A/N: Yeah, I know, queen of the cliffie and all that. Hang me later, we're late for an Order meeting! This was a tough chapter to write. I hate exposition and prosthelytizing. Bleh. However, we do get a glimpse of brainy Hermione giving out some very important info to the plot, so there is that.
Oh, and Honoria Granger told me Terry Pratchett is indeed coming out with a new Ringworld book in March, apparently "assisted" by his wife and daughter. So, yay, Sir Terry! Hopefully they stay true to form.
By now you know the drill: Charity dog food drive in chapter 26 to help feed homeless animals. We're up to $42! Running until the 15/02/14, see that chapter's A/N for more info. We're close to the end, now. About four more chapters should just about wrap it up. (I'm already six beyond what I had planned. Lol. I should have made longer chapters.) Reviews feed the muse, lovelies. :)
Elvee
P.S. Edited for errors I was far too tired to catch yesterday.
Snatch
Chapter Thirty One
…
"A word to the wise ain't necessary – it's the stupid ones that need the advice."
-Bill Cosby
…
Hermione closed the drawing room door behind her. At the bottom of the steps she ran into Harry. He sniffed the air. "What's that smell?"
Oh, I dunno, Harry. Maybe Death Eater bits and merino wool? Hermione pretended to take a sniff. "What smell?"
Harry blinked and shrugged. "You figure anything out yet?"
She gave a tight nod. "I'm not sure, but if it does what I think it does... It isn't good."
He put a hand in the small of her back and pressed her toward the stairs. "Everyone's in the kitchen." At Hermione's frown, he kissed her cheek. "Take all the time you need. I'll hold the fort."
She was surprised to see Fred and George still outside the door. Peeking in, she saw Bill, Remus and Snape all bent over the knife in murmured conversation. Two people were allowed in there: Snape and herself. It wasn't that she was afraid of Bill or Remus doing anything wrong, it was that the twins had let her down again. Before she could level an outraged look at one of the twins, Fred piped up, "Snape told us he'd hex us into next week!"
"Downstairs. Now," she growled.
"Ah, com'on Hermione, it's Snape!" George whined.
"Yeah! Give us a second chance." Fred begged.
"That was your second chance. Now go!" She entered the room as the twins stomped down the stairs, causing all three of the men studying the knife to look up at her. "Intersaepio medeis." She announced. "Intersaepio has something to do with fencing, like hemming in or closing off, I think. I haven't had time to look it up."
"Wait," said Bill quieting the room as a thought came to him, "Wait. You mean Intersaepio magus?" He carefully handed the towel containing the blade to Hermione.
Her brow crinkled in thought as she struggled to decipher the runes on the handle and speak at the same time. "Nott said medeis, but I think they both refer to magic, why?"
The room went dead quiet. Hermione looked up from the knife. Snape's eyes were closed and he let out a long breath. Bill rubbed his ginger stubble with a heavy frown. Suddenly, he looked very tired. Remus glanced repeatedly from a blank-faced Hermione back to the two men. "What?" He asked. "What is it?"
"Now, I could be wrong, here, Hermione. It's just a guess." Bill groped for the right words, then began stringing them together excruciatingly slow, "But there is... Or, rather I've heard of... A similar curse... er... that encases... or can encase a magical core. In effect, Hermione... the theory was to disable any discharge of..."
Severus stopped his floundering with a loud clearing of his throat. "Congratulations, Miss Granger. You're marrying a muggle."
She'd made sure all that could be done for Draco was being done. Bill went down to the library and returned with several books to study the curse further. Hermione only left when Bill agreed to stay with Draco. He'd notify her immediately of any changes and reassured, she make her way to the kitchen.
Even in the upstairs hallway it was obvious the Order members were getting restless. Loud conversations and laughter echoed up at them. At the bottom of the stairs, she stood aside and motioned for Severus to walk before her. As he pressed past her, she wiped the sneering smile off his face by saying, "By all means, please go ahead. No one kills conversation in a room like you, sir."
The kitchen must have been standing room only. Stragglers spilled out into the hall. As predicted, Snape's appearance settled them to quiet buzzing. She waited a moment, then entered. All eyes flicked to her and prepared to dance away seeking out something more interesting in the crowd, only to bounce back in shock.
"Six days," she said in a conversational tone, striding purposefully to the head of the table to stand next to Harry. She may have to lead them, but by Merlin, she was not going to yell herself hoarse to do it. When the crowd realized she was speaking to them, the buzzing dwindled. "We have six days to end this war."
Her words had the desired effect. Mouths dropped open, people squirmed in their chairs, a tea cup even crashed to the floor. Every eye in the room was on her and every voice was silent, but the frowns belied the skepticism that sat in the room like a giant pink hippogryph. She knew what they were thinking: Who the hell was this little bint to come into their organization and start bossing them around?Hermione didn't have much time to sway a crowd of trained Aurors and veterans from the first war. It was just as hostile as she'd imagined it would be.
