Life Renovations
Chapter Twenty-Eight
To Battle and Rescue
Hermione awoke and found herself chained to a chair backed against a wall. She groaned as she tried to right herself since she had been slumped over in an awkward position for who knew how long. She opened her eyes only to see nothing but the dark, and the only thing she could hear was the dripping of water somewhere close by. Wherever she was, the place smelt damp and moldy.
Closing her eyes, Hermione thought about her situation. She remembered being Apparated here and then immediately knocked out. She didn't understand why she'd been cast unconscious but at least it had been a sleeping spell instead of the killing curse. She immediately suspected Dumbledore was behind this, though there was no actual proof except that one of her captors had referred to an old man waiting for them. In another time, she would have believed this was the work of Voldemort, but happily that could not be the case here. Unfortunately there was no one else she could think of who would be behind all this. Hermione shifted again and gasped when the shackles on her wrists began to bite into her flesh and cut the skin.
"Wh… Who's there?" squeaked a trembling voice from close by. Hermione's eyes widened in the dark when she recognized whose voice that belonged to.
"Neville? Neville, is that you?"
"Hermione? Oh thank Merlin!" In the dark, she could hear other chains moving around and a sigh of relief as the sounds drew near her.
"No offense but I really wish you weren't here, Neville," she mourned. She didn't want anyone else in danger. Neville made a sound of agreement.
"At least we're not alone wherever we are," he finally said.
"That's true. Has anyone else been taken?"
"Dean and Luna."
"Are any of you hurt?" Hermione tried to jump her chair forward closer to Neville's voice, and she soon found a hand touching her shin.
"I'm fine… But Luna is still unconscious and they took Dean out somewhere when we arrived. Dean and I were together and they ambushed us. I-I've been hearing Dean screaming… but it stopped a few minutes ago. Please tell me they didn't kill him, Hermione!"
"Who are they?"
"Not sure…."
"Okay, Neville. Everything will be all right. Help will be on its way."
"How do you know?" Neville's voice rose an octave above Hermione's voice. "No one knows where we are and my Gran isn't expecting me home until tomorrow…I'm supposed to be staying the night with Dean and his parents gave us midnight as curfew. That's hours away!"
"Neville, calm down. Panicking will not help in this situation. Besides, Professor Snape will know something is wrong when I'm late for our meeting and then Harry will…" Hermione closed her mouth with a snap. Was that why they were here? Was this just another plan of Dumbledore's to lure Harry in to capture him? That seemed the most likely. Hermione's eyes narrowed in the darkness. Over her dead body would Dumbledore get anywhere near Harry.
"Right. Neville, move back a bit."
When she felt the hand leave her, Hermione concentrated all her might on the shackles around her wrists and ankles and after a minute of concentration, they snapped open. She took a moment to rub the circulation back into her hands, grimacing against the pain and blood she felt coming from her wrists, and then she was able to produce a ball of light in her palm causing Neville to gasp and flinch back.
"Goodness, Hermione! I didn't know you could do that! Wandless!"
"I've been doing some studying over the summer." Hermione brought the light closer to his face. "They've beaten you!" Neville's poor face was bloodied and bruised. He had a fat lip and both eyes were dark and swollen. But even though he was clearly frightened, he stared back at her with a determined gaze.
"Don't worry. It's probably worse than it looks."
"Regardless, the bastards will pay."
"Hermione, you're scarier than normal," Neville said quietly as Hermione lifted part of her robe to dab away the blood from his face. She then released him from his own chains. They both moved to Luna and were happy to see the girl looked unharmed.
"We need to get out of here and find Dean before they do what I think they are going to do… Luna? Luna, wake up… Why isn't she waking?" Hermione was able to wandlessly undo Luna's shackles as well, though all the wandless magic was taking its toll on her.
"Err… and uh… what exactly do you think they are going to do to us?"
Hermione chose to ignore his question. No need to send Neville into panic overdrive. As it was she was already panicking about Dean. She hoped to Merlin he wasn't already dead. Just thinking about that brought hopeless tears to her eyes. They couldn't lose Dean. Hermione refused to lose anyone! She stood up and walked around the small room. The walls were concrete, covered in dust and mold, but other than that there was nothing else, not even a hole or crack. Lifting her hand, she saw the same was true for the ceiling except there were two black pipes running just above the door and straight across the ceiling through the opposite wall, and both pipes were dripping water.
"Help me sit Luna up."
Neville nodded and they managed to bring Luna into a sitting position. Hermione brought the ball of light up to the girl's face for a closer inspection and saw she had a large bump on the side of her head. No wonder Luna wasn't waking up. She was concussed. But at least the blonde girl was breathing normally.
"Are you well enough to walk, Neville? Can you help me hold Luna up when we go?"
"Yeah, I've got her." Hermione helped Neville get Luna onto her feet and when she was sure Neville had a good grip on the Ravenclaw, Hermione moved to inspect the door.
"How much do you bet they left it unlocked?" she tentatively touched the door handle, checking for any spell that might cause harm if touched from the inside, but thankfully she was able to grip it with no repercussions.
"No way. They wouldn't keep prisoners in an unlocked dungeon."
"But we're kids, remember, and I don't feel any wards around the door." Hermione prepared to pull the handle when suddenly she heard voices. Voices growing louder as whomever it was grew closer. Hermione immediately doused the ball of light and helped Neville pull Luna over to the corner on one side of the door.
"Neville, we have to physically attack whoever this is," she whispered and quickly helped prop Luna against the corner, carefully resting the blonde's head against the wall. "We have to move quickly before they realize we're not chained anymore."
