Chapter Twenty-Six: Grace
A/N: Apologies, to anyone who already read it. Managed to miss an entire scene from this chapter. It's the second scene. My bad.
Monday, 31st January 2000.
Harry slumped backwards once Hermione let go of his arms, his upper body splaying out over the covers of his bed. He was utterly drained and was seriously debating his next words. He took a deep breath and settled himself for what was to come.
"That much trouble, huh?" He asked, in Alteran, Hermione turning to look at him oddly.
"What? Why are you…" She replied, the confusion lessening the anger still simmering just underneath her features.
Harry tried to shift up onto his elbows, but his body was too tired and he immediately slipped flat onto his back. He shrugged and continued. "Because we agreed that we should use it whenever we travel off-world. I thought that would be a lot easier to do if we choose to speak in it when we're here as well. Make it more natural. Now are you dodging the question, or is it even more trouble than I thought?"
Hermione glared at him for a moment. "More."
"I figured as much. You made sure we walked back to the room, rather than using the transporter, and didn't say a word the entire way. I am sorry for worrying you."
"It's not that you worry me that is bothering me, Harry. It's that you can't stop doing it. Always rushing in to the rescue. I admit, sometimes it's very cute and really makes me want to kiss you. But other times…"
"For what it is worth, Jack agrees with you. He even called it my 'saving people thing'." Hermione could not contain the smirk and choked laugh at that. "But he says that if he can help me control it, that it is a valuable trait to have. Though he prefaced it by saying it's a valuable trait in a leader."
Harry groaned at the idea. As naturally as it seemed to come to him, it still bothered him that the others so deferred to his judgement. The incident that Jack had pointed out was a classic case of his leadership going horribly wrong.
"What is it?" Hermione asked, immediately noticing the change in his demeanour.
"I don't think that it is natural for you to so easily read me like that. Aren't I allowed a few secrets?" Harry asked, but he couldn't help but roll his eyes as the care that had flashed forward on Hermione's features instantly gave way to frustration as he tried to dodge the question. "Jack pointed out how my 'thing' got us all in serious trouble with Sirius and the Department of Mysteries. And yet, you all still follow my lead without question. You…"
Harry trailed off and Hermione sat at the end of the bed, he could see her fingers twitch as she suppressed the urge to run them calmingly through his hair, still wanting to be angry for his rashness in taking the challenge while exhausted to protect her and the others.
"That was not your fault, Harry. Voldemort is to blame. Dumbledore too, for keeping the truth from you like that. If you had known about the prophecy, you'd have been far more likely to question the vision."
"Or I'd have just rushed in all the faster out of a desire to keep the orb out of Tom's hands. Remember the Philosopher's Stone. It was safe from Quirrell until I showed up. 'Only someone who wanted to find the Stone, but not use it, would be able to get it'. He could have stood down there until the centaurs came home and not figured that out or managed to retrieve it. My judgement isn't always the best when it comes to keeping my family safe or not acting when others seem to be in trouble."
Harry started slightly as he felt Hermione's long fingers thread through his lengthy hair and instantly he felt some of the shame inside diminish. "You are a good person, Harry. When you see others suffering, you want to act. To relieve that pain. I hate the reasons why you have those urges, and if I ever actually meet your Uncle, he and I will be exchanging words at wandpoint. But it is part of what makes you who you are today. And who you are today is who I fell in love with, as much as you sometimes frustrate me to no end."
Harry felt her shuffle closer and he slithered his closest arm around her waist. He opened his eyes and tilted his head back to lock eyes with her. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Hermione said with a soft smile. "I am still upset with you."
"I know," Harry replied.
"Pick one or the other. Switching back and forth is irritating me again." Hermione said jokingly.
"I know. But I'd rather not talk anymore in either language right now. In fact, if you keep that up, I'm going to fall asleep right here, half hanging off the bed."