Harry gave her a peck on the cheek, then offered her the floor with a gesture. She gave him a smile and looked out over the crowd. She could count the smiling faces on one hand – without using her thumb. She threw her shoulders back and met each measuring gaze stoically. "But before I explain why, please allow me to introduce myself. I am an eighteen year old muggleborn witch. My magic manifested itself at age seven when I accidentally summoned a book from the top shelf in my father's study." Several pairs of eyes rolled in the audience. "I memorized all of my first year text books before I stepped foot on the Hogwarts Express. I am a Griffindor and the top ranking sixth year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." With this statement, she met and held Professor McGonagall's eye before giving her a tiny smile. "I am a founding member of Dumbledore's Army." She saw doubts take root and begin to grow. Good.
"At twelve I helped save the Sorcerer's Stone, at fifteen I assisted Hogwarts in winning the Tri-Wizard Tournament and last year I nearly died defending the Ministry from a Death Eater attack. I am one of Harry Potter's best friends." At this she turned to one side and exchanged a warm smile with Harry and Ron. Ron winked and gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up. Molly Weasley beamed at her from behind them.
When she turned back, the crowd was beginning to murmur uneasily. She let the moment build until they actually began to whisper amongst themselves. She increased her volume a fraction to refocus their attention on her.
"In the last two weeks I have kidnapped the son of an Inner Circle Death Eater and rescued an innocent from inside Malfoy Manor while Voldemort sat clueless one floor below. I have planned and engineered the deaths of Fenrir Greyback," Eyes went wide. "Alexander Dolohov, Electo Carrow," Heads that were turned from her swiveled back around. "Frederick Nott, the Gurg of Voldemort's Giant faction and two high ranking Ministry spies. I broke Bellatrix LaStrange's mind with a single spell."
Now that she had their attention, it was time to eradicate all doubt.
She continued, confidently, letting the volume of her voice build with each new point, "I am the daughter of murdered parents, friend to victimized witches and wizards and fiancee to a cursed man. Albus Dumbledore calls me the brightest witch of my age. My name is Hermione Granger and I am the witch that's going to end this war!"
"Are there any questions about my qualifications to lead the Order of the Phoenix?" She asked, a touch of sarcastic sweetness in her tone.
She could have heard a bowtruckle fart.
"Good," Her smile slid off her face as if it had never been and she continued grimly. "We've got a lot to do, starting with new wand oaths and a new Fidelius charm." A surprised murmur rippled through the crowd.
"What do you mean 'wand oaths'?" A wizard in the back called out. The murmuring grew to a rumble.
"Yeah," cried another. "We already made our oaths to the Order." The rumble grew to open resentment.
With a flick of her wand, the gathering went silent. "The oaths you gave were given to Albus Dumbledore. Sad to say, his healers don't expect he'll last the week. As the former leader of the Order, your previous oaths will expire with him." It was a lie, but a small one. She needed to know who was willing and who would balk. "And, as I'm sure you know, if we don't renew the Fidelius charm before Professor Dumbledore passes, it will make each of you Secret Keepers; meaning the Death Eaters will be hunting for you and your families twice as hard."
"For security, I have taken the liberty of placing a strong anti-apparition jinx and blocked all the floos and doors. Oh, and all portkeys to any location will land you starkers in the front hall. I hate to be cliché, but this close to the final battle, you're either with us or against us. Any Order member who does not renew their vow or does not agree to be obliviated by Professor Snape will be taken upstairs by Remus and Tonks to be placed under house arrest until after the final strike. "Professor, if you'd be good enough to join me?"She caught Severus's eye and motioned in invitation to an empty space beside her. "Witches and gentle wizards, the line forms to my left."
Two hours, six cups of Mrs. Weasley's tea and innumerable snide remarks from Severus later, sixty two wand oaths had been administered. As it turned out, getting a room full of Order members to queue up was a lot like trying to herd flobberworms. All night she'd been wanting nothing more than to dash upstairs to Draco and leave this sorry lot to sort everything out themselves. Merlin bless Mrs. Weasley. She'd been hovering nearby with a hot cuppa or a sharp word to an ornery Order member whenever she needed it. She leaned into her now, rubbing her eyes in exhaustion and said in exasperation, "Molly, can you settled them down for me, please?"
Molly gave her a sympathetic look and patted her shoulder, saying, "I've got that all sorted." She caught Fred's eye and nodded her head. He touched off a Weasley's Wizard Wheezes flash-pop firework, causing a blinding flash and loud bang that made the glassware ring in the cupboards. Hermione fought to keep a grin off her face as the majority of the room drew their wands and took cover. Good. Very Good. Maybe the Weasley twins would be useful after all.