"I'm with you," he said with a firm nod. As Hermione moved over to the opposite corner, Neville crouched down, prepared to attack. Both he and Hermione prayed there were no more than two or three guards outside of the door as they could only distinguish two voices. They held their breath as the door banged opened and the flickering light poured in. Immediately a body was thrown in, broken and bloodied. Hermione only had a moment to notice it was Dean and he was alive, glaring at the guards, before the guards realized they were missing prisoners.
"What the-"
Hermione moved quickly, running up and throwing her fist into the air, watching it connect with the face of the man who'd taken her wand before in the alley. She didn't knock him down, but was able to stun him just long enough for Neville to barrel forward and knock both wizards back into the wall opposite the open cell door. Despite the fact that she knew she'd just broken her hand, or a couple of fingers at least, Hermione followed Neville out and jumped on one of the guards, the adrenaline rushing through her body and keeping the pain at bay, while Neville did the same to the other wizard. The wizards were bigger than they were, but Neville seemed to have an affinity for fighting with his fists because he was coming on top with the wizard he was fighting, and was able to keep the bastard from reaching for his wand.
Hermione wasn't so lucky and caught an elbow in the head. She slumped sideways off the wizard, completely disorientated allowing the wizard enough time to reach for a wand. Hermione thought it would soon be over because she couldn't move to deflect any curse, but they were all surprised when Dean suddenly ran out of the cell and smashed into the guard, knocking the wand a few feet away.
"Dean!" Hermione cried happily as she lunged for the wand as it rolled across the stony floor. She grabbed it with her left hand and aimed, "stupefy! Stupefy!"
There was a moment when all she could hear was the ragged breathing of herself and her friends. "Dean? Neville?"
"I'll be good as soon as we get out of here," Dean rasped from where he lay sprawled on top of one of the unconscious wizards.
"I'm good," Neville replied and popped his knuckles. "Think I could have gone a few more rounds…what about you, Hermione?"
"I'll live to hurt whoever is behind this. Let's get Luna and get out of here."
Neville nodded and went inside to retrieve Luna.
"Dean, did you see who did this to you?" Hermione bent down to help her fellow Gryffindor up. Just like Neville, Dean's face was covered in bruises and cuts and he was favoring one leg. Luckily for all of them, he could walk with just a small amount of help.
Dean nodded and took another moment to collect his erratic breathing. He looked at her with unbelieving eyes. "Professor Moody. I didn't want to believe it at first… but it was Moody. He put me under the Crucio several times…I…" Dean leaned against the slick wall and took another deep breath. "I refused to speak about Harry or Malfoy. Moody didn't like that… Hermione? Is it true? Are you guys with You-Know-Who now?"
Hermione turned and looked Dean straight in the eye. "Yes it is true. But you must understand, Dean. Voldemort isn't the same as he once was. Draco and Harry have given him his soul back and we are with him, not working for him."
"I did notice the lack of Death Eater attacks," Dean replied after a moment of thought.
"Okay, can we go now? Honestly at this point, I don't give a damn who you guys are sided with. Seems the side we were on is the bad side after all… At least the Death Eaters never tried to kidnap us before!" Neville said after coming from the cell with a semi conscious Luna under his arm. Hermione nodded and knelt down beside the wizard who Neville had been fighting and found two more wands from his robes.
"These are yours, right?" she held them up. Neville grinned and took one of them.
"Mine's the one you used to stupefy these two," Dean said to her. Hermione passed it to him then snapped the last one in three pieces and threw it at the unconscious wizard's feet. She searched again and found a fourth wand, but it wasn't hers and neither was it Luna's. She remembered what Luna's wand looked like having seen it many times during school and the DA practices. She snapped that wand as well, and belatedly realized that left her without a wand.
"Dammit, I'm letting my anger get the best of me… All right, let's go." Since the cell they were in was the last room at the end of a corridor, there was only one way to go.
Knowing Mad Eye Moody was around somewhere made her extra nervous as he could see through walls with that creepy eye of his, but Hermione tried not to focus on that thought as they moved down the corridor as quickly as they could manage. They tried to keep as silent as possible, but not completely silent because Hermione still had questions that needed to be answered.
"Did you see anyone else besides those two and Moody? Did you see Dumbledore?"
"I only saw the inside of that room," Neville murmured as he looked over his shoulder to make sure they weren't going to be ambushed from behind. It was a little late to be thinking it, but they should have banded those two arse holes in rope before they left.
"Just Moody and those two. Though Moody did say Dumbledore was displeased that the Gryffindors were giving him so much trouble," Dean put in.
"That doesn't mean the old man is behind this though," Hermione whispered to herself, and then she nearly shrieked when Luna's light voice drifted to her.
"Dumbledore was the one who took me from my home." They all stopped walking to look at the misty eyed girl who'd obviously regained consciousness. "He said he had a cure for my father, who has become very ill. I believed we were going to St. Mungo's, but after we Apparated, someone threw a spell at me from behind."
That was proof enough that Dumbledore had something to do with all this, and Hermione was the only one who didn't look devastated by the news as she already knew firsthand what he was capable of. Though... Luna didn't look devastated either.
"The only reason why Moody didn't kill me was because he was waiting for someone. That's what he told me. He said we weren't ever going home again." Dean looked at the ground and clenched his fists. After a moment he looked into Hermione's wide eyes. "I want to talk to Harry and Malfoy," he declared.
"Me too," Neville said. "We're already targeted. Might as well be for something worthwhile… I mean besides just being friends of Harry's. We've always been Harry's friends, but after this… I want to be targeted because I'm an actual threat. Moody threatened my Gran. I won't stand for it." Dean nodded along with Neville.
