Warning: There's a somewhat disturbing image described in this chapter, and bloodshed, so just be prepared for that.
The next morning at exactly 9:30 a.m., Hermione got up and washed, dressed, and prepared herself for the day. It was going to be a big day. At 10:30 a.m., she went downstairs for breakfast where several of the Weasleys were already eating. As she made a silent count of the people who were going to go on the mission, she realized Percy wasn't there. He might've been sleeping still, but Hermione was a little worried. Granted, the mission was at 2:10, but she was still worried.
After breakfast, she went to finalize and go over the plans individually with everyone again. She observed Lavender and Percy as she went over it with them, and they seemed very attentive. It eased her worry just a bit. At 12:00 p.m., she sat with the Order to have lunch. Her eyes scanned those that were eating with them, not all of them residing here at the Burrow. She had been fortunate enough to live in the Burrow with the Weasleys and Harry (they were practically like family now), but the others along with the few surviving members of the Order still occupied Grimmauld Place. Hannah Abbot, Neville, Lavender, Susan, Katie Bell, Oliver Wood, Angelina, Seamus, Anthony, Lee, Dean, and the Patil twins had left their parents to live with the Order for their safety and the safety of their parents, most of whom had gone into hiding. It was a sad existence, and Hermione had sometimes had to comfort them. Still, she felt slightly bitter. They at least knew where their parents were and that they were safe. She didn't have that luxury.
At 2:00 p.m., she and Harry got everyone ready to Disapparate and went over the plans again in the living room.
"Now you all know what your groups are. I'll say them again just to remind you." Harry cleared his throat, his green eyes scanning the people gathered before looking down at his sheet. "Seamus, Dean, and Luna, George, Ginny, and Lavender, Percy, Angelina, and Parvati, Hermione and I, and Neville and Padma. Seamus, Dean, and Luna, where will you be?" He looked up, expectant at the two.
"We'll be in the backyard keeping watch," they said in unison.
"George, Ginny, and Lavender?" Harry asked.
"The front yard." George was serious when it came time to be, which Hermione respected greatly.
"Percy, Angelina, and Parvati?"
"The first floor," Angelina answered, and Percy and Parvati nodded.
"And Neville and Padma?"
"We'll be on the second floor keeping watch," Neville replied.
Harry nodded. "Good. Remember, if you find Nagini the snake, one of you send your Patronus into the house. And be very careful. The Dark Lord's soul is in it, so he can see what it sees, so make sure to stupefy it right when you see it."
Everyone seemed tense but ready, and it was with a slight confidence that, at 2:10 p.m. exactly, they Apparated with their partners to the forest outside of the Malfoy Manor. There was a check with Hermione's wand to make sure they were alone there. They were, and she led them to the large gates. It was open, like Draco had told her, and she slipped it, ignoring the suspicious and anxious looks on the faces of the others. Harry made eye contact with the groups, and the groups in the front yard and the garden dispersed. The others followed Hermione and Harry inside. They snuck quietly through, the groups dispersing until they climbed up the grand staircase to the second floor. Neville and Padma went their separate ways and Harry and Hermione began their own search, Harry holding Godric Gryffindor's sword tightly.
Harry and Hermione found the Dark Lord's room easily; her blueprint (really Draco's) was written out perfectly. Harry searched the surprisingly immaculate room immediately with caution and very quietly as Hermione stood guard by the door, glancing back every once in awhile to make sure Harry was doing all right. They didn't want to stay any longer than they had to. Hermione, wand out, glanced back at Harry who had stopped walking. "What is it?" she whispered.
"It's not here," he replied. Hermione frowned and went to him. "I searched every corner. Merlin, I hate not knowing where it could be!"
"Harry, be quieter," Hermione warned him, and she cautiously glanced out the glass window that looked out onto the front yard. She saw Seamus looking around. He signaled to the others and continued to walk around cautiously. Luna was holding tightly onto Dean's arm, her eyes scouring the yard with her glassy blue eyes.
Suddenly, there was a blood-curling scream followed by a loud and frantic "Stupefy!" that made goosebumps rise on Hermione's arms. "It's on the ground floor," Harry gasped, and he ran out. Hermione gasped herself and ran out of the room and looked over the banister, a spell on her lips. But they could already see the damage.
The snake was gone, hiding, and Percy was looking around with a trembling hand holding his wand. Angelina was also trembling, and she too looked very frightened and had a very white face as she tried to heal Parvati. Parvati had been attacked, that much was certain. Her right forearm, her wand arm, was bleeding profusely. It seemed to be half gone, though the blood flow was so severe that it was hard to tell. She was still screaming and sobbing, and Angelina tried her hardest to help her with the few healing spells she knew from hurting herself in Quidditch.
"Parvati!" Padma screeched and rushed down the stairs, weeping for her twin. "Oh, Parvati!" Harry had now joined Percy in his cautious search, when Hermione suddenly screamed, "Percy, look out!"
For as long as she lived, she wished she had been down there. Her reflexes were faster than Harry's, and she could have stopped it somehow. She had seen it coming. Nagini popped out of nowhere and its fangs fastened themselves on Percy's left shoulder, too close to Percy's neck for comfort. Then the snake drew back and snapped back again for his neck. He shrieked and Harry screamed "Stupefy!" before it got Percy's throat completely. The horrific look on Percy's face as he fell down and writhed in pain with an open wound where his Adam's apple should have been was etched in the teenagers' minds as the snake was thrown off, unconscious. Harry raised the sword and beheaded the God-forsaken snake as it lay there motionless. He was panting as he watched the blood pool from the snake's headless body, and he turned to Hermione and Neville who were on the second floor staring in absolute horror.
"Send out your Patronus," he told Hermione. "Tell the others to leave."
Hermione nodded and did just as she was told. Angelina and Padma had to levitate both Parvati and Percy and they both rushed out of the manor. Hermione wanted so badly to Disapparate, but she couldn't because of the wards, and because if she set them off, Lucius Malfoy and the Dark Lord would know they were there.
She sent out the message and then, along with Neville, ran down the stairs as fast as they could. "Why are there so many damn steps?" Neville huffed angrily, and Hermione was in too much of a panic to speak. She followed Harry and the others out of the manor, and she rushed across the large front yard, watching as Seamus, Dean, Lee, George, Angelina, Parvati, Padma, Percy all escape the front gate and Disapparate. They were almost there. Harry got out.
And suddenly, the heavy gates shut closed and locked itself. Hermione gasped, her breath that was already coming in pants choked up and she reached the gate, touching the heavy black iron with her hands, feeling its solid form and the lock that kept her from the glorious outside. Death eaters showed up then on brooms, and Hermione's eyes widened. Her first thought was of her dream, then of Draco's betrayal, and then she remembered that Voldemort must have seen this through Nagini. She was panicking, panicking, panicking as she sent curse after curse and watched her friends do the same, though they were soon overpowered. Ginny, then Lavender, then Neville, then George fell to the Death eaters, and she saw a Death eater's clean and glittering silver mask yell out a "Stupefy!" before she was thrown against the hard iron gates and blacked out.
A/N: A bit of a short chapter, really, and I apologise. This chapter gave me the chills. I'm not usually this graphic, and I can't handle graphic scenes like this very well, but somehow I made it through. Hopefully it wasn't too terrible for you. Thank you for reading, as always, and please, please review! It really helps me to write better!