"Before I adjourn this meeting, I'd like to explain my opening remarks. As I said when I first arrived, we have six days until the final battle. While in line to retake your oaths, many of you asked how I could possibly set such an arbitrary date. I assure you, it isn't arbitrary at all."
"My campaign against Voldemort has targeted his Ministry contacts, crippled his monetary backing, and nearly eradicated his support among non-humans. Our intelligence tells us he hasn't been able to rebuild what I've torn apart in the last two weeks. As a final taunting to his hubris, I broke the one person Voldemort allowed himself to hold dear above all others in his Inner Circle: Bellatrix LaStrange. Professor Dumbledore and I both agree the Death Eater leadership is not only weakened, but demoralized by his inability to protect the one witch that remained loyal to him. We believe many of his remaining followers see this as the beginning of the end and would be more likely to flee than fight."
"This doesn't mean it will be easy to get Harry in front of Voldemort. Don't let my preparations make you overconfident. I've done the arithmancy equations myself. We are going to have to work and work hard to pull this off. In six days, I will produce a method to bring down the wards at Malfoy Manor. I don't mean one at a time, with our curse breakers sitting ducks. I mean all at once. "
When the meeting finally broke up a little while later, Hermione asked Harry and Ron to grab a pair of Aurors and have them escort Theo 'hot pants' Nott to Ministry custody. She refused to explain the nickname, instead cornering Severus Snape and dragging him upstairs to Draco's room. Sometime during the meeting, Bill had thrown a blanket over Draco to fight off the spring chill. He was still sleeping in the same position she'd left him. She sagged in to a conjured chair next to Draco's bed and taking his hand in hers, said tiredly, "Nott was a bit round the twist. I don't know what they did to him, but he was almost... feral in defense of his beliefs. He didn't want to talk." Snape raised a brow in curiosity.
Bill leaned back in his chair and stretched his legs out, folding the book he was reading under his crossed arms. His body language said he was relaxed, his eyes said he was anything but. "What did you have to do?"
"I'd rather not say," she said tightly.
"'Mione..." Bill said in a warning tone. "No secrets. We're all on the same side."
"Fine!" She watched Severus, knowing the smirk would come, "Well, first I tried veritaserum." The dark haired man didn't disappoint. "When that didn't work," she shrugged and huffed out, "I conjured a bluebell flame in his lap. It didn't take long for him to spill the whole sorry mess." Were those teeth? Was Severus Snape actually grinning? Bill folded almost in half, cringing in sympathy.
Ignoring them, she pressed on, "Lucius put Nott up to it. He wanted to punish Draco for wanting to marry a mudblood."The men across the room stared impassively at her as she gave a bitter laugh. "No surprise, really." She chuffed Draco's hand between both of hers hoping the stimulation would help wake him from his non-responsive state. It didn't.
"I know who. I know why." She cupped his cheek tenderly, letting her touch linger for a few moments before looking back up at Bill and Severus. "Tell me what we know about this curse."
"It permanently binds a wizard's magic in his core. They can't even cast a simple lumos. She was proud of the fact there was no known counter-curse. She called it her Muggle Maker," said Snape.
Her stomach was going into free fall. No. It couldn't be. "Who?"
"Bella!" He snapped. "She kept it strapped in her boot. She only brought it out if she didn't want to kill a muggleborn. As you can imagine," he drawled. "That was a rare occasion."
Her brain was going blanched. Oh, no. No. No. No.
Snape's black eyes were drilling into her. "Tell me, Miss Granger, did you think at all when you left her to rot in the Malfoy summer house?" He demanded.
She cupped her hands over her mouth, looking blankly at her old Professor in horror. This was more than her fault. Her carelessness had stolen Draco's magic. She hadn't even thought to search Bellatrix for another weapon. To be quite honest, she was relieved when the crazy witch had dropped to the floor. And then, she had to admit it, she'd felt a little smug. Her stomach roiled and vomit threatened.
For a full minute she sat frozen in fear for Draco. How would he cope with never being able to cast another spell in his life? Merlin, he didn't know the first thing about being a muggle! The knowledge alone would tear him apart.
And when he found out it was her fault. Her fault! Not only would he break their engagement, he'd never want to see her again. And could she blame him? No. No she couldn't. Was it just this morning she'd admitted to herself that she loved him? The physical ache at the thought of being separated from him was overwhelming.
Someone was shoving a glass of water under her nose. She batted it away. She didn't need water! She needed to think!
No, she wouldn't blame Draco if he never wanted to speak to her again. But she loved him. There was no way she was going to let him live the rest of his life feeling like he was missing an arm or a leg. She'd do everything in her power to find a cure for this wretched curse, even if he walked away. Even if he married someone else.
She owed him that much.