One of Hermione's hands stopped running through his hair and Harry gave a surprised shout as the bed fell out from beneath him. He hovered through the air for a moment before he was gently laid back down with his head now firmly in Hermione's lap as she leaned back against the headboard.
"Go to sleep. I'll yell at you in the morning." She said, carding her fingers through his hair once more.
Harry didn't have the energy left to argue and closed his eyes, allowing sleep to take his exhausted form.
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Friday, 4th February 2000.
Carson's mind was still swimming, part of it still left back in the incredible rooms that had been provided for his quarters. Somehow, they had managed to nail the feel of his room back at his mother's house, deep in the highlands of Scotland. It even had a window that looked out over green hills and distant mountains. Despite Carson knowing it was both underground and in a desolate tundra.
"Here we are, Doc. Your shiny new lab." His eager guide said as Carson glanced up and looked around the room Neville had led him to.
It had taken a few days to make the decision, but the potential rewards he saw far outweighed the downsides for the moment. And he was already seeing the benefits. He'd made some slightly crazy requests upon agreeing, and he could see several of the devices he'd asked for sitting quietly on the nearby benches ready and waiting for his input. Including a sequencing machine that could have identified the gene in his blood for him, without having to send it out to his friend.
"It is everything you said you needed, isn't it?" Neville said, suddenly sounding a little concerned they'd forgotten something.
"Indeed it is. A job well done. And please, call me Carson." Beckett said, stepping over to the nearby microscope and noting the complete set of replaceable lenses on the rack behind it. "More than I could have hoped for."
"Natalie and Summer both say you're one of the best. If you say you need it, we get it." Neville said with a shrug and Carson felt a little guilty for over asking. But he was already thinking of ways to utilize some of the extra equipment. Including further research into this gene of theirs.
"Well, you certainly do not disappoint." Carson placed his work bag on the bench and pulled on the provided lab coat hanging on the nearby wall. He was impressed to find it fit perfectly. "I best get started."
Neville stood nearby looking at Carson expectantly and the Scotsman was a little confused. "I might be good, son, but I'm not that good. You'll need to give me a little while at least."
"What? Oh no, I'm here to help you."
"Help me?"
"Well, Summer is stuck downstairs for the foreseeable future. So rather than have to communicate with them for every little thing, I was assigned as your upstairs assistant." Neville said proudly.
"Oh, well. That's nice. But I don't really need an assistant. I should be fine." Carson replied, not wanting to hold the boy back from whatever important work he would otherwise be doing.
"Actually, it's less assistant and more resident expert. I'm a herbologist. All those 'curative properties of certain poisonous plants'. I can explain how they all mix together." Neville finished with a proud smile.
Carson gave a chuckle at the reminder of their first conversation. Now understanding why Summer had been so fascinated by what by muggle medical standards were dangerous substances.
"In that case, grab a coat and let's get started." He replied with a smile.
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Thursday, 10th February 2000.
Luna huddled in the narrow space she had gouged from inside the dense bush. She had tried her best to cover the entrance she had made manually, only using a small amount of magic to cover the obvious signs and to silence herself within the space. She could hear the footsteps nearing as those tracking her narrowed their search area. This had been the way of things for almost four hours now as she tried to keep away from her pursuers, alone against a larger force.
Fatigue was beginning to be an issue, even with her lighter use of magic, and she was starting to see how the exercise regime Jack had informed them they would be starting two days prior could have helped her in this situation. Given it was mostly the physical challenges she'd undergone that were leaving her so sore and out of breath. She was probably the fittest of the team, but even she was exhausted after being chased for so long.
Suddenly the bush split open and Luna raised her wand, blinking up into the bright light as she saw Harry and Hermione standing above her, smiling down at her.
"Got you," Hermione said, and she held out her hand to Luna, lifting her up and out of the bush where she swayed slightly before her feet caught her weight properly.
Luna removed the spells she had been using on herself and turned to the pair. "Thought that one would be better than the last two."