Hermione was speechless and could only turn to look at Luna, who smiled serenely back at her. "Of course I want to join. It'll be just like the DA except now it should be DWD. Down With Dumbledore… or something."
Hermione blinked a couple of times and then she started to laugh softly. "Let's just get out of here first. Have any idea where the exit is?"
"Sorry," Dean, Neville, and Luna said together. Of course it wouldn't be easy, Hermione sneered inwardly. Please, Severus. Where are you?
"All right. I assume we're in a dungeon or basement so that means the way out is up. Dean, did you at least notice if they brought you up or down stairs when they were returning you to the cell?"
Dean's face brightened and he began to nod. "Yeah! They brought me down two flights after Moody was done with me. I can lead you to those… only, we passed a few wizards on the way."
"Give me a wand please," Hermione demanded. Dean immediately handed his over. "I may do things you wouldn't usually expect of me… I hope you don't think less of me after this."
"I'll always love you, Hermione," was Luna's encouraging reply, and her tone was serious for once, which did much to relieve Hermione's worries.
"After what I've just been through, there is nothing you could do to these people that I would think they don't deserve," Dean murmured darkly with a firm nod at her.
"Um…" Neville visibly gulped. "Just don't make it too gruesome. Kay, Hermione?" The girl in question nodded. She took one step forward then quickly stopped, causing Dean to bump into her. She slapped her forehead then started to berate herself.
"I'm such an idiot. An idiot!" She spun around, scaring her friends to backing up a few steps. "Here." She waved the wand and cast a Disillusionment Charm over Dean, Neville, Luna, and then herself. They proceeded to follow Dean's directions, and their walk was slower as the halls were darker than at first expected. This was perhaps to their benefit because although they were Disillusioned the wizards around were sure to be trained to be able to sense the charm, but at least the charm coupled with the darkness, they would have a moment's advantage of surprise. And a moment was all Hermione needed.
Dean found the first stairwell quickly and without any trouble. There was no one around, and it was confirmed they were in a muggle building because the stairway was lit with fluorescent lights, though most of them were out, and the lights that were on were flickering. There was a large red B painted on one of the walls up the stairs. "The basement…. We're in a muggle building," Hermione said.
"Yeah," Dean agreed in a whisper. "Might be easier for us to escape."
"Let's stay close together…"
"Don't have to tell me twice," Neville muttered behind her.
"And we should watch our backs as well."
"Luna and I've got that covered."
Halfway up the stairs, the four escapees froze when hearing footsteps coming down towards them in a rapid pace. Dean tugged on Hermione's sleeve and motioned that they should back down a few steps were there was no light flickering over them. She nodded and they retreated the few steps and then flattened themselves as best they could against the wall. Hermione and Neville lifted their wands, only to freeze when a strange sound started to float around them, getting louder and louder.
"Luna, what are you doing? Stop! You'll give us away!" Neville hissed when he realized the noise was coming from her.
Luna was staring up the stairs, her eyes as glazed as ever, and she was loudly humming an uplifting tune. Hermione started waving her hand in front of her neck, the universal cut off signal, but Luna smiled and pointed to her ears, then covered Neville's ears while still humming.
"What the hell is that noise?" someone croaked from above them.
"Ahh! My head! It hurts!"
Luna's humming increased in volume again, and Hermione started to feel weird, like her body was slowly being covered in sand and she quickly slapped her hands over her ears and watched as Dean did the same.
A moment later two wizards came into view, rolling down the stairs and landing at the platform at Hermione's feet. They were completely lifeless.
"Luna?"
"Hmm?"
"Care to explain what you just did?" Hermione asked staring at the dead wizards. And she had been afraid of how her friends would react if she had to kill?
"I felt like humming something to lighten the mood. That's all."
Neville shivered and put a little pace between himself and Luna, his face as pale as the white wall behind him.
"But your humming just saved us the trouble of having to curse those two!" Dean cried. "Not to mention that you've killed them!"
"Did I? How strange… Shall we go on?" Luna skipped up the stairs and knelt by her victims and took the wands from their hands. She held one out for Hermione and kept the other for herself.
"These aren't our wands either!" Hermione cursed, but she held onto the wand Luna gave her and handed Dean's back to him.
"At least now we're all armed," Dean said as he took his wand back. "Hermione?" the brunet witch was staring at the two men and was frowning terribly.
"This is Sturgis Podmore and that's Elphias Doge. Both were members of the Order."
"They're kind of old to be going around kidnapping people… then again no one is as old as Dumbledore," Neville mused.
"I'm sure a lot of the original members of the Order are with Dumbledore… we'll have to watch out for them no matter what."
They returned to climbing the stairs. Soon they came to the ground floor and pushed open the door just as a group of wizards and a witch rushed towards them, their wands already firing curses. Hermione ducked and quickly shut the door again.
"Use everything you've got!" she said to her friends, who all nodded and readied themselves.
Hermione flung open the door and slammed it into the face of a snarling witch, and used the cutting hex on another wizard who was right behind that witch. That wizard backed away towards the opposite wall, clutching at the gaping wound to his stomach. Hermione quickly disarmed him and unlike McNair, she had not held back with the cutting hex this time and that wound was probably fatal. Over her shoulder, Dean and Neville were both yelling Expelliarmus and were able to disarm two of their attackers, one being the witch with the broken nose.
Hermione saw Luna rush out to deal with the unarmed witch and another two wizards on her own with no hesitation. She was surprisingly inventive with her spells and quickly left those three immobile and bleeding, a lot. Hermione thought she wasn't the only one to have studied curses over the summer. When they were safe and sound, she and Luna would be having a long discussion.
