Author's Note: So I really should be studying for finals…

Hey, if any of you guys are Supernatural fans, I'm actually working on a story for that right now. But it's about John Winchester. So Elm Treigh, if you're reading this, I decided to give it a shot after all, and thank you very much for the suggestion!

Anyway, here's the next chapter.

Chapter 96

I dive to the side and fire a well-aimed Stunning Spell at the Death Eater who'd just tried to kill me. He crumples. I hit the ground and immediately hop back up to my feet, countering a jinx that's coming in my direction.

I spin around and find myself back-to-back with Harry. A group of ten Death Eaters is surrounding us in this small alleyway.

Where is Draco? I saw him disappear moments ago, pursuing two rather large Death Eaters. I'd like to suspect that they were members of Voldemort's inner circle—why else would Draco be so interested in chasing them down?

I attack quickly and randomly, so that the Death Eaters around us won't be able to predict my next move. The charm around my neck bounces spells away when they come within a certain distance from me, and I make a mental note to thank Draco again, when this is all over. I really can't thank him enough.

The crowd surrounding us seems to get larger—I'm sure Harry's presence attracts attention from the Death Eaters. Our attacks become more rushed and frantic as they close in. We're only two people, and though my charm acts as a sort of shield, it doesn't really protect Harry.

Then a hole is blasted through the Death Eaters' ranks.

I take advantage of the distraction and Stun several more in the circle. A huge wall of fire blocks the Death Eaters from us, and I realize that I recognize this spell. But the last time I saw it, it was used against me.

I look over and see Nott gesturing for us to get out of the circle. Harry and I hurry over to him. Then Harry generates a strong gust of wind that blows the fire at the Death Eaters, burning them.

"Nice touch," Nott comments.

"Thanks."

As we continue to fight, the swarm of Death Eaters increases rapidly in size. It seems as though the stream of oncoming enemies is never-ending. Just how many followers does that foul wizard have?

I'm surprised by how well Nott falls into our pattern—if anything, he's smoothed out the rhythm between me and Harry. All of our backs are toward each other so that no one can sneak up on us, and our attacks can reach all angles.

A Killing Curse comes at me, and I deflect it to the side. It hits a Death Eater, who falls to the ground.

"Oi!" I hear Nott call out.

I turn in time to see a chain headed straight for my neck. Before I can react, Nott brings his arm up rapidly, hitting the chain and stopping its forward advance. But the chain wraps around his arm, and he's dragged away from me and Harry. Nott Vanishes the chains just as Greyback appears from the throng and starts to pounce at him.

I block several jinxes on my way to reach him, but it's futile. I aim a painful hex at Greyback, but it's too late—he Disapparates, taking Nott with him.

I curse, and my next attacks, fueled by anger, send my opponents flying high up into the air. I fight my way back to Harry, backing up against him.

"Is he gone?" he asks between two volleys of attacks.

We spin around, switching angles.

"Gone!" I reply.

"Not dead, though?"

A jet of green light comes straight at my head, and it's too late to deflect. Ducking would only make the spell hit Harry, so I tug him to the side, firing several hexes at the Death Eaters on that side of us so that they'll back out of our way.

"I don't think so!" I respond.

I blast several Death Eaters out of the way and charge through the opening, dragging Harry behind me. I hear him bark several curses at the Death Eaters following us. We emerge on a much larger street, with many more fighters.

The Weasley twins are teamed up against a horde of Death Eaters. Neville's on his own, dueling four of them. I catch a glimpse of Ginny and a few Ravenclaws sticking together in a group.

I spin and duck to avoid a few hexes coming toward me.

Tonks is fighting her own group of Death Eaters a bit farther off, and I briefly think of Lupin as I continue to dole out attacks. Is he doing any better? I hope so… But before I can put much thought to it, the fight demands my full attention.