"It was," Harry said, obviously impressed. "But as Jack learned the other day, Hermione and I are pretty fresh on methods of finding something. You know she's got an arsenal and a half of tracking and tracing spells."
Hermione stuck her tongue out at Harry playfully as Luna bent over and placed her hands on her knees, panting gently after the several-hour-long exercise.
"Good work," Jack said from behind her suddenly, and she swung, still slightly in defence mode after so long. "You managed to conceal yourself well each time, though I'm sure you learned a few new things about how effective those spells are at such things. Keep in mind, a true enemy scouring the bushland for you is not going to kindly help you up when they find you. And you do not look ready to fight anyone off right now."
Hermione gave the man a stern look and Luna tried not to giggle at the sight. Hermione was still warming up to their tutor as he tended to work them all to the point of exhaustion with every single test.
"Well, that's because we have all ignored the most obvious evasion tool in our toolkit," Harry said. "The test itself is a little flawed when we can do this."
Harry disapparated away, reappearing behind Jack with his wand extended. Luna noticed that the man immediately clocked Harry's new position, glancing slightly over his shoulder at the boy.
"Fair. But I need to train you for any situation. From the reports I have read, if this enemy gets a bead on you, it will be running away under heavy fire. They have an army of millions, you are a group of half a dozen. Being able to adequately hide your traces and vanish practically is an important skill to have." Jack finished, turning to face Harry.
Luna stood once more and moved over to Hermione, slipping her arm about the girl and laying her head on her shoulder.
"We understand. We just have a very rocky relationship with those who have taught us defence methods in the past." Hermione explained.
"Yeah, most of them have tried to kill me." Harry joked and Hermione scoffed at how lightly he said it.
Luna wanted to agree with her, but was too tired to reprimand Harry right now for being glib about such topics.
"I've no immediate plans for such, but we'll have to see how things play out," Jack said to the boy, the humour in his voice clearly audible to all of them. "We'll call this done for today though. You can have the weekend and we'll pick up our next session on Tuesday."
The man's eyes flicked between Harry and Hermione, and Luna smiled. She knew what Monday was, and the plans that Harry had been working on for over a week. Somehow he had kept Hermione in the dark about them so far.
Jack gave them a firm nod and walked away, leaving the trio alone in the large space that looked like a dense forest today.
"Looks like I need to help someone get back to their room again," Hermione said, looking down at the girl snoozing into her shoulder.
"Hmmm," Luna replied softly.
"Come on you. Can't have you too tired this weekend. We've big plans for Sunday." Hermione said, guiding Luna towards the exit, with Harry watching them both go, a wide smile on his face.
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Sunday, 13th February 2000.
Harry looked around the underbrush, hand hovering over his weapon as they moved together, five quiet figures hidden under the thick foliage. The tiny blonde led their way as she used the small white handheld tracker in front of her, though she seemed to be more focused on the small signs in the dirt and branches around them as she tracked something else through the depths of this odd jungle.
"Luna?" Hermione asked, the wavering in her voice clearly portraying her concern to all present, though no one commented.
They were all somewhat nervous down here. While they had spent quite a bit of time on Verda since discovering it, this was only their second time on the ground beyond the mesa. They had avoided entering the jungles due to the clear signs of predatory creatures, but they had all forgotten such things when asking exactly what Luna had wanted most for her birthday. Right until she had told them.
"I think we're nearly there," Luna replied softly, her voice barely carrying in the dense air under the treetops. "They should be only a hundred metres that way."
She indicated an area of slightly higher light than usual, a clearing of some sort. Harry pulled his gun free from its holster and ensured it was set to the stun setting. While he was nervous about coming face to face with the slinking monster Luna was currently tracking, he did not want to kill an animal simply for following its natural instincts.
Keeping a wary eye on the area behind them, Harry tapped a command into his remote and two of the seven vulta they had watching all directions shot off silently towards the brighter space. He wanted to know what they were walking into, even if he was happy letting Luna think they were doing otherwise.
