So far: Draco has agreed to join the Order to avenge his mother's death at the hands of Nott. Hermione's in charge of his training; they are getting used to each other. Ron was properly put in his place for being, yet again an arse. Harry is experiencing role reversal with Hermione because of her increased abilities(talking sense into her, being rational and what-not) and there was some twin mischief. Ah, and if you haven't inferred it yet, Hermione's power makes it possible to communicate telepathically.
Alongside being an HP freak, I'm an X-Men nerd as well; so sue me;P
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"How long?"
"Ten maybe fifteen minutes."
Harry took a deep breath. "Alright. We get the Muggles away from there and take down as many DEs as you can, starting with the ones who are the bigger danger. Do not turn your back on them, do not under estimate any of them, even if it's Crabbe or Goyle."
The Order members strode through the hall towards the Apparation room, where Malfoy peeked his head out of the Destroy Room in the middle of Harry's orders.
He grabbed Hermione's arm as she passed stopping her.
"What's going on?"
"Death Eaters," she answered, stoically. "A raid in a mall in Manchester," she added as she started moving down the hall again.
Draco hurriedly followed, leaving his robe behind, just wearing his Muggle clothes.
"I'm coming with," he said as he finally caught up to her right outside the Apparation room.
She spun to look at him. "No, you're not," she told him forcefully. Pulling out her gloves, she slipped on one then the other efficiently.
"Hey!" Malfoy exclaimed, getting her attention again. "It's my fight too, now."
Harry stepped forward. "The Apparation room is a danger to anyone outside of the Order who uses it. It could even kill you."
Draco made a sound of frustration and spun away. Just as abruptly he spun back to face Hermione.
"How were you planning on having me come with you for the final battle, then?" He fixed her with his gaze, accusing almost. He did not want to hear that this was all a bullshit deal; that they never were gonna let him out of here.
Hermione sighed and looked over at Harry. He shrugged.
You deal with it.
Then he turned and disappeared into the Apparation room.
"Fine," Hermione spoke looking at Malfoy. "If someone in the Order holds onto you, you can use it. Otherwise, it's fatal. Come on, we've wasted enough time." She grabbed his hand and yanked him behind her into the Apparation room.
Harry stood alone in the middle of the round room.
"I told the others to go," Harry said.
Hermione nodded pulling a curious Malfoy along behind her. Malfoy looked across from him at Potter when Hermione came to a stop.
"Stay close to either Harry or me," Hermione said looking at Malfoy. "I doubt the others will stand for you hanging on them if we need to leave quickly. Leave your vendettas for later if you can save a Muggle instead. Do not endanger any Muggles and remember what I said about trying to escape, you're on your own." She looked between Harry and Draco. "Ready?" They both nodded.
With a loud combined POP! they Disapparated. They reappeared and Hermione automatically pulled Draco to the floor. She snuck a peek over the edge of the floor, so Malfoy did the same. They were on an upper level from the ruckus. Several cloaked figures fought among the order members, while random Muggles fled in terror.
Hermione spun to face him. "When you hear my voice say Go! Disapparate back up to here. I have several attacks that I can't control who it hurts, as long as they're in range. Get the Muggles away from the DEs. We don't need them keeping prisoners. Try not to get killed. Let's go." Hermione stood and leaped over the banister. Draco leapt up in horror reaching over the banister for her, almost calling her name out loud. He watched as she landed gracefully, before sending an arc of flame from her wand in front of her.
Shaking his head in disbelief, Draco Apparated right behind Hermione, placing his back against hers as he fired off shots with his wand.
"You're fucking mental, Granger," he muttered over his back.
Her response was to ignore him and leap forward to shove a frozen Muggle out of the way of a Blast curse, before turning and firing a stunning spell back. The Death Eater fell to the floor as Hermione urged the Muggle to run like hell before leaping up in a spin and taking out the Death Eater Draco just sent flying into the wall next to her as he stood up, with a kick to the chest. She ducked just in time to have a flying curse hit the Death Eater on his way down.