I get separated from Harry in this larger area, and I soon find myself dueling three relatively unskilled fighters. I hit one of them with a Trip Jinx, and he stumbles and falls. The other two fire Killing Curses at me, but their attacks aren't very streamlined, which means they can't have cast the spell many times in the past. I Stun one of them, and the last one is suddenly thrown backwards.

A tall Death Eater steps out, clearly challenging me to a duel—his comrades around him move on to fight other Order members.

I train my wand on him, watching him warily. His stance and stature look familiar, but I can't identify him. I back up a few steps to put some distance between us.

After exchanging several hexes, he moves closer, seemingly frustrated by the fact that so many of his spells bounce off my shield. He reaches out to snatch my necklace, and I bring my wand down quickly, slashing his arm.

Meanwhile, the charm burns his hand, and he curses at the unexpected pain. Taking advantage of his surprise, I hit him in the face with a Stinging Jinx. Cursing again, he throws me backwards, and I collide with another Death Eater.

I Stun the man that I just crashed into and spin around just in time for the Death Eater to press the tip of his wand into my neck.

"Oh, what a perfect moment," he snarls.

And then I recognize his voice. "Macnair?"

I see surprise in his eyes.

"I have to admit that you're a quick one. It's really a shame that you're filthy."

"Stop runnin' that mouth o' yers, Macnair," a deep voice rumbles.

I can't believe my ears.

Before either of us have time to react, Macnair is lifted into the air and forcefully hurled across the street.

"Tha' was fer Buckbeak!"

"Hagrid!" I shout, barely able to contain my excitement.

It's been too long—too long—and we were never sure if he was still alive and well.

Then a few weaker jinxes bounce off the enchantments from my charm, and I'm reminded of where I am. I spin around to continue fighting.

"Hagrid, why are you back?" I call out.

The half-giant bangs the heads of two nearby Death Eaters together, and they collapse to the ground. I don't envy the headaches they will likely have later.

"Kingsley found us," he replies. "Gave us the news, said Hogwarts was ours again."

I catch sight of several girls in what I recognize as Beauxbatons uniforms. Did they come with Hagrid from France, then?

"How's the fight in France?" I ask as I Stun two Death Eaters.

A burst of flame comes uncomfortably close to me, and I wonder if Draco's charm is wearing thin.

"Olympe is leadin' us well. We're drivin' 'em out," he reports.

A Stunning Spell bounces off my shield and goes for Hagrid, and I gasp. But he's unaffected—I suppose the giant blood in him allows him to withstand a simple Stunning Spell. He turns, snatches the Death Eater who fired the attack at me, and knocks him out by tapping his knuckles on his head. Well… tapping is perhaps a milder way to put it.

It's fantastic to see Hagrid again, and the reunion is made even better by the knowledge that the battle is going well for us in France.

There's hope yet that we'll win this war.

I'm standing just outside of McGonagall's office, waiting. Shacklebolt agreed to see me a few minutes ago, but he had to speak to Hagrid and didn't want us students to be worrying about the fight overseas. Apparently we're only supposed to care about what's going on at home.

I can't stop worrying about Draco. He disappeared from the fight—I haven't seen him since I got back to Hogwarts, either. I wrap my hand around the charm and send him a message: Where are you?

There's no immediate response.

I sigh and tap my foot against the ground impatiently.

The arrival of a large number of former Beauxbatons students counteracted the effects of the Death Eaters' numbers, and we were able to drive them out of London, capturing many in the process.

The dilemma now is that we don't have enough room to hold them all. The Ministry isn't in our control yet, so we don't have access to Azkaban, and we only have so many dungeons in Hogwarts. At the moment, Harry's downstairs in the dungeons, helping Lupin and Tonks in prioritizing Death Eaters from most harmful to least, in order to determine which ones must be locked up, no matter what.

Then the charm burns against my chest, and I lift it up quickly.

Don't worry, I'll be back soon.

I heave a sigh. Can he not be straight with me, for once?