Luna finally found a simple way through the dense barrier the large tree roots had become and the others cautiously followed her path. Richard seemed to be the only one of the group that was as eager as Luna for this little hunt, following her closely and even encouraging her at one point when she had seemed ready to give up.
Harry and Hermione were less keen. Well remembering some of the close calls they had both endured with magical beasts over the years, and neither was overly excited to go looking for trouble of that variety as Luna seemed to be.
"Through here. I can hear something." Luna said, picking up speed and Harry, now worried about what she might rush into carelessly, glanced at Hermione, who nodded, and he disapparated to the smaller girl's side.
"Luna, slow down. We need to be careful." He said, placing a firm grip on her shoulder.
The blonde pouted at him and he let go, but she did not rush forwards again. The two waited as the others caught up and they looked through the trees into the bright patch they were now far closer to.
There was some form of a raised earthen mound in the centre and laying on its raised surface was an enormous black shape. Harry once more altered the vulta around them, setting the remaining five to watch out in a semi-circle behind them, just in case something snuck up on them as they were distracted.
The two he had sent ahead finally responded, sending a few simple images to his remote and Luna's tracker. The two looked at them and noticed the earthen mound was actually hollow, a large depression in its top holding what looked like the shattered remains of a nest of some kind. Thick gouges in the soil split the deep green grasses covering the clearing, indicating a serious fight had taken place. The large creature they could see had its head and shoulders dipped into the nest, but its head appeared to have been crushed by something.
The nest itself was in ruins, broken shells and green blood covered the space and Luna sank as she beheld the devastation.
"No." She murmured and Harry pulled her into a short but strong hug.
"I'm sorry." He said as she pulled away.
Luna did not reply as the others bunched up behind the two, only slowly picking her way through the remaining branches and coming at last into the clearing. The large black beast was beginning to smell, and Harry cast a bubblehead charm quickly over his face to ward off the odour.
Luna climbed the edge of the mound and Harry realised just how big the beast before him truly was now she was beside it. It would easily be seven feet tall if it stood on its hind legs, possibly even eight, and it looked like it was made of dense and powerful muscle. He shuddered at the idea of how strong such a beast might be.
"Luna." Hermione hissed, and Harry tracked her eyeline, watching as Luna slid over the lip of the mound and down into the nest.
"Dammit." He said, following after Luna as Hermione continued looking panicked, her eyes flicking in every direction, seemingly certain that some giant monster was about to burst into the clearing and eat them all.
"Luna. Come on now. Whatever did this might…" He cut off as he crested the lip and saw Luna seated in the bloody depression cooing softly to a tiny little black sausage on her lap.
Harry's eyes widened as the sausage quivered and he realized exactly what Luna had found herself. The shimmering fur of the creature was glistening, appearing to be covered in some clear fluid. And it was tiny, barely six inches in length as Luna gently ran her fingers over its length.
He glanced over his shoulders at the others, Richard still looking confident as he stood beside his worrying daughter. Neville was cautiously taking samples from the roots about the edge of the clearing and even uprooting a few smaller plants and tucking them into containers.
"Hermione is not going to like this." He said, turning back to Luna who was now holding the tiny beast up to her eyes as it yowled softly.
Luna turned her eyes at Harry and he instantly knew she was going to keep it. And there was nothing any of them could say that would dissuade her.
Harry sighed and stepped into the nest proper, noticing the shell fragments in the squashed mouth of the giant almost feline creature. Given the similarities he could see between the large one and Luna's new friend, he figured it had been the adult defending the nest from some other predator. It had apparently only managed to conceal one of its young, and now that offspring appeared to be imprinting on his friend, just as she clearly had imprinted on it.
Luna looked up at him again and smiled, the tiny face of the newborn creature looking at Harry as well. It looked utterly defenceless, and Harry felt a swell of sympathy for the fellow orphan. His eyes flicked up to the horizon which he could still see out of the bowl. He actually hoped it was an orphan, and that the other parent wasn't slinking about in the darkness of the treeline just waiting for them to leave.
