A/N: Thanks, hugs and kisses to everyone who favorited, followed and reviewed! I love you all, and your kindness keeps my creativity burning!
P.S. Just in case you were wondering...I don't own any of this. All hail Lady JKR for her genius; May she live well and prosper.
Ever Yours,
SunnyBunny99
Chapter IV
Hermione subconsciously woke in pitch darkness, shuddering with cold. A soft whinny from outside caught her attention and she got up, yanking on her outer dress with a woolen shawl and going to the door.
Four of the seven Order members were up and moving around in the moonlit cold—Tonks, Remus, Mad-Eye and Snape. Hermione jumped as Mad-Eye's gruff voice rang out:
"If you're going to spy, girl, you might as well come out here to do it."
Snape turned to see the young woman slink out from the shadows. Instead of a scathing remark as she expected, he merely snorted and went back to grooming his horse.
"Early rise today, hmm, Miss Granger?" Remus asked lightly.
She rubbed sleep from her eyes. "I didn't want to take the chance of being left behind." Sucking in a breath, she shivered and let her eyes roam over the abandoned square.
"You're cold!" Tonks exclaimed, watching her carefully. "Well, what's to be expected when you're dressed like that? Here, let me..."
"Not armor," Snape interrupted.
Tonks rounded on him. "Why?"
"She hasn't earned it," was the terse reply.
The blue-haired knight huffed. "Oh, fine." Drawing her wand, she made a series of patterns in the air and Hermione watched in awe as her own threadbare, faded dress transformed into a thick woolen coat with a scarf over a thin leather jerkin with snug leggings and lightweight boots.
"Better?" asked Tonks.
"Much, thank you," breathed Hermione. "How long until we leave?"
"Ask our intrepid leader," Sirius mocked as he emerged from the shadows of the tavern, jerking his chin at Snape.
"Watch yourself, mutt," the black armored warrior sneered, bristling. "Are Jones and Podmore up yet?"
"Getting there."
Snape seemed satisfied. "Then we leave as soon as they're prepared. Black, did you find Granger a horse?"
In reply Sirius put a hand to his mouth and whistled, a high shrilling note. A guttural whinny sounded and a four-legged form materialized from the darkness, cantering up to its caller. Snape's sallow cheeks flushed angrily as he beheld it.
"The damn beast is wild, you fool!" he spat. "It's injured, too—look at its leg!"
Sure enough, a steady rivulet of blood trailed down the animal's right back hock. "Not to mention that it's almost as mangy as you," Snape added scornfully,
"Still has a better temper than you," Sirius shot back, "and it smells better too."
Snape's hand flew to the sword sheathed on his opposite hip and Hermione thought she might be about to witness a duel between two Order knights before Lupin leapt between them.
"Come now, brothers," he pleaded, "why can't we just focus on the mission Lord Dumbledore has set for us instead of infighting?"
Snape's grip left his sword but his eyes still flamed. "Because I cannot lead us to accomplish the mission with a group of mutineers!"
"You're just paranoid!" Sirius dismissed loftily, but the patches of pink high on his cheeks told a different story.
"Paranoid? Is that the new name for jealousy?" Snape challenged, arching a brow and smirking.
Sirius gaped for a moment but seemed unable to form a sensible comeback, so he merely sneered, "Good luck taming that horse," whirled and stalked back to his horse. Snape, Hermione and Remus watched him go with varying levels of emotion.
"He's going to get us killed one of these days," commented Remus, who sounded slightly disappointed.
"Not likely," grunted Snape. "He'll kill me in my sleep first and then abandon the rest of you to die."
Hermione's mind, however, was on other things. "Can we get the horse tamed before we go?"
Both men turned to stare at her. "Also not likely," said Remus. "It takes weeks—sometimes months—to break a domestic horse, let alone a wild one."
But Hermione was nothing if not stubborn, and she made her way over to the new animal—it looked to be a chestnut mare—who was snorting and prancing anxiously around the square. "Hello, girl,"Hermione said softly, approaching slowly. The mare saw her, whinnied and shied away. "Oh, come now," Hermione soothed. "You're alright, you're safe. I will not harm you, I promise."
From Tonks' magic lesson the day before, Hermione recalled that magic runs through all living things whether they are aware of it or not. She remembered the feeling of Tonks' magic, the tingle she had gotten as Kingsley's Patronus raced past her, the thrum in her body when the channeled her own power. There was a connection...and if she could only make this horse feel that connection too, perhaps she might have a chance...
