced to torture others. There are those of us who – " he cut himself off. "The DA could use members of Slytherin. Having us in your corner would be an advantage even you two," he gestured elegantly at Ginny and Neville, "can't deny. I'm not saying you have to trust us; I know that the DA has ways of keeping its members… compliant. Also, any further aid from me comes with this as a price."

"'Mione, I really don't – "

Hermione held up a hand to forestall Ginny, and smiled gently.

"That's the other thing I'll be doing from now on. I will liaise with the Slytherins and Malfoy. I will decide on who to recruit to the DA, and who to keep at arm's length. You realise," she turned to Malfoy, "that most of the castle – if not the castle itself at this point – is on our side. If any of your people betray us, there will be a reckoning."

Hermione expected him to bristle at the threat, but he just nodded.

"Understood."

"Right then," Hermione said, "let's get to that list of names, shall we?"

Hours later, Hermione ushered Malfoy to the door. Neville and Ginny conversed in an undertone behind them, and Malfoy held out a hand to keep the door open when Hermione made to close it.

"I know where Lovegood is," he whispered.

Hermione felt herself draw in a quick breath.

"Is she…" Hermione's stomach turned, and she decided to ask a different question. "Where is she?"

"She's alive, yes," Malfoy said, almost reading her thoughts. "She's at Malfoy Manor. I can..." he glanced behind her to ascertain that Ginny and Neville were still deep in discussion, "I can try to keep track of how she's keeping."

Hermione narrowed her eyes.

"And what do you want in return?"

"Consider it another peace offering," Malfoy said.

Without another word, he spun on his heel and left.

She braced herself, and took a close look at the Marauder's Map before looking back to her friends.

"Right," she said. "I'm off, then."

"What?" Ginny asked. "Where?"

"Like I said, I have to deal with Snape, and I want to discuss Luna with him as soon as possible."

"Be very careful, Hermione," Neville said.

"I will."

"Do you…" Ginny shuffled a little uncomfortably, "do you want us to watch you on the Map. Only, I don't want…"

"No. I'm the only member of the DA who is permitted to move about the castle alone, and I'll need the Map when I'm doing so. He's not in his office tonight, so I'll need it to find him as well."

Ginny frowned.

"Where is he?"

"In the Forbidden Forest."

She found Snape at the edge of the Forest, near Dumbledore's tomb. He looked unsurprised to see her striding through the snow.

"Granger," he said quietly, staring down at the clean white marble encasing the previous Headmaster.

"I need to talk to you."

"And you may do so," he turned away from her and strode off, his voice trailing behind him, "at our meeting this Friday."

He was already several meters away from her; Hermione hurried to catch him up.

"No," she snapped. "I need to talk to you now."

He kept on walking, and she followed, realising that they were already amongst the trees. She paused when Snape detoured abruptly off the path and headed into the thicket. It was well after dark, and she could barely see his outline ahead of her. She carried on, lighting her wand tip.

"Stop, won't you?" she snarled at last, some minutes later when they reached a small clearing in the trees. She was half out of breath from keeping up with his long, confident strides through the undergrowth. She peered around warily, disliking being this deep in the Forbidden Forest.

To her surprise, Snape did stop. He whirled around in the moonlit glade, leaned against a tree, and put a cigarette into his mouth. Hermione caught the familiar scent of woodsmoke when he exhaled a plume of vapour into the cold air.

"You smoke?" she blurted, too surprised to help herself.

He sneered.

"Obviously. What do you want?"

"I…" Hermione trailed off. It was as she'd expected, all those days ago: the limited but very real cordiality between herself and Snape over Christmas had evaporated. She felt the loss somewhere in her chest, but pressed on quickly before his impatience grew. "I want to discuss Luna Lovegood's kidnapping with you."

His expression did not change.

"What about it?" he asked after he inhaled again, the tip of the cigarette burning brightly in the gloom.

"I want you to tell me where she is. And how she is. And how many more students they intend to…" she trailed off again; he was staring at her, his eyes totally void of emotion, the cigarette in his hand rapidly turning to ash.

"And what makes you think I owe you answers to any of those questions?"

"I'm Head Girl. And you've reiterated several times that I need to keep the students safe. How can I be expected to do that when any of us could be snatched from Hogwarts at any given time?" She took a step closer so that she stood in the middle of the clearing. She asked her next question in an undertone, "How could you let this happen?"

Snape flicked the cigarette away into the snow, where it died with a sizzle. He looked up at the moon for a moment, and Hermione caught her breath at how sharply the faint light illuminated his face. He turned to her, and stepped closer.

"And how could I have stopped it?"

"You… you would have if you could have?"

"That is a moot point, Granger."

"It isn't."

"You ask questions you know I cannot answer." His eyes narrowed as he continued to regard her. "You demand answers you know I cannot give you."

"You can," she said. "Please."

His eyes, fixed on her own, trailed down her face and settled on her mouth, before he looked away completely.

"Your lips are turning blue. How many times do I have to tell you to dress appropriately for cold weather?"

He turned away, gesturing vaguely in the direction of Hogwarts, and Hermione followed him back to the castle, a thousand more questions burning in her chest.