Harry and Hermione – Cave Dwellers Extraordinaire
Two Months…
Two Long Months…
It had been two months since Voldemort had launched his attack on the magical population of Britain – on the day that was supposed to be one of peace. The pair suspected that Voldemort and the Death Eaters got coal in their stockings that year…
Harry and Hermione had apperated to the Forest of Dean and hidden in the very middle to see if any Death Eaters came after them. They couldn't stay very long because it was simply impractical to do so and also because the wind, despite the use of magic, had battered down the tent and had been forced to take shelter in a set of caves on the south coast. From what they been able to discover, they had been used by smugglers hundreds of years ago. Harry and Hermione had spent an entire day clearing away the debris of rocks and dead animals before setting up a lot of repelling charms and pitching up the tent and looking around it. It was very much like a one floor flat, with a couple of bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, living or common room area, library and other such places. There was also, for some strange reason, a room filled with dildos and other sex aids.
"Interesting…" said Hermione.
"I'm having this one" Harry took a long black one from the shelves.
"What for?" Hermione frowned – hoping Harry was not gay.
"Turned upside down, and it will be perfect for stirring soup and stuff"
"What about the others?"
"Rig them to explode and send them to Death Eaters – whoever heard of dying from sex toys?"
#
"I was thinking that we could go out and attack something" Hermione said.
"Not like you to suggest that sort of thing" Harry said, looking up from reading a book on Vampires.
"The war changes everyone, Harry" Hermione said. "All we've done is train and train and train – we have to do something to give people hope"
"Yeah, I know…" Harry said. "The trouble is what can we do?" he asked. "We can hardly put an advert in the paper or go on the wireless"
"Maybe its alright if we just attack a low ranking place and leave a note – the news would get out somehow" Hermione said.
"Perhaps" Harry said – putting the book down on the table. "You realise that we're going to have to kill people in order to win this war"
"I know"
"Are you capable of doing that?"
"Everybody is capable of killing others, Harry" Hermione said firmly.
"But can you do it?" he asked.
"To save you? Yes, I believe that I could" she said.
"Well try not to, Hermione. I have done that once already – let me be the murderer in this relationship"
"You've killed already?"
"Quillel" Harry said. "I saw him die just before I passed out"
"You didn't do that, Harry" Hermione said. "The love your mother gave to you through her sacrifice was responsible for that"
"So who do you propose that we attack?" Harry asked.
"Either Crabbe or Goyle" Hermione replied. "Both of them are low ranking members of the Death Eaters, will most likely have little more then standard protections around their homes and both families are rubbish at magical combat" and Harry thought about it for several minutes.
"Crabbe" he said. "If the father is anything like the son, then we've the better chance"
"Why not Goyle?" Hermione asked.
"Because the Goyles live close to the Malfoys" Harry said. "Help will be much closer to hand"
"I hadn't thought about that" Hermione admitted. "We had better stake out the area before doing anything. If they have defences and guards, we'll need to know about it before doing any kind of planning"
"A pity we don't have a reconnaissance plane" Harry gave a little laugh.
"We could make one" Hermione said.
"How?" Harry asked.
"You could fly over the place and take pictures" Hermione said. "I can do some spell work that will make you invisible. All you would have to do is to fly over, take the pictures, fly out and portkey back to here"
"That, Mione, is so stupid and dangerous that it might just work" Harry said. "There is one problem, however"
"What?"
"My Broom is at Hogwarts"
"I see your problem" Harry shook his head as Hermione went into a frown of concentration. "Maybe we could steal a broom from a Wizarding house" she suggested.
"Burgling?" Harry looked at her. "How do you know of such things?"
"I read, Harry" Hermione's expression was one of 'You know better' – something Harry found cute – and something else he couldn't put his finger on…
"We should be able to find out where they live" Harry said, "By looking through the copy of the Who's Who of the Wizendgamot"
"Of course… I knew there was a reason I kept you around"
"You mean my devilishly handsome good looks were not enough?"
"No"
"And my baking skills?"
"Hardly, Harry…" Hermione picked up the last item of her plate. "EVIL BEWARE" the girl said in a loud voice, "WE HAVE CUPCAKES!"
