The Battle of Hogwarts Part 6
The rest of their journey was uneventful, albeit eerie with the sounds of battle around them and the visual of destroyed bits of castle. They found Harry on the second floor in an empty classroom with Fred and George Weasley.
Harry seemed to sense her presence, for her turned and embraced her quickly before looking at her face. "What's wrong?"
She laughed hollowly. What was wrong? Oh, she'd just cast her first killing curse and murdered two more wizards for a body count of three in one evening, that's all.
"We got separated and were attacked by Death Eaters," Draco said beside her, surprising Hermione as he spoke up. "They've been disposed of."
Harry rubbed at his scar and then looked from Hermione to Draco and then back again. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" he asked intently.
"I'm fine, Harry, really. Are you alright? What did we miss?"
"We heard a rumour," George said.
"That ickle Ronniekins is here, in the castle," Fred finished.
Her eyes widened at the news. It felt like an eternity since the day Ron packed up and walked out of the tent and out of their lives. She was still angry with him for deserting them like he had, but she was incredibly relieved to hear something about him.
"We don't know for certain," George said.
"But some students said they thought they saw him, so we're headed to look for him now," said Fred. "You haven't seen anything, have you?"
"I haven't. We haven't seen or heard anything like that," she said, her mind racing at the thought that Ron could be here. It was an idea that had been floated in the Room of Requirement, that if Lee Jordan had put out the word on the wireless to come to Hogwarts that Ron could hear it and answer the call.
"Where did they see him?" she asked.
"Near the courtyard, someone said." That was George, she knew, from the missing ear.
"We're headed that way now to try to find him," Fred supplied.
They both paused and then nodded at Malfoy on their way to the stairs, and she was thankful that both the twins and Draco seemed to recognise that this was no time to argue.
Someone screamed nearby, and there was the sound of something being blasted apart. She cringed at the sound and the implication that someone was hurt or possibly dying.
Harry winced as well and rubbed at his scar again, as if in pain. He looked at her and Malfoy both again before he spoke in a low voice. "People are dying. Because of me."
She could hear the agony in his voice, and while her heart went out to him, she still felt deeply unsettled by her own actions of the evening and the news that their missing friend could be close by. Harry needed to focus, she needed Harry to focus.
"Look, the news about Ron, it's a good thing, and I know he's your best mate, but let Fred and George do this. He's their brother. Let them find him, and we can meet up with them all later. We're so close though. Just one more to find," she reminded him.
"What exactly are you trying to find?" Malfoy asked beside her.
Harry hesitated and glanced at Hermione, who nodded her assent.
"The snake. His snake."
Draco's pale eyebrows shot up. "His familiar? Nagini?"
Harry nodded, and Draco swore under his breath. "The snake. He used the snake to… to cheat death? How is that even possible?"
"It's a long story," Hermione said before turning to her fake boyfriend, realising then that perhaps he could be useful to them after all. "Do you know where it could be? The snake?"
Draco frowned. "Wherever the Dark Lord is. When I was around Him, she was always there. She...Granger, that snake is a beast. I watched her eat a person alive. It's… fuck. You don't want to get near that thing."
His voice trailed off as he shook his head, visibly disturbed by the memory. Hermione felt bile rise up in her throat at the mental image his words produced.
"Okay, so the snake is with him. Where would he be on the Hogwarts grounds? Where would he go, and what would he do?" Harry pressed Malfoy.
"I...I don't know. He asked the students and faculty to give you up, and you didn't, so they've attacked."
"Yes, thank you for the recap. I was there. Where would he be in a battle? No one has reported seeing him inside the castle, that I'm aware," Harry said insistently, an almost manic frustration in him.
"Look Potter, I don't know!" Draco snapped back. "There are multiple divisions, ranks of Death Eaters as well as any allies He has gathered like Greyback and his pack of werewolves. He's probably hanging back and sending them in in waves to weaken Hogwarts' defenses and try to convince you lot to surrender."
"No. I don't accept that," Harry snapped. "You passed us information, detailed information. You must know where he is, and where I can find the snake! What is the plan of attack?"