"Look! There's a door leading outside!" Hermione shouted after catching a glimpse of sunlight shining in from somewhere and finding it was coming from a glass door at the end of the hall. "Run!"
"Don't let them get away! Mad Eye will have our heads when he gets back and sees they've escaped!"
Hermione spun back around just in time to see one wizard throw a curse at her. She wasn't able to block in time and was hit and thrown against the wall.
"Hermione!" Neville yelled while he and Dean were fighting with two wizards who were far better at wand battling then the two young Gryffindors.
"Run!" she yelled as she scrambled up, her left arm now hanging limply at her side due to a cutting attack. She returned her wand to her right hand, even though it was broken and moving it sent fiery waves of pain through her arm. She pointed it at the wall just behind Dean and Neville's attackers. "Expulso!" she screamed. The wizards tried to dive away, but they were still buried under a ton of concrete as the ceiling as well as the wall came down on them.
That took out two more, leaving one running after Dean, Neville, and Luna, while the last wizard stood in front of Hermione leering at her.
"You're lucky we're supposed to keep you alive for the time being," he said as he and Hermione began to circle each other. "You might as well give up-" He froze up like stone as Neville had cast Petrificus Totalus at him. Hermione kicked the petrified wizard and watched him fall like a tree.
"Like we're really going to leave you, Hermione…give us more credit!" Dean said harshly. Hermione smiled her gratitude at him and then looked to where Luna stood over the wizard who'd been chasing them as they ran for the door. The wizard was writhing on the floor with what looked like gallons of blood pouring out of his mouth.
"This one's not getting up," Luna said airily. Hermione nodded then turned to the wizard frozen in front of her.
"Idiot!" She yelled and kicked him again. "I want my wand!"
"C'mon, Hermione! More might come and you're hurt." Neville wrapped an arm around her waist and tried to pull her to the door, but she pulled away from him.
"No! Tie the ones who aren't dead up," she ordered forcefully. "I'm not leaving without my wand!"
Luna happily obeyed, skipping from one wizard to the other, shooting ropes out of the end of her wand and wrapping them tightly around the ones who were still breathing.
"Dean, go block the door to the stairs."
"Yes ma'am." His response was automatic, and he blushed when he realized what he'd said. But Hermione was being so forceful and authoritative that it had seemed the right thing to say at the time.
"Finite Incantatum." Hermione stared at the wizard at her feet with steely eyes. "You have no idea what you've brought to yourself by kidnapping us, do you? The wrath that you've brought upon yourselves. I almost feel sorry for you…Almost. As it is, you're lucky you are still alive…" Hermione looked and noted only two other wizards were tied up. "We've killed everyone else but you three."
The wizard snarled up at her. "You muggle loving bitch! I'll kill you my-"
"Crucio," She replied softly. The wizard's screams brought the attention of the others and they watched. Dean and Neville were speechless, but Luna looked unconcerned. "I want to know where our wands are. If you want me to stop you will tell me…" She bent forward and whispered so that Neville wouldn't hear her next words. "Or I'll torture you until you go insane."
"It's in a room upstairs!"
Hermione released the curse and watched as the man stopped writhing in pain. "Why are our wands in a room and theirs weren't?"
"I'm not saying anymore!"
"Crucio…. Really I could do this all day. Do you know who my teacher is? No? I'll tell you then. Lord Voldemort himself."
"Ahh! Stop!"
"Answer me!"
"Moody! Moody was supposed to take your wands and plant them somewhere after you've been killed!" he screamed over the pain and sudden fear her statement had caused. "To blame the crime on someone else!" he panted. Hermione lifted the curse once again.
"And when do you expect Moody to return?" Again her voice was soft, but her eyes were hard as stone. She tried to keep the pain hidden, but it was becoming hard to do that, as well as stand straight on her own.
"When the sun sets."
"Hmmm… Are there more of you here?"
"No."
"I don't believe you. Imperio." Hermione walked a few steps away to slide down the wall and sit. "Now I want you to go and get our wands. If you meet anyone on the way don't let on that we've escaped. Understood?"
"Yes."
"We'll be waiting outside of that door." Hermione pointed to the glass door down the hall. "I'll give you five minutes. Understood?"
"Yes."
Dean, Neville, and Luna kept their wands on the wizard as Hermione released him from the ropes just in case he was like Harry and could fight off the Imperius Curse.
"Shouldn't we go with him to make sure he's not faking?" Neville inquired.
"I would, but I'm having trouble moving," Hermione replied. "Besides, I'm pretty sure he's not faking."
Dean and Neville exchanged worried glances before bending down and helping Hermione up. They all had cuts and scratches from the short battle, but Hermione was the worst as she was losing a lot of blood.
"You need a Healer," Dean said as they limped towards the door.
"I'll be fine for a while."
When they left the building they were all nearly blinded from the sunlight and it took a moment for their eyes to become adjusted. They were lucky enough to still have the Disillusionment Charm on as they found themselves in the middle of downtown London. They all turned around to look at the building where they had been prisoners.
"What is it?" Neville asked, chewing on his bottom lip worriedly.
"It's an empty office building. Bold of Dumbledore to use a place in such a busy part of town," Dean answered. "There are a lot of muggle repellent charms on it too. That's why they're all passing by without looking at us. Usually seeing a group of teenagers torn and bloodied would cause some sort of commotion, wouldn't it?"
"Don't you think it was stupid of Dumbledore? If someone comes after us, we can always get lost among all these people."
"Not with our robes on," Hermione muttered. "We stick out like sore thumbs."
"I can transfigure our robes into muggle clothes. I'm very good at it, you know."