"That ought to do something to put the fright in them" Harry said.
"Are you taking the fun out of me?"
"Want me to fill you again?" Harry asked – and then shut up as he realised what he said and the manner in which he had spoken.
"Maybe I'll take up that offer at a later date, Potter" Hermione turned on all the charm and walked to her room – swaying her hips as she did so.
"I need a drink" Harry reached for a bottle of Firewhiskey. At the door to her room in the tent, Hermione turned back to gaze at him with a smouldering look before stepping inside. "Better make it a double…" Harry poured a double measure and downed it in one.
#
Harry lowered his wand as Hermione returned to the hedge they were hiding behind in the forest near the Crabbe house. It was the size of a small manor, and both Harry and Hermione knew it was most likely paid for by the funds taken in the first war – and supported by what they had taken so far in this one…
"What did you find?" he asked.
"Not much" Hermione said. "They've got Vampires patrolling the back of the place during the night – I saw their quarters for during the daytime. Between the edge of the forest and the house there is no cover to speak of"
"Damn" Harry whispered as he watched three wizards and a witch portkey into sight – getting greeted by a House Elf. "We can't fly in because of the protections surrounding this place, and I think that walking up to the front door and asking them to kindly let us in is out of the question"
"I didn't say I found nothing" Hermione shot back, pulling bits of leaves and twigs off her black jeans.
"What did you find?"
"I found what looks like some kind of metal bars going over a hole in the ground" Hermione said. "From what I could make out, there was a corridor running underneath it which looked unprotected. I tried to see where it went, but I would have had to take away the cover. I wasn't sure if it was alarmed or something. I'll show you when we get back to the cave, but it really did look unprotected"
"Looked unprotected, Hermione" Harry said, looking at his watch. "We better get going back to where we came in – it's nearly dawn" and they crept as quietly as possible into the forest and returned to where they had come in at.
"Twilight" Hermione said, pointing to the sky.
"Breaking dawn" Harry replied, handing her the rope.
"Vampires do not sparkle" they spoke the password and were whisked away to the cave where they washed the face paint off themselves.
#
Over dinner, the pair discussed what they had each seen on their fact finding mission.
"It is clear that I can not fly anywhere near the place without tripping one of the wards" Harry said.
"I was wondering if that underground corridor runs to the manor" Hermione said. "If it does, then we'll be able to get in undetected, do our stuff and get out of there before anybody knows anything different"
"We'd need to eliminate people first and grab all the books we can from what they call a library" said Harry.
"I agree" said Hermione. "They might be mainly Dark Arts books, but we might be able to learn a way to defend our selves. We can also teach it to those that we free"
"If there are others that are free, Hermione"
"We can not be the only ones not under Voldemort's thumb" she said. "There has to be pockets of resistance someplace"
"Then we'll have to find them as we go along" Harry replied before eating some more soup.
"What about the radio, Harry?"
"All it plays is bloody Death Eater shite, Mione"
"Not the Wireless, Harry" Hermione rolled her eyes. "I meant what I said when I said Radio. Muggles might not be able to see magical battles and all that, most of the time, but they will still experience the effects – remember the landslide in Wales?" and Harry nodded.
"We'll have a look and see if we can find a broken one that a muggle has thrown out" he said. "We should be able to fix it with a Repairo and tune in to see what we can get in the way of news"
"And not have to listen to that rubbish the Death Eaters play" Hermione pointed out. "Going back to our original subject" she said, "When do you want to take another look at this hole in the ground?"
"Give it a few days and we'll go back" Harry finished his soup. "Maybe we could kill a Vampire or two while we're at it"
"Makes a change from the normal dates we have" Hermione shrugged. "I'll go out and find a broken radio"
"Are you going to be alright?" he asked.
"I can take care of myself" Hermione replied. "Or at least put up a good fight until I am able to be rescued by my dashing husband to be"
"I guess I got a little overprotective after hearing the news"
"Hearing the people that had been killed would do the same to me" Hermione assured him.
"Not the news that people are being tortured and killed for public fun and entertainment" Harry said. "I meant, Hermione" he sighed and rolled his eyes, "The news that you're pregnant"