Straightening up, Hermione was surprised to see Malfoy right in front of her, out of breath, staring at her wide-eyed.
"Malfoy, wha—" Her eyes widened as she saw what was heading straight for both of them and quickly grabbed Malfoy, Apparating to right behind the sender of the powerful Reducto curse that rained chunks of cement down right where they previously stood.
Hermione stupefied the Death Eater, throwing a Bind-Chaser down on him.
Immediately, she spotted several Death Eaters closing in on Ron, who was apparently screaming her name in anguish. Hermione spun to Draco and he almost missed what she was saying, because she spoke so fast and the noise surrounding him was deafening.
"Did you hear me, Draco? I'm going to Apparate over to the middle of them and Ron is in no state to make an exit so I want you to Apparate both of you up to the second level."
"Wha-wha-what about you?" he stuttered in disbelief.
She gave him a slow smile. "Just take care of Ron for me or I can't do my job."
"What about Pot-"
"Just do it," she said as she grabbed his hand and Apparated next to Ron.
Hermione shoved him into Ron and shouted Go! Momentarily confused by why Hermione's mouth didn't move as he heard her shout, he Disapparated with Ron. Dropping Ron the moment they were safely on the upper level, Draco leaned over the railing.
His mouth opened as he watched Hermione spun in an arc sending the surrounding Death Eaters flying back. His brows drew together as he watched the ground grew spikes directly where the Death Eaters were to land. Oh Merlin, he thought right as the Death Eaters were impaled by the upraised marble. He suddenly felt sick and spun away, slumping to the ground.
The remaining Death Eaters Disapparated after that. Good thing too, since the Order members didn't much have the stomach to continue fighting after that.
Harry.
Harry spun to look in Hermione's direction. She stood amidst the carnage, close to tears.
Get Malfoy.
And then she Disapparated with a POP!
Immediate concern for Hermione aside, Harry turned to spot Fred and George.
"Fred, George," he called. "Start getting these corpses out of here. I'll be back in a minute." At their nods, Harry Apparated up to the upper level. He looked down to find Malfoy slumped against the railing and Ron holding his knees rocking himself.
Kneeling next to Ron, Harry shook his shoulder.
"Ron. Ron, snap out of it."
Ron shook his head. "No, she's dead."
Harry frowned. "Hermione? Hermione's not dead. She very much alive, Ron."
Ron slowly looked up at Harry. "Really?"
Harry nodded. "She's waiting for you back at the cave. Come on, I'll take you there." He grabbed Ron's hand firmly, before scooting over to Malfoy.
"Malfoy, give me your hand."
In a daze, Malfoy held out his hand. Harry gripped it and Disapparated.
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"How many dead?"
"Eleven. Five captured."
Harry slumped into a chair.
"How's Hermione?" he asked.
Ginny shrugged. "She won't speak. Just continues to destroy those damned gargoyles."
Harry nodded, staring at the floor.
"How's Ron?" he asked, then.
"He's still passed out. I thought to let him rest…"
Harry nodded again. "That's good. He needs it."
"Harry?" Ginny said, taking a step closer to him.
"Hmm."
"Are you okay?" she asked, concerned.
Harry looked up at her briefly. "Yeah, just tired." He stood. "Thanks for handling things, Gin. I just need to get some air." And Harry walked out.
"No problem."
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"So, what happened today?"
"Hermione took out a dozen Death Eaters on her own, that's what," Fred answered.
"How?" Ginny asked, stunned.
"She did one of her spin blasts and it blew the Death Eaters away like usual but then," George stopped, looking at Fred.
"Then the surrounding floor formed into spikes, right where the Death Eaters landed, all died."
Ginny's mouth was open and she covered it with her hand. "No wonder there was so much blood," she whispered. "What happened then?"
"The rest Disapparated. Hermione looked horror-struck before Disapparating too."