"Oh, err…" Dean, Neville, and Hermione weren't sure what to say. They'd all seen Luna's weird choices for outfits and if they allowed her to choose their outfits they may come out looking like clowns.
"First, we should move out from in front of the building."
Everyone nodded, and just as they turned to move to the side of the building someone touched Hermione's left shoulder where she'd been injured, forcing a pained cry from her lips. Dean and Neville quickly turned, their wands pointing at the offending person, who backed up with wide eyes.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Don't shoot!" he yelled, waving his hands back and forth in front of his face. Hermione's eyes widened when she saw who it was. It was Dudley Dursley.
"Wait," She told the boys. "This is Harry's cousin, Dudley."
"His cousin?"
"Yeah, that's right! And I recognized you," he said to Hermione. "You came to the house once before… I wanted to ask about Harry."
"But he's a muggle! How can he see us? And what about the muggle repelling charms on the building? We're so close to it that he should have immediately forgotten about seeing us. He shouldn't be able to be this close." Dean voiced all their thoughts.
"I don't know." Hermione was really perplexed for once.
"Look, here come our wands," Luna chirped and pointed as the door opened and the wizard came out holding two wands. Dean and Neville had moved from pointing their wands at Dudley to pointing it at the wizard. They kept an eye on him and on the door.
"Luna, grab the wands." Hermione looked at the wizard. "Now you will go back in and allow no one to follow us." Immediately the wizard turned and went back into the building. Hermione snapped the wand she'd been using and vanished the pieces, with Luna following her actions.
"Hey, what's going on? You're bleeding." Dudley pointed to her shoulder and then took a good look at all of them. "You're all bleeding." Dudley took a step back; suddenly not sure he should involve himself. They all looked horrible.
Hermione suddenly pointed her wand at him. "What are you doing here? It seems like too much of a coincidence…"
"Mum and I live nearby. We moved to the city after… Well, we just moved to a small flat. I've been out looking for a job. I saw you from across the street… Hey, do you guys need a place to go for a bit?"
Hermione studied him for a minute, and wished she had mastered Legilimency already, but he looked sincere so she was going to trust him a little bit. And besides, they needed a place to rest. "Please."
"But Hermione, you need a Healer!" Neville cried.
"I can't Apparate anywhere in this condition, Neville, and I don't think I can do anymore magic. Can any of you Apparate yet?" they all shook their heads. "I have no more energy. We can send a message once we're safely inside somewhere." She looked back at Dudley. "Do you have a problem with us?"
"No! That's why I came over to speak to you. C'mon. It's not too far. Let me help you." And much to Hermione's surprise, he wrapped an arm around her waist to help her walk.
Neville and Luna did the same for Dean, and they began to follow after Harry's cousin, who was bewildered and wondering why he offered to take them to a safe place and to his home no less! His Mum was going to kill him.
"Mum!" Dudley shouted as soon as they entered the flat and quickly ushered Hermione over to the couch to lay her down. "Mum!"
"Yes, yes, I'm coming, No need to raise your voice, Dudders…"
Dean couldn't help it. He snorted in amusement as he slumped into the recliner next to the couch and Neville sat on the floor at the end of the couch. Luna sat down on the couch and put Hermione's head in her lap and began to softly stroke her brown hair while humming a soothing tune. Everyone tensed up upon hearing the sound, but after a moment and they felt nothing going on inside their heads, they relaxed.
"Dudders?" asked Dean. "I thought your name was Dudley."
Dudley turned away to hide the bright blush spreading across his face and looked at his mom who stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. Her face had gone pale upon seeing what was happening in her living room.
"What's the meaning of this? Dudley, what's going on?"
"Mum, she's hurt really badly!" Dudley exclaimed and pointed to the witch on the sofa. "And they needed a place to go." Petunia looked at the state the kids were in and cringed at all the caked blood on them and the bruises covering their arms and faces.
Petunia took a deep breath and nodded. "All right. Go get some wash clothes and boil some water." She knelt down beside Hermione, and the two women stared at one another.
"You and your family caused Harry so much pain," Hermione began, intending to give the woman a piece of her mind, but Luna's humming became louder and a buzzing filling Hermione's head while her eyes began to shut on their own accord. "We'll speak about this later," she told Petunia. "Luna, don't kill me…"
"She's so tired. We should let her sleep," Luna said softly and smiled when Hermione fell into a deep sleep.
"You didn't kill her, did you?" Neville practically shrieked and stood staring wide eyed down at the two witches. Dean saw Hermione's chest was rising and falling and sighed in relief and he sank back down in a chair.
"Relax, Nev. Luna hummed her to sleep…" He looked at Luna. "What kind of power is that?"
"But I didn't do anything," Luna replied and watched as the muggle woman pulled Hermione's outer robe off her shoulders to inspect the damage.
"This is horrible! Who could do such a thing?"
"Well you see, we were all kidnapped and we just managed to escape with our lives…" Dean began, and then he laughed. "Nothing out of the ordinary." Neville and Luna joined in his laughter. Petunia looked at them like they'd lost their minds.
"Being friends with Harry guarantees risking your life. He keeps us on our toes."
"So you are friends of Harry…" Petunia took the cloths Dudley came back in with. She wet one and pressed it against Hermione's opened wound. "And you don't mind that you are always in danger?"
"Harry is worth it," Luna said simply and smiled dreamily at a spot over Petunia's right shoulder.
"Yeah. I have no regrets when it comes to being friends with him," Neville proclaimed proudly and Dean nodded.
After a few minutes of attending to Hermione and doing all she could, Petunia moved around the room, checking the others over and applying bandages where needed. She was surprised at how much she enjoyed being able to help them, but was very disgusted how damaged they were and the fact that they took with a grain of salt was quite disconcerting.