He tapped another two commands into his remote and looked upwards, noting the shape descending towards them slowly, ramp opening as it moved. A quick glance around the clearing indicated it wouldn't have enough room to land properly, so he corrected the command to a hover above the trees.
"Ok everyone, we're leaving." He said, indicating the hovering navis. "He turned back to Luna, expecting her to argue, wanting to explore more. Instead, she stood, holding the tiny creature to her chest and smiled at Harry.
He held out his hand to her and hoped that whatever the little creature was, that it didn't hate apparating. The two of them reappeared in the wide back of the hovering ship and the others who had beaten them there turned to look at them.
Luna looked up at Harry with a pleading look but Harry shook his head this time. "Oh, no. You get to make the argument. Happy birthday, Luna." He said, walking past her and slumping into the pilot chair as he heard the others get their first sight of Luna's new friend.
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Monday, 14th February 2000.
Hermione smiled, a warmth in her stomach unrelated to the lovely meal she had just finished filling her up. Harry's arms held her to him as the pair looked out over the bright lights of the city of love. He had managed to keep their destination a secret and she was glad as this had already been one of the greatest nights of her life so far.
"Happy Valentine's day, Hermione," Harry whispered in her ear, pressing a soft kiss to the naked skin just under her ear.
"Mmmm, and to you, Harry." She said, lifting her hand and pressing his lips harder against her skin.
The charms Harry had cast kept the sharp wind from bothering them at this altitude so her body was suffused with heat at his actions. While she knew that she was not yet ready to go all the way with Harry, she was certainly ok with a little bit of intimate touching after the delightful night they'd had so far.
That they were completely alone on the topmost level of the famous tower made the moment all the more special. Hermione didn't want to consider how much Harry had paid them to reserve the area for themselves alone on Valentine's of all days, but it was a date she was never ever going to forget.
She turned in his arms and captured his lips with her own, enjoying the slow passionate depth of the kiss as the pair moved against one another. While she well knew the effect this date was having on her, she could now feel just how excited her partner was as well and she felt the heat in her stomach increase. Her old insecurities were now firmly tucked away behind the knowledge that Harry found her incredibly attractive.
The pair separated slowly, eyes opening and staring deep into the other's gaze, lost in the love contained within. How had they remained so ignorant of their own feelings for so long? She no longer cared as now they were out there in the open for all to see. Well, anyone with a set of very good binoculars maybe, for tonight at least.
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Tuesday, 15th February 2000.
Jack looked up as his new employers entered the space. He was glad that Luna had shown him how to manipulate the space, having already prepared it for today's trial. Hopefully, this would be the last one needed to gauge this group's effectiveness against non-magical opponents and allow him to work out his detailed process for preparing them to encounter aliens, if that were even possible, given his lack of experience in that area himself.
"Welcome." He said quietly.
The group went quiet and turned to face him, noticing Mother standing ready behind him looking imposing as usual he was sure. She seemed to enjoy messing with the younger members and seeing just how far she could prod before one of them blinked. And yet the teens seemed to take her in stride. It was the other adults that seemed most put out by her behaviour.
"Just two today. You two." He said, indicating Harry and Hermione, "You seem to work as a pair the best. You get to take on Mother."
Several of the faces dropped as they looked up at the imposing six-foot woman smirking back at them. Harry and Hermione seemed to take in Mother's attire for the first time, noticing she was outfitted in proper fatigues today. Ready for battle.
"Magic versus Marine," Jack added simply.
"This is what you wanted the new model for?" Harry asked, glancing at Hermione at his side as he stepped forwards.
"Of course. Richard showed me what those weapons of yours can do. We will not be having any training accidents under my watch." Jack said, recalling the single shot that had almost carved a mighty oak tree in half. He did not want to imagine what a weapon like that would do to a human body.