"B-b-but that doesn't make any sense. Hermione would sooner stun than maim her worst enemy."
Fred shrugged. "We know that."
"Then why…how…" Ginny trailed off.
"It's her powers." The three Weasleys looked towards the door. Lupin entered, looking haggard as ever. "Her magical ability that manifested so greatly after accidentally destroying the Ravenclaw horcrux. They must be growing again."
"That…" Ginny cleared her throat. "That's possible?"
"The manner she got this power was unpredictable, thus so is how her power will react to say, her emotions, those around her, the circumstances, her growth."
"So what does this mean?" Ginny asked in a whisper.
"Well," Lupin moved to sit at the counter. "It's like before you got your Hogwarts letter's. Until she can learn to harness and control it, she will have accidental magic incidents, except more easily than before. You have a wand to help you focus most of the ability you have. Hermione's abilities have increased far beyond her wand."
"So you suggest another…focus point for her?" George asked.
Lupin nodded. "An amulet or a ring would do. Then when she's able to handle her power, she won't need her wand."
"How do you know so much about this?" Harry spoke suddenly from the doorway.
Lupin looked around at him. "Oh no, I can't take credit. I've been having a talk with Mad-Eye and Kingsley. But it's a theory we all think is worth crediting."
"How are you, Harry?" Ginny asked.
"Fine," he answered sitting down across from Lupin. "I'm just worried about Hermione. She's magically sealed the door and won't answer me."
"We'll give her tonight, then see if she wants to talk tomorrow." Lupin said.
Draco stepped back away from the door to the kitchen going back down the hall. He continued walking till he found the right door. He pounded on the thick oak door.
No answer.
"Granger, stop being a bint, open up." He called through the door. Draco jiggled the door knob and got zapped for his efforts. He rubbed his injured hand and glared at the door.
"Granger, you freak of nature open the damn door!"
The door whipped open then. A hand shot out and gripped a surprised Draco by the neck dragging him in, before slamming the door shut. Draco was slammed against the wall, held by his throat.
He stared horrified down at Hermione's deadly gaze.
"I could kill you, you know. Right now, no witnesses." She hissed. "Nobody would care that you're dead, nobody would mourn you. And I am capable. You saw for yourself. All your old school chums, staked like meat kabobs. I could kill you right now, and no one would be surprised, or care."
Draco was starting to gasp for air. He tried to shake his head. Damn, she was strong. He couldn't move or breathe. It was hard to talk a mad woman down if there was no air to do so. Just as he turned a nice shade of purple, Hermione released him, turning away.
Malfoy dropped to the ground gasping, desperately trying to suck in air. He rubbed his throat as he let himself roll onto his back. Finally he could take in air normally and just laid there. Only half-aware, he still noticed when Hermione suddenly stalked to the door.
"Granger," he croaked.
He heard her stop.
"You're not…" he took a breath. "A killer." He sat up, slowly.
"What would you know, Malferret," she said coldly. "You tried for a year and failed to kill one person. I didn't even try and I killed eleven all at once."
"I know enough," he spoke quietly. "I know I would be feeling how you are now if I had succeeded. And you told me yourself, I'm not a killer. We're you lying to me then?" he questioned.
"No. But that means I'm worse than a killer. I can't even control it, I'm..I'm not fit to be around anyone." Her voice broke. She leaned back against the door, staring disconsolently at the floor.
Malfoy stood slowly. He straightened and rubbed his neck again. He took a bold, yet tentative step towards her. He didn't want her to think he was scared of her, but he was no fool either. She didn't react to him at all, so he took another step. And another until he stood in front of her.
Her shoulders were shaking. With a start, Draco realized she was crying. Fuck. He preferred angry, killing Granger to this. Girls wanted comfort, something to hold onto when emotional. The thought of Granger soaking his shirt with her filthy tears didn't sound too appealing.
She saved your life, a voice told him.