"You all need to see a doctor. I should bring you to a hospital."
"No. We'll be good as soon as we get word to our friends. Thank you though," Neville said, and smiled his thanks at Dudley after receiving a glass of water from him. Dudley shifted on his feet, staring down at Neville, and then smiled back before turning away quickly.
Petunia frowned and looked at Hermione's pale face before standing up and putting her hands on her hips. "Then I suggest you call your friends now," she said waspishly. "This girl has lost a lot of blood. She needs proper medical treatment!"
"Don't worry," Luna spoke. "Help is on the way even as we speak."
"How do you know that, Luna?"
The Ravenclaw simply smiled and continued to stroke Hermione's hair. Not five minutes later, someone knocked on the door.
The rescue party landed as a group inside the room Hermione and the others had been kept in only to discover that it was empty except for the chairs and chains. Falde moved to one chair and picked up the chains. His nostrils flared as he studied the stained shackles.
"This blood belongs to your friend," he said in a flat voice to Severus. "Not enough to be fatal."
"Don't talk like you couldn't care whether or not she's dead!" Severus lashed out. Falde looked back at him with an expression of surprise.
"I was only stating the facts."
"She was not the only one to be chained in here," Ozemir spoke then, cutting off anything Severus would have replied with. "Other children were kept here."
"They're obviously not in here. May we proceed?" Severus drawled. He sounded calm and unconcerned, but the three Ukatae could feel the fear and desperation coming off him.
"Ozemir. Search the place," Falde instructed.
Ozemir exited the room and sped down the corridor with incredible speed. He was nothing but a blur when Brumek poked his head out of the room.
"You are going to trust him with this? Falde, I see no sense in it."
"You are a great warrior, but your mind is completely shut. Have faith that he knows what he's doing."
"How can he know what he's doing? He's a Scholar, for Hirsha's sake!"
Falde ignored that and left the room, with Severus following closely behind. Brumek snarled at his leader's back, but also followed. Two wizards lay on the ground directly outside the door.
"They have been stupefied," Severus murmured, and cast a sleeping spell on them. "Someone powerful has done this. Usually that spell works for only a small amount of time." He could only hope Hermione was behind it. It meant she was fine and healthy and able to do magic. He looked once more upon their faces. They weren't anyone he knew and so he ignored them and turned his back on them to continue down the corridor. Besides, after he found Hermione and made sure she was in a safe location, he would be returning to exact revenge.
They came upon Podmore and Doge next. Severus sneered at their bodies, unfazed by the fact that his Hermione was probably the cause of the wizards' deaths.
"Bastards," he spat.
He and the Ukatae were just about to exit the first floor stairway when Ozemir appeared in front of them, holding one unconscious wizard by his neck. "Looks like a small battle was fought here. I found this wizard upstairs pacing. He's been tortured. But he's one of the kidnappers so I didn't mind hurting him just a little bit more," he explained, his talons digging even more into the wizard's neck. He pushed open the door to show them the scene of chaos and blood.
"Are human children usually this violent?" Brumek asked, obviously impressed.
"When they need to survive. Did you find them?" Severus asked. "Did you find Hermione?"
"She is not here," Ozemir replied. "But…I smell her…" He moved over to inspect the wall near the stairway door. There was blood smeared there. "Your witch. She's badly hurt." But then he stood up and his eyes were twinkling. "Those chains downstairs were broken. Not unlocked. Looks like your friend escaped on her own… or one of the others escaped and helped her. They must have done this damage."
"So where are they now?"
"Let's ask this fellow." Ozemir smiled goofily and shook the wizard in his grasp. Severus cringed seeing the blood leaking from the unfortunate man's neck where Ozemir's talons were dug in. And shaking someone like that guaranteed they would not be fine and dandy afterwards. The wizard looked like a rag doll under Ozemir's grasp. In fact Severus could have sworn he'd heard the man's neck snap.
"Revive him," Falde ordered.
Ozemir nodded, removed his sharp long nails, and slipped an arm around the wizard's neck. Severus' eyebrows rose. Ozemir was the shortest and thinnest of the male Ukatae, but still the wizard's head only came up to Ozemir's neck. Severus looked upon him with more of a perspective.
Ozemir lifted a finger and pushed it against the man's temple and breathed into the wizard's ear, "wake up, human." The wizard shuddered and his eyes opened. Falde came forward, drawing a whimper from the human.
"Where are the children you took?" he growled.
"I don't know… I don't!" he screamed when Severus came forward and pushed his wand into the wizard's neck. "Please don't Crucio me! That Granger bitch did it enough!"
"She did? Good for her…. Crucio."
Severus' eyes gleamed with pleasure as the wizard writhed in Ozemir's arms. Ozemir himself looked thoroughly enraptured by the torment the human in his arms was going through. Brumek had never seen that look in his violet eyes before.
Severus stopped the curse and then used Legilimency on the bastard and found out whom Hermione had been a prisoner with. "You took Longbottom, Thomas, and Lovegood as well…. By Moody's orders?"
"Yes. They left through that door." The wizard pointed with a shaking finger down the hall. "I swear I don't know where they are! Let me go! I don't want to be here when Moody returns."
"Why, afraid he'll kill you?"
"He will!"
Severus shrugged and began to walk down towards the door. He stopped and turned around when he heard a crash, and saw that Ozemir had thrown the unknown wizard against the wall before following Falde and Brumek.
"Ozemir." The violet-eyed Ukatae looked at Falde. "We leave no witnesses and we take no prisoners. I know you know this. Stop pretending so much."