Draco seemed taken aback by Harry's forcefulness, and he glanced over at Hermione. "I need to find my father," he said to her.
Harry recoiled and drew his wand, pointing it at Malfoy.
She cast a shield of her own and stepped in between the two wizards, as she'd done in sixth year, just before she was hit by Harry's sectumsempra curse. She hoped she didn't end up cursed again.
"Hermione, move!"
"No! Harry, calm down!"
"You heard him! He's trying to get to Lucius Malfoy!"
From behind her, Malfoy practically snarled at Harry.
"Where do you think information comes from, Potter? I've been at SCHOOL for months! I'm seventeen fucking years old. Do you think the Dark Lord is meeting with me weekly to tell me all His plans?"
Harry paused and stared intently at them. Hermione's heart hammered in her throat at Draco's words. He'd told her he would keep her secret, if only to protect his father, and she prayed that he would keep his word.
"My father is one of the Dark Lord's most trusted advisors, but not by choice. Malfoys are good at surviving. It's what we do. He's privy to so much more information than I've ever been."
Harry narrowed his eyes at them both. "Do you mean to tell me that Lucius Malfoy has been sharing information with the Light?"
"Yes, Potter, that is exactly what I mean to tell you."
Hermione held her breath as Draco's words sunk in.
"Why?" Harry asked, still pointing his wand at Draco and Hermione both.
"Because he doesn't want to be there. Neither one of us were involved by choice, Potter, but when it's 'join or die' you don't really have a lot of options."
"Does he know? About you two?" Harry asked, gesturing between them.
"Of course he knows. He wasn't sharing information just to be telling me. He KNEW where it would go," Draco spat, a look of disgust on his face, and Hermione was silently impressed at his ability to tell the truth in a way that still concealed her relationship with his father.
"Why didn't he just defect? Come to Order himself? Why pass information through you to Hermione?" Harry demanded.
Draco laughed then, a bitter sound. "Are you fucking kidding me? You drew your wand not just on me but on your closest friend and ally at the mention of my father's name! Do you think he's stupid enough to just show himself? They'd kill him first and ask questions later."
"Harry, he's right," she said, trying to keep her voice in a gentle tone. They really did not have time for all of this bickering. "If Lucius Malfoy had shown up an Order meeting, it would not have gone well. They never would have trusted him, especially after Professor Snape…"
"He could have done something though," Harry insisted.
Draco folded his arms and glared at Harry. "Do you think Sirius Black would have trusted my father?"
"He tried to kill Hermione! In the Department of Mysteries! He choked her!" Harry said desperately.
Hermione felt her face redden. Of all the awful times for Harry's memory to be clear and exacting. "He… I don't think he was trying to kill me. He just wanted the prophecy," she mumbled.
Draco moved to stand beside her, sliding an arm around her waist. She looked up to see him arch an eyebrow at her. "How interesting. He left out some of those details - as did you, darling. My father does what he has to do in order to survive, but I assure you, he is there by the Dark Lord's side only because he cannot leave. Potter, you and I both know Dumbledore's precious Order would never have accepted any help from my father. Or from me. The only way my family could share information was through someone who wasn't going to attack us, and that's her."
Harry said nothing, and the tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife. It was clear that the tenuous truce Harry and Draco had outside the room of requirement was hanging on by a thread.
"If you want to find the snake, then I need to find my father," Draco repeated.
"Fine. But you aren't taking her. They'd kill her," Harry responded.
Draco nodded curtly, acknowledging his words.
"And you'll message us immediately, when you find out," Harry continued, gesturing to Hermione's bracelet.
"Naturally."
He turned to her then and before she could mentally prepare herself for it, he was kissing her again, crushing her body against his. She pressed her hands against his chest to shove him away and then forced herself to relax. She was going to kill him. If they survived this war, then she would kill him herself for taking advantage of their situation.
The pompous bastard had the gall to smirk at her afterward and cheekily tell her, "Try not to get yourself killed, Granger."
"I so don't understand what you see in him," Harry retorted as Malfoy jogged away, wand ready.