Then the door opens, and Hagrid steps out. "Hello, Hermione," he says with a wide smile. "I'll be off, now."

I smile back. "Take care of yourself, Hagrid."

He nods and heads down the spiral staircase. I enter the room, knocking gently on the open door.

Shacklebolt smiles up at me from his seat at the desk. "Hermione," he says. "What did you need?"

I decide to get straight to the point. "Can I take some people with me to rescue Nott?" I ask. "He was taken in the fight in London."

"No," Shacklebolt says, much more readily than I'd expected. "He's—"

"I know he was a Death Eater, but he's turned—surely Professor McGonagall told you."

"One right does not erase all wrongs. He's been a Death Eater for far longer than he's been any help to us," Shacklebolt says.

"He's the reason why so many Death Eaters were captured last night. Is this really how the Order should be showing its gratitude?" I argue. "Who will turn to our side, if this is how we treat our helpers?"

"We do not have unlimited numbers , Hermione. If you want to go on a rescue mission, why not try to rescue one of our own? Lee and Alicia are still missing. So is Seamus. Theodore Nott is a Death Eater. He—"

"We wouldn't have—"

"Yes, I know how great his contribution was," Shacklebolt interrupts. "But that doesn't mean we should drop all to rescue him."

"That's not what I'm asking for. I just need a few people to help—"

"I'm sorry. I've made my decision."

"Fine. I'll find someone who will help me on my own," I say, turning around to leave the room.

I pause with my hand on the doorknob.

"I know that this hasn't been an easy war to fight," I say. "I may not have seen as many battles as you have, but I know what this war's done to us. To all of us. I understand that it's hard to forgive, or to accept a former Death Eater. But as leader of the Light, I expected more from you."

I exit the room before he can respond and hurry down the steps, heart pounding quickly. Shacklebolt was once very good-natured, but the war has made him much easier to anger.

When I'm sure that he hasn't followed me, I decide that he probably has more important things to worry about than a former student's opinion of him. But I hope that he won't hold it against me for too long. I never felt so strongly that he was being unjust, and I do think it was right to let him know.

I head toward the hospital wing quickly—I'm sure that Daphne Greengrass wouldn't object to helping me save Nott. They were friends back in school, I remember.

As I reach the hospital wing, I notice that it's extremely crowded. Did so many people get injured by the fight in London? But then I realize that St. Mungo's isn't ours anymore, and many Muggles were probably hurt before we arrived on the scene. And more could have been caught in the crossfire.

Heaving a sigh, I squeeze my way into the overcrowded ward and head for the cot that Blaise had occupied earlier today.

But upon reaching it, I find that a stranger is lying there, covered in blood. Two Ravenclaw girls are beside him—one is tending to his wounds, and the other is wiping away her tears.

I turn away and search for Madam Pomfrey—maybe Blaise was moved because there wasn't enough room. When I find her, she tells me that she released him because he was mostly recovered anyway—the creature had fortunately been easy to remove. I thank her and make my way out of the ward.

Where could they be?

I decide to go down to the dungeons and find Harry. If he has the Marauder's Map with him, then I'll be able to find Blaise on it—Greengrass will be with him, no doubt.

About ten minutes later, I'm heading toward the Potions classroom.

Sure enough, Harry had had the Marauder's Map with him and was willing to lend it to me so I could look for Blaise.

I knock on the door, and Greengrass opens it, looking annoyed.

"Was I interrupting?" I ask.

"No. Come in," Blaise says from within.

Greengrass steps out of the way, and I enter the room. She shuts the door behind me.

"Nott was captured by the Death Eaters," I say.

"Theo, you mean," Blaise says.

I nod.

"Damn. They know he's betrayed them. This is bad."

"We should rescue him," Greengrass says.

"My thoughts exactly. I think the Order owes him at least that much," I say.

"But Shacklebolt…"

"I already spoke to him. And no, he wouldn't let me take any of the reinforcements he brought."