Ozemir smiled sheepishly. "Forgive me." He spun around and pulled out a dagger. Severus was unsure of where it could have come from because his long white tunic had no pockets and there were no pockets in the tight black pants he wore either. But a dagger he had, and he deftly threw it at the wizard who was currently running down the hall in the opposite direction. Brumek watched with surprised eyes as the dagger embedded itself dead center in the back of the wizard's neck. Ozemir sped off to retrieve the dagger and as he walked back to them, he was seen licking the blood off the blade, causing Severus to shudder in revulsion.
"Mmm, I love wizard blood. Not as good as Ukatae though." Ozemir slowed his pace so that he could walk beside Severus, who glanced at him warily. "Ever been bitten by a Ukatae?" he asked.
"No." Severus tried to move away, but Ozemir followed, his eyes gone strangely red.
"Do you want to be? I'll make it good for you." Ozemir then flashed a smile that had the wizard blinking dazedly back at him and kept him firmly in place beside him.
"Stop it!" Brumek growled, and yanked Ozemir away from Severus.
"You two, focus and return to your Shadows. We're going outside," Falde ordered.
Severus watched as the three dissolved into gray mist, and he was fairly certain the only reason he could see the shadows now was because he'd been looking at them at the time they disappeared. And he also knew that if he were to take his eyes off them for a moment, he wouldn't be able to see the shadows anymore.
"Pick up the pace, human!" Brumek hissed. Severus followed but he glared the entire time at the shadow he thought was Brumek. He was beginning to hate that creature very much.
Severus stepped out onto the sidewalk and his eyes went wide with recognition. "London? Why would Moody bring them here?" he wondered aloud, and then he noticed that all the muggles were passing by without looking at him, and realized there was a muggle repellent charm on the building.
"Who cares? Let's just find this girl and get out of here! I hate humans…"
"That's because you have no experience dealing with humans. But that's okay, Brumek. We can't all be perfect," Ozemir replied with a cheeky smile.
Brumek replied in a calm tone. "I'll kill you."
Severus heard Falde sigh in exasperation, and he was inclined to agree with him. Their bickering was doing nothing but wasting time. "Are you going to help me find Hermione or not? You said she was injured…"
"I apologize. You are right," Ozemir replied, and then he turned to Falde. "Her scent is very strong. They didn't leave too long ago. Shall we go in disguise and follow?"
"Yes. You and the wizard will go. Brumek and I will remain in Shadow and follow… Change his clothes as well to blend in with the non magical people," Falde instructed, indicating Severus' black wizards' robes.
Before Severus knew it, he was dressed in a black muggle business suit with his hair pulled back into a ponytail. He nearly yelled in surprise when he found a very curvy blonde woman hanging onto his arm. She was wearing a short black dress and high heels, lips and nails painted a dark red color. He wouldn't have realized it was Ozemir if the Ukatae hadn't kept the color of his eyes. The woman looked at him with those strange purple eyes and winked at him.
"Shall we go, handsome?"
"Falde! Don't let him go out like that! What the blazing hells, Ozemir?"
"What? The last time I disguised myself, you said I looked disgusting… Doesn't this please you more?" he batted his long blonde lashes at the shadow. The shadow that was Falde began to softly rumble, and then the rumbling turned into full-throated laughter.
"Stars, Ozemir! That's the best disguise I've ever seen from you. You look perfect!"
"Falde! Are you agreeing with this… and your laughing?" Brumek hadn't heard his Commander laugh in a very very long time. He'd been nothing but serious for centuries.
"You have to admit, Brumek. That is a very good disguise," Falde replied as they followed Severus and Ozemir. The two made their way down the road at an almost break neck speed, ignoring all the glances their way. Ozemir, of course, was getting most of the attention. Those long, bare, and perfectly sculpted legs had every man that passed him looking Ozemir up and down.
"It's not inconspicuous! Everyone is looking at him," Brumek hissed.
"You as well." Falde chuckled when Brumek growled deeply. Up ahead, Ozemir's smile widened which had many people tripping over their feet.
"Stop smiling like that fool!" Severus hissed. "And you can let go of my arm."
"No. We're a couple… What's your name, by the way? We haven't been properly introduced. You are a relation of Harry, which means we'll be seeing plenty of each other."
Severus groaned his displeasure at that. "Severus Snape."
"Very nice to meet you, Severus. I am called Ozemir."
"Yes, I know." Severus rolled his eyes. "I thought you people were Dark Creatures. Why do you go around smiling all the time?"
"Because we can, human. We smile when we want, we kill when we want, we take what we want, and live how we want… or at least we used to. All without any remorse over our actions. Our natures are dark and what you see on the outside is only an illusion… most of the time-" Ozemir snapped his mouth shut after he realized he'd probably said too much.
"I'm not about to go blabbing away to people about things I've learned about you or your kind," Severus said, sensing that's why the Ukatae had stopped talking and understanding his reluctance. "I'd be selling out my own nephew if I were to do that, wouldn't I?"
"Yes, I suppose that's true." Ozemir smiled at the surly wizard then stopped when he realized he'd lost the scent of the witch. "We need to back up."
"It's here," Falde said and dissolved through a door with Brumek following right behind him. Ozemir could just sense the smug smirk shot his way.
Severus followed and once inside he realized it was a building of muggle flats. Maybe Hermione knew someone who lived here and had sought out shelter. He looked around the Entrance Hall, looking for some clue, when he saw a board with numerous names on it with the word POST on a plaque over the board. He went over and studied it before looking up in surprise. "This can't be right." Checking the list once more and memorizing the door number, Severus turned to the lifts, and ignored the Ukatae who followed him onto the lift without a word. Not a word was spoken as Severus pushed the button for level five and he waited in tense silence as the lift began to rise.