She rubbed at her lips. "Thank you. I know you don't get along, but thank you for not injuring each other. We have enough to worry about without you two fighting."
Harry ran his fingers through his hair. "I can't stop thinking about Ron, that he could be here."
"I know, but you need to focus."
He rubbed his eyes and adjusted his glasses with a sigh and looked around them. "If the snake is with Voldy, and Voldy is hanging back like Malfoy says, then we're going to have to go to him. I can't let him come in here and just slaughter more people. We've got to find the snake and end this."
He paused. "I wish Ron was here, with us. He's better at strategy than I am."
Hermione frowned. "You're plenty good at strategy, Harry. And you're right - we need to get out of the castle and onto the grounds."
He smiled grimly at her. "Off to another insane adventure with me, then?"
She smiled in spite of herself. "Of course. Wouldn't miss it."
~oOo~
Actually getting out of the castle was harder than she anticipated, even with the aid of an invisibility cloak. The whole castle shook with an explosive blast that nearly knocked them off her feet, sending several Death Eaters tumbling from the moving staircases above. All around them were screams, blasts, and the roar of magical beasts.
Fighting had broken out on the lower half of the castle, and it was hard to stop from joining in to assist with every skirmish they passed under Harry's invisibility cloak, but she knew if they did, they'd never find and destroy the final horcrux.
She nearly vomited when they came across a werewolf tearing into the body of a screaming student on the first floor. Harry swore under his breath and then lifted the cloak enough to cast nonverbally at the filthy beast. She was not sure what spell he used, but the creature screamed in agony and released the girl.
Once upon a time, years ago, she had pitied Remus Lupin for his condition, and loathed the discrimination against wizards and witches afflicted with lycanthropy. Now she felt only disgust and horror and zero remorse as she cast a severing spell, decapitating the monster before them.
She had to momentarily turn away from the gruesome sight to avoid vomiting, and for the life of her, she could not understand why the killing curse was considered unforgivable when so many other more horrific spells were not and required much less magical power to cast.
Two more terrified students came running by, and Harry fully lifted the cloak to stop them so they could aid the girl and get her to the hospital wing. When they levitated her into the air, Hermione's stomach turned over again at the realisation that it was Lavender Brown.
"Harry, we can't stay," she reminded him, tugging him back under the safety of the cloak.
"I know, I just… fuck. This is all so fucked up! I can't… I don't want to just walk away from someone in need."
"I know, but the sooner this ends, the more people we can help."
He stiffened and brushed away the hint of a tear, and she admired him all the more for his strength.
They made their way out of the castle and onto the grounds, still hidden by the cloak. From their vantage point, they could see part of the quidditch field and stands burning, the flames dancing toward the night sky.
"What do you think?" Harry asked, looking around. "I'm not sure which way to go."
Hermione turned at his words, thankful that her attention was drawn from a smatter of blood in the snow a few meters away.
"Can you… you keep touching your scar."
"Yeah. I have a bad fucking headache. I assume it's because Voldy is nearby."
"There's a mind connection there. He can obviously send you visions, like of Sirius being attacked in the Ministry. Can you use that to see where he is? To see what he sees?" she prompted.
Harry got a faraway look on his face for a painfully long few moments before seeming to rouse himself from his stupor.
"It looks like they're in the Shrieking Shack," he said.
"Not even on Hogwarts grounds?!"
"Nope. He's there with the snake, waiting for something."
"Is it just him?"
Harry shook his head. "No. He's… I think he's with Lucius Malfoy."
~oOo~
I know it's a little bit short, but hopefully a teaser about Ron and a promise that Hermione will see Lucius again soon make up for that.
I started grad school again today and work looks like it's going to be pretty busy for a while, so I'm not sure about my update schedule moving forward. I've got bits and pieces of the battle written and bits and pieces of the post-war stuff written, and I'm trying to fit in small chunks of writing where I can.
If you're also reading my story, "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked," there are two chapters left of that, already written, that I will hopefully be uploading soon.
Cheers,
Elle