Jack stepped to the side and allowed the teens to see the bright orange weapon held in Mother's hand. Harry had provided it to him the day before, assuring him that the device would function the same as their main sidearms, but it could do no more than knock a person out for an hour at its highest setting.
Hermione and Harry looked at one another before the boy shrugged and the girl nodded.
"Alright." They said together, to a soft chuckle from the others gathered who would be relegated to simply watching today's affair.
"This is the battlefield. It's a little unrealistic, but I figure you'll both want somewhere for cover." Jack indicated the trees and small sets of chest-high concrete barriers spread over the small field he had set up. "Signal when you're all ready and we'll start."
Mother nodded and marched quickly onto the field. The teens glanced back at their friends before they drew their wands and mirrored Mother at the other end of the short battlefield. Jack had made sure it was only a dozen or so metres in length. He wanted this test in close quarters.
While the kids' magic had proven a valuable and powerful tool, he needed context. He could watch them fight or track one another all day long, but he still had no scale to judge it against when it came to the standard human warfare he was acquainted with.
"Ready," Harry said, facing Mother at the far end of the field.
Jack simply got two nods from the women. "Begin."
The moment the word left his lips, two figures moved. Harry raised his wand and shouted "Protego." The air in front of the teens shimmered and a bright red bolt of energy splashed over the shield followed by three more in rapid succession. Mother had moved fast. If Harry had chosen anything other than a defensive spell, the fight would be over already.
Hermione took a deep breath, glancing at Harry who nodded in reply and the girl lifted her wand. She did not speak as she cast, but her efforts passed straight through the shimmering field while Mother's renewed assault had no effect. Either splashing harmlessly and dissipating, or being diverted aside and disappearing into the depths of the space.
Under the girl's assault. Mother had no choice but to seek cover. The girl was as relentless now as Mother had been to begin with, and Jack saw how well the pair were in sync with one another. Harry moved precisely keeping the shimmering shield between the two and every move that Mother made while Hermione tracked their opponent and continued to keep the older woman pinned down.
"Fuck this shit." Mother yelled, peeking out around the small barrier she was crouched behind. She hammered the trigger of her weapon and a hail of fire soared towards the children. Most of it battered the shield, but a good portion dug into the ground in front of the two magicals, casting great bouts of dirt into the air.
While the shield kept the larger pieces from hitting the teens, they still recoiled from the explosions happening right at their feet. Jack nodded to himself at the move. Mother had made a calculated choice and was now making the most of it. By the time Hermione managed to clear the air in front of the teens, it was too late.
Jack saw the attack coming from his vantage point, but Harry was none the wiser, his eyes obviously tracking where they had last seen the woman hoping to pick her up once more and renew the one-sided battle.
Harry grunted loudly as the solid figure of Mother ploughed into his left side, having used the cover to shift around behind several of the covering trees and approach the distracted pair from the side. The tackle took him around the middle, knocking him bodily into the girl who went tumbling as well.
As she landed atop the teen, knocking the breath from his body, Mother brought her weapon up and fired at point-blank range, putting Harry out of the fight. She shifted her position, keeping Harry's body as a shield between her and the girl and tracked Hermione over Harry's shoulder, lining up the shot.
"Enervate." The girl shouted as another red bolt of energy left Mother's weapon and caught the girl in the shoulder, dropping her to the ground.
Mother smiled for a moment before she was blasted back off of Harry's body, the weapon coming free from her hand as she had obviously considered the encounter over. Jack watched as Harry cast the same spell that had hit him over his head at the girl, who woke a moment later before the two approached the groaning figure of Mother.
Hermione summoned the weapon that Mother was attempting to crawl towards and Harry lifted his wand once more, a single bolt of red energy hitting Mother in the chest as she stilled. Harry nursed his side as Hermione began to check him over and Jack smiled at the three.
He began to clap loudly and the others watching soon followed suit. Jack stepped closer to the trio as Hermione revived the downed Mother.