Off to the side, Snape called Hestia Jones over. "Take that mare out to the forest and shoot it," he told her. "It's no use to us, and that leg wound will only get infected out in the forest."
Jones turned her attention to the pair of girl and horse. "But Granger seems to be doing a fair job with it..."
Snape looked to see Hermione knelt by the mare's back end, pouring something from a bottle onto its bleeding leg wound. His face tightened with irritation and he stalked over and demanded, "Is that Dittany?"
"Of course," came her reply, as she looked up at him. "I wanted to sanitize the wound first before healing it, and Dittany does both."
The knight pinched the bridge of his large nose and tried to remain calm. "This is an animal, you foolish girl—we have a limited supply of Dittany, and we cannot afford to go about pouring it on every little cut! Especially not a hopeless case like this one!" he finished accusingly, jerking his chin at the mare.
The horse whinnied and danced away; Hermione got up quickly and put both hands in the air, making shushing noises. Snape watched incredulously as the wild beast calmed before his eyes, and the young woman walked up and stroked its neck.
"She doesn't like people who make sudden movements," said Hermione, "and she doesn't like the smell of metal, either, which is why she won't cooperate with any of you in armor."
The raven-haired knight blinked—"How would you know?" he asked, but already suspected her answer.
"I used Tonks' method of forming a mental magic bond to calm a living creature," the girl replied promptly. "It's usually used to soothe human patients who are badly wounded and in shock or panic, but clearly it is effective on animals as well."
There was a long silence before Snape asked slowly, "So if we provided tack, you could ride?"
Hermione continued to pet the mare's muzzle. "I believe so, if she allows me."
"Lupin, go fetch a set of spare tack," Snape ordered.
"I don't need a bridle; I can tell her which way she needs to go," said Hermione from where she stood.
Snape rolled his eyes. "Make that just a blanket and saddle with stirrups, then."
The required equipment was brought over and given to Hermione, who cautiously approached the mare and paused for a few moments before gently settling the blanket on its back, followed by the saddle. Then she stopped and blushed. "I, uh...I don't know how to fix a saddle," she admitted.
Again Snape's ebony eyes rolled and he stalked impatiently over, shouldering her aside to take the long strip of leather which he buckled to one side of the saddle and let hang down before walking to the other side and reaching under the mare's belly to pull it up and buckle it to the other side. "This is the girth," he told Hermione. "Obviously, it holds the saddle on the horse. You'll want to tighten it up again before we leave; many horses like to hold their breath while the girth is buckled and then release it later, which leaves the girth loose."
"She's not holding her breath," said Hermione.
"Fine, then," sighed the put-upon knight, cinching the girth just a notch tighter than necessary in his irritation. The mare's head swung around and grabbed his tail of hair in its mouth, yanking hard.
"OI!" Snape bellowed, but the mare released him before he could do anything to retaliate. Mortified, Snape turned to see his entire company doubled over in helpless fits of laughter.
"Well, I can die happily now," giggled Tonks. "There's something I never thought I'd see!"
"I guess it likes greasy food," jibed Sirius, and everyone started laughing afresh.
"There's a reason they call it a ponytail, Snape!" Remus grinned.
"Well, if he couldn't guess why before, I'll bet he can now," Kingsley added.
"Yes, yes, very funny," grumbled Snape, scowling hard. "We're all here now, so let's not waste any more time. Mount up and move out!"
Hermione followed the others' example, bracing her boot in the stirrup and pulling herself up until she was able to swing her other leg over and settle her weight comfortably in the saddle. She reached out towards the mental link with her new horse and felt that primal emotion, a mere feeling that allowed them to communicate without words. She let her humor at the hair-pulling incident seep through and felt the mare's return of similar sensations. Yes, this would work quite well.
Coming back to the present, as Snape clamped down his helmet visor, Hermione dared to ask the question she had been wondering since she found out the true purpose of this quest:
"Where are we going?"
Lupin trotted to her side and answered confidently, his voice echoing in his own helmet—"The home of the Order."
Hermione felt her breath hitch and her pulse speed up. Surely not...that place was only legend!
But before she could speak again, Snape spurred his stallion into a shallow rear with a fierce, joyous shout:
"Onwards to Grimmauld Castle!"