Draco grimaced. Why didn't she just let Potter in and try to kill him first. All he wanted was to use the room. So what if she killed a few of those scum. He wished he had the strength and will to do worse.
"Granger, knock it off," he tried.
She didn't acknowledge him.
"Granger, I'm the one who almost died here. Give it a rest."
That, however, made her sob harder covering her mouth with her hand. As her knees started to buckle, Draco sighed, rolling his eyes as he gripped her waist, pulling her back up and into his arms. She fell helplessly onto him, putting her full weight against him.
Draco stumbled back, adjusting his grip.
"Bloody hell, Granger. You weigh a ton."
Her response to that was to sniffle loudly into his shirt. He held her with one arm around her back and the other he awkwardly patted her head with.
He must've stood there thinking about what to do now for quite a while, because suddenly, she slumped in his arms. He frowned and tipped her head back. She was indeed, unconscious. Well, this is just bloody fantastic. Like he knew where her room is. And did he really want to carry her all over the place while he looked.
Grumbling, he bent and lifted her into his arms. He opened the door with a spell and headed back towards the kitchen.
At the open door he said, "Where's her room?"
Everyone spun at his voice. Harry jumped from his seat and hurried over to them.
"What's wrong with her?" Harry asked, looking down at his sleeping friend's face.
"She fell asleep. Or passed out," Draco answered. "From crying."
Harry's eyes narrowed as he looked up at him.
"You made her cry?" he asked dangerously.
"Cool your knickers, Potter. She was upset after she almost killed me and collapsed. I simply caught her and brought her here. Now," Draco shifted her, readjusting his grip. "Where's her room, she weighs twenty stone here."
"I'll take her," Harry slipped his arms under Hermione's back and knees.
Draco relinquished her almost reluctantly. She wasn't that heavy.
Harry moved past Draco out into the hall. Draco followed Harry back down the hall to the end where there was a set of stairs leading up. Harry took them quickly, despite the extra weight he carried.
At the top was a room almost exactly like his at Hogwarts, except it bore the colours red and gold and was smaller due to having only one bed.
Harry crossed to the bed. He'd noticed Draco following and nodded to him now.
"Pull down the coverlet."
Draco actually did, not arguing.
Harry set Hermione down so gently, Draco had to hold back a snort. A large orange ball of fur jumped onto the bed as Harry pulled away and started removing Hermione's boots.
"You don't need to be here, Malfoy." Harry said not looking up.
"Is she okay?"
Harry did look up at that.
"Why would you care?"
"Stuff it Potter. Is she going to be okay?" Draco huffed.
"Yes. She'll be fine." As he took off her other boot and set it on the floor, Harry remembered something. He quickly covered her with the blanket, brushing her hair from her face, before gesturing for Draco to follow him out.
As Harry closed the door after Draco, he said, "You mentioned her trying to kill you?"
Draco's hand unconsciously went to his throat. Harry's gaze flicked to there and suddenly noticed dark purple bruises forming there.
"Yeah, it was nothing. I just don't know why it had to be me she had to go buck nutty on." He lamented, heading down the stairs.
Harry followed.
"You're kidding, right?" Harry smirked. "You've called her Mudblood more times than I'm ever willing to forgive and made her life hell since first year. If anyone deserved her pain more, it would be you."
Draco stopped and turned to look back at Potter. "Deserved? So I'm not 'deserving' now?" he raised a brow.
Harry rolled his eyes, releasing a sigh. "Tell me, were you trying to talk to Hermione to get her out of her funk or did you really just want to use the Destroy room and she was occupying it?"
Draco lifted both brows at him.
"I do not have to explain my actions to you, Potter," he said in the haughtiest tone imaginable.
Not surprised, Harry let out a huff nonetheless and headed down the stairs, leaving behind a smirking Draco.
A/N: It's a little longer, but now you have some idea as to what's going on with Hermione. She's human-er…witch-ish just like everyone else and isn't always strong. Hope I conveyed that.