Finally they arrived on the fifth floor, and by this time Severus' hands were clenching and unclenching to relieve himself of the urge to run the rest of the way. He made himself calm down, and when he came to number twenty-nine he took two deep breaths before knocking on the door. Behind him Brumek snorted.
"You could just knock the door down."
"I know these muggles."
From inside they heard the sound of footsteps approaching the door. "Make sure to check the peep hole before you open the door!"
"I will Mum! Geez." Severus scowled at the peephole. There was a gasp. "It's that guy that came to get Harry. With the huge nose and the greasy looking hair…"
"Let him in!" Three voices cried out in relief. Severus frowned when he recognized Hermione's voice was not one of them. The door was pulled open and Severus and the Ukatae immediately let themselves in and shut the door.
"Pro… Professor Snape! I never thought I'd be happy to see you!" Neville cried from where he continued to sit on the floor.
Severus scanned the room, noting the state of Longbottom, Thomas, Lovegood, and Hermione, who was lying on the couch asleep with her head in Lovegood's lap. Petunia Dursley was sitting in front of the couch, dabbing at Hermione's wound with one hand, and placing a wet cloth upon the young woman's forehead with the other.
"Thank God you're here!" she said and stood up. "This girl needs a doctor immediately. And the others could do with a look over, especially Mr. Thomas," she said indicating Dean's ragged appearance. Moody had done a number on him.
"You took them in?" Severus asked in disbelief.
"Of course I did! They are children after all. Dudley found them and brought them here."
Dudley backed up a bit when he found shrewd black eyes pinning him with a stare. "I-I knew she was a friend of Harry's," he mumbled, pointing to Hermione. "And they needed a place to hide…"
"Thank you," Severus said. "Thank you very much for protecting them."
Dean and Neville's eyes widened upon hearing the sincerity in the Potions Master's voice. They'd never heard him speak like that before.
"Ah good." Ozemir clapped his hands excitably. "All's well that ends well." Bringing to him the attention of the hormonal teenage boys.
"Here you are, Professor," Luna said, and waved her hand over Hermione's sleeping form. "She's been waiting for you."
Severus nodded. Petunia moved out of the way and watched as the wizard bent down and picked Hermione up as if she was the most precious thing in the world. When she saw the look he was giving the young woman, Petunia realized that she was the most precious thing in his world.
Luna stood up and went to Ozemir. "You're very pretty."
"Thank you!" he squealed, and ran a hand down his curvy side. "I suppose if one likes these things…" He motioned to his large breasts.
"No, I'm not talking about your disguise." Then she looked towards the corner and waved at the Shadows no one else could see. "Hello!"
Severus just barely kept from gaping. Luna was staring at the hidden Ukatae with clear wide eyes. The dazed expression was gone from her face. It was the first time he'd ever seen her look serious. And she'd seen through Ozemir's disguise? How was that possible? The muggles were looking at her as if she'd lost her mind because they couldn't see Falde and Brumek.
"Um… Professor Snape?" Dean came forward and looked at Ozemir. "Who's this?" Neville came forward as well, and they were both looking at the Ukatae with glazed expressions. Severus turned to find Ozemir giving both young men 'the smile' as he so dubbed it. Severus shifted Hermione in his arms then smacked the back of Ozemir's head.
"Stop that! They are already idiots, no need to make it worse! And we need to get these four to a Healer."
"I'll make the circle then, shall I?"
"Yes." Severus sneered.
Ozemir walked in a large circle, as big as he could make it within the small room, and when he'd completed the circle, he clapped his hands and a white light sprung from the line he'd walked. When the light receded, the circle was filled with a white swirling mist.
"Into the circle, young ones," Ozemir chirped. Luna was the only one who automatically entered, and it took a glare from Severus to get Neville and Dean to enter. When they entered the mist and nothing bad happened to them, they breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, again," Severus said to Petunia and Dudley and then he entered the circle as well.
"Yeah, thanks," Neville said.
"You helped us a lot," Dean spoke to Dudley. "Thanks. We owe you one, mate."
"Maybe we'll see you again." Luna smiled and waved.
Petunia stepped forward and raised a hand. "Could you tell Harry that we think of him… please?" Petunia asked.
"Tell him we're sorry… even though I know that's not enough to forgive us," Dudley put in.
"I will tell him," Severus replied.
Ozemir turned to look at Falde and Brumek, and found they'd already returned to the Manor. He smiled with mischief and walked over to Dudley. Severus watched as the Ukatae whispered something into Dudley's ear, placing both hands on the boy's chubby cheeks. Dudley's eyes went incredibly wide, and then they nearly popped out of his head and his entire body went red when Ozemir dragged his hands down Dudley's cheeks, down his neck, his arms, his fat waist and stomach, over his thighs, and finally down to Dudley's ankles before pulling his hands away.
"Farewell humans!" Ozemir entered the circle with a chuckle.
"What did you say? Why were you molesting him in front of his mother?" Severus snapped.
"I didn't molest him. Did I?" Ozemir called out to the boy, who vigorously shook his head. Ozemir waved one last time and then clapped his hands.
Petunia and Dudley watched as the mist within the circle began to swirl around like a cyclone and the people within disappeared without a sound. As soon as the wizards and witches were gone, the mist disappeared, leaving the living room as it was before the circle was created. Petunia and Dudley stood there staring at where everyone had just been standing.
"Mum?"
"Yes, Dudders?"
"Did we do good?"
"Yes dear." Petunia wrapped an arm around her shaking son.
"Mum?"
"Hmm?"
"She told me I'm a wizard."
A/N: Edited 10/19/2011