"I thought so," Blaise says.

After a brief silence, I say, "Greengrass, do you have any idea where they might be keeping them?"

"I have no idea… Draco. Draco would know."

"I haven't been able to find him," I say.

"Did you—" Blaise begins.

"Of course I did. He just told me not to worry and that he'd be back soon."

Greengrass sighs. "And I'm guessing he didn't explain why he took off."

I shake my head.

"See what I mean?" she says. "He'll never open up to you, Granger."

"Don't say that, Daphne," Blaise says.

"Why not? It's true. There are things even you don't know about him, I'm sure. I don't know how he hasn't gone mad yet, with all those secrets rattling around in his head."

"Sometimes I think he is a little mental," Blaise says.

I hold back a sigh and look at the blackboard up at the front of the room, remembering the days when Snape had taught in this classroom. He was a nasty professor sometimes, but I liked him better than Professor Slughorn.

And then I try to remember Draco when he'd been in this class. It's so hard to picture him here—I hadn't paid much attention to him during our years at school. I hardly ever let my mind wander while the professor was speaking… It's sad to think that I have hardly any memories of him in class. I only come up with insults hurled at me and the boys between classes or around mealtimes.

"Hermione?"

I look back at Blaise and see that he's watching me.

"Don't give up on him, all right?" he says. "If anyone can make him change, it's you. And Merlin knows he needs to change."

"I won't give up without a fight, but…"

"No buts, Hermione. Have more faith in him."

"Be realistic, why don't you?" Greengrass says.

I pull out my necklace. "I'll try asking him where he is again."

But before I can send anything to Draco, I notice that Blaise is giving Greengrass a warning look. She looks irritated and angles herself slightly away from Blaise, pointedly avoiding his gaze.

I sigh. "Do you two need a minute to talk or something? I can find someone else to—"

"We're fine," Blaise interrupts.

Then the door swings open, and Draco enters.

"No, you're not fine," he says.

I take two steps over to him, lifting an arm to punch him. He blocks it too easily, and frustrated, I lift my other arm to hit him, but he catches that fist as well.

"Oi! What did I do to you?"

"Don't you dare disappear on me like that again," I tell him, settling for glaring at him. "Now let go of me."

He obediently releases my wrists. "You can't always be with me. And it was important."

I decide to put aside his disappearance for the time being, adding it to the ever-growing list of things that I have to discuss with him. His mother, his time in Russia, his overall inability to let down his guard around even the people closest to him…

"We're going to rescue Nott," I say. "He got captured."

Draco frowns. "How could he—was he in London?"

"Yes."

"That idiot. I told him to stay put until I got to him…"

"Theo wasn't ever good at sitting on the sidelines when he knew something was going on," Blaise says.

"Draco, do you know where to find him?" I ask.

"I have a pretty good guess," he says. "The Death Eaters are probably dealing with a lot of chaos right now. Proper imprisonment is the least of their worries. I'm willing to bet he's just being held at home."

"Let's go for it, then," Blaise says.

"Can you go?" Draco asks.

Blaise nods. "Of course."

"You were stuck in a sick bed not more than a few hours ago, mate," Draco says, frowning.

"Madam Pomfrey said that it was all right for him to leave, so…" Greengrass says.

"I guess that's good enough for me," Draco says.

Remembering what Shacklebolt said to me earlier, I ask, "Do any of you know where they might be keeping Lee or Alicia? That is, Lee Jordan or Alicia Spinnet?"

"No," Draco says. "But we can ask Theo when we get to him. His father handled a lot of prisoners, so he might know something."

"We should probably strategize before we go," Greengrass says. "I don't like the idea of charging in and improvising."

I nod. "Draco, do you know how many people might be guarding him?"

"I'm pretty sure his father will be there. There may be a few more Death Eaters, but they won't be very powerful," he responds. "They're probably under the assumption that the Order won't care enough about a Death Eater to rescue him, even if he has switched sides."