"Congratulations, you two. You're dead." He said simply, no longer clapping and the noise from behind him died out as well.
"What do you mean? We won." Hermione replied.
"Did you now? So Harry wasn't shot in the chest at point-blank range with a firearm? Or is there some single spell that you know you could have cast on him as you fell that would have cured such a wound and allowed him to continue fighting without you?"
Hermione's face sank and Jack felt a little bad for the girl. She was not taking to his training sessions well and he didn't want to demoralize them.
"You two do work well together. Your technique served you well during the initial phase. But once Mother threw a monkey wrench into things by changing the stakes, you failed to adapt. Had she been armed with any other weapon, Harry would be dead."
Now it was Harry's turn to glare at Jack as he pulled Hermione into his arms. "Enough."
"Look, I don't want to be that guy. I like you all, a lot, but you are paying me to train you, not coddle you. I will give you it straight, even if it hurts to hear it. You can't learn if you're dead. Better tough love now than regret later."
Jack stepped over to Mother and helped her to her feet. "I wouldn't want to face off against them like that too often. That was quite the hail of fire you put down, chicky."
Hermione turned in Harry's grip and gave the tall woman a soft smile.
"Both sides have room for improvement," Jack said, getting a punch in the arm from Mother. "But you also need to realize, you are still children. Mother is a highly-trained Force Recon Marine with several tours under her belt in the most hellish conditions. And the military trains to kill. She was always going to win this challenge. You only intended to knock her out."
"Then what was the point?" Neville asked from behind him.
"For you to see how ingenuity can turn the tide of a fight. And so I could see how you fight against a muggle opponent. You approached it basically the same as if she'd been holding a wand. We're going to need to work on that. I have an idea for our next session, but it won't be for two weeks. I'll need to arrange a few things first."
Jack walked over to the hugging teens and looked at Hermione. "Can I have a word?"
Harry looked very reluctant to move, but Hermione nodded and gave Harry the ok. He slowly moved over to where the others were talking amongst themselves before Jack turned back to face Hermione.
"You don't much like me, do you?" He said plainly.
"I like you just fine. I've just had a bad run with teachers and Harry in the past. Not to mention the number of times Harry has almost died in front of me. I'm not eager to see it happen again."
"Which is why I am so hard on you all now. You won't get many second chances in a fight with these Goa'uld from what I can tell. They massively outgun you right now and you keep going into these encounters too cocky. It's important to know your limits so you can pull out of a fight before you reach them."
Hermione simply stared back at him.
"Speak up. Don't be afraid to yell at me. I can take it."
He could see that there was something the girl wanted to say, but she still held back and Jack sighed.
"Look. Training in the military is rough, and that's what you lot asked me for. As talented as you all may be, not one of you would have survived a day in the SAS boot camp. My methods here, are saintly in comparison. But these methods will work, I can assure you of that. Can you handle that or not?"
"Of course, I can."
"Alright, then I will see you back here in two weeks. Talk with Harry and the others. And if you have an issue with me or my methods, tell me. I'm here to help you, but I can't address issues unless I know they exist. Agreed?"
Hermione paused for a moment before she nodded. "Agreed."
"Dismissed," Jack said firmly with a crooked grin and the teen smiled back for the first time in their interaction.
He watched as she walked over to her friends and Mother sidled up beside him. "She's got spunk."
Jack nodded his agreement. "I think she'd somewhat given up on adults doing their job by the end of their war. She doesn't like me telling them what to do, or pointing out when they do something wrong."
"I don't like it when you tell me that either. You're a bit too honest sometimes, Huntsman."
Jack shook his head, not bothering to tell Mother he no longer went by that name now he'd left the military. She still used it regardless. He sighed again and his eyes finally drifted away from the group of teens and their two adults. He turned to the exit and slowly walked out, wondering how he could solve this issue without a blow-up. Or maybe, that was exactly what needed to happen.