"How should we do this, then?" Blaise asks. "Create a distraction?"

"That might work," Draco says.

"If we're going to rescue Lee and Alicia, we might as well try to get them all in one trip," I say.

"I don't think that's a wise decision," Greengrass says. "I think it'll be much safer if we split up as little as possible. And if they're being held in different places, we'll have no choice but to split up."

"A little improvisation won't kill us," Draco says. "If it's easily done, we'll rescue them. If not, we won't."

Blaise nods. "All right. Draco and I know the layout of his house the best. Daphne, have you—"

"No, I've never been."

"I'll distract them, then," Draco says. "Blaise, you take Daphne and Hermione to—"

"We won't need three people just to grab a prisoner," I interrupt. "I'll stay with you."

"If Theo knows where Jordan and Spinnet are, you three could give it a shot, with Theo's help—you'll need him to open the cells," Draco reasons.

"Draco, you shouldn't take on them all by yourself. Let Hermione help you," Blaise says.

Greengrass nods her agreement.

"I'll be fine," Draco says. "If you end up having to storm a Death Eater camp, you'll need more people. And besides, Hermione, I don't want to have you too close to me—I don't want to have to save you from any damsel-in-distress scenarios."

Blaise chuckles, and I roll my eyes at him.

"Fine. We'll deal with that when the time comes," I say. "Does either of you two want to draw us a map of the place?"

"Yeah, all right. It'll be best if you have a general idea of where you are and where you're going," Blaise says.

Draco conjures a piece of parchment, and Blaise presses the tip of his wand to it. An image begins to form, and soon a rough blueprint is on the sheet. Draco looks it over, makes a few adjustments, and then holds it out to me and Greengrass.

"This is his room," Draco says, tapping a room with his finger. "I'm almost positive that that's where they'll be keeping him. Be careful, all right?"

The words are directed toward everyone, but his eyes burn into mine, and I know that he's most worried about me.

"We will," I say, unable to look away from him.

"Oh, isn't that romantic?" Blaise says teasingly.

"We can't Apparate onto the grounds unless we're traveling with a resident, so we'll have to enter on foot," Draco says, ignoring Blaise.

"How secure is—" Greengrass begins.

"The wards aren't as powerful as those around the Malfoy Manor, but they're pickier than my old place," Blaise says.

"Well… yeah. Your wards hardly kept anyone out," Greengrass says.

"Let's not get off-topic," Draco says. "We'll all cross together, but I want you three to stay under Disillusionment Charms. I'll fight my way toward Theo's room, and if more Death Eaters appear, then it means that that's probably where he is. I want you to go for it. Once you have a hold of him, you should be able to Disapparate out without a problem."

"And you?" Greengrass asks, voicing my sentiments before I've opened my mouth.

"Hermione can send me a message when it's time to go."

"And if something goes wrong?" I ask.

"Burn me twice in a row, and I'll know there's trouble," he says.

"But we should have something in mind," I say.

"We can't predict what will go wrong, so we can't exactly plan ahead," Draco replies.

"We'll be fine," Blaise says.

"Do we need any more help?" Greengrass asks.

"No. It'll be crowded enough with just the four of us. Any more people would only complicate things."

"I guess we should Floo out, then, for Draco," Blaise says.

"Are all the fireplaces still closed off?" Draco asks.

I nod. "It's not safe yet, not by a long shot. Especially after that attack on London."

"At least the attack was in the open this time. We were able to capture a lot of them, according to Harry," Blaise says.

"When did you talk to Harry?" I ask.

"We saw him organizing the prisoners down here," Greengrass responds.

We fall silent, and Draco looks at the three of us.

"Ready to go, then?" he asks.

We all nod, and Draco leads the way out of the room.

Author's Note: Would you guys like it better if I just told you how many chapters were left? Or would you prefer just getting surprised with "The End" at the end of one of the chapters? I'm just curious, haha.