I'm aware of just how cruel the cliffhanger at the end of the last chapter was, so here we go.
Everyone has been so lovely with comments and adding this to alerts and favourites as I go along and I just want to say thank you (again!)
Not long left now, and it's been a blast writing this.

"Hermione?" Charlie called. She didn't move or reply. She hardly dared to breathe.

"You got to tell us what it is, girl," Gus encouraged. Slowly, and with the utmost caution Hermione replied.

"Erumpent horn."

The stunned silence was tangible. They all knew the damage they could do and now Hermione was staring into the point of one.

"Hermione, tell me how big it is," Andrei demanded firmly in a voice that Hermione had never heard from the usually stoic man.

"A- about two and a half feet, from what I can see," she said unsteadily. Andrei and Caleb shared a pointed look with each other.

"What do you know?" Charlie demanded of the two cousins.

"Dolohov," Caleb started unsteadily, and unseen to all of them Hermione's eyes widened in recognition. "He's from an old Ukrainian pureblood family, lived just over the border from where we grew up. We heard rumors years ago that he was looking for a Eurmpent horn but could never find one to his liking; they were never big enough. Sounds like what he found is now up there and if it moves, we all turn into strawberry jam. Last we heard was that Dolohov was in Azkaban."

"Holy shit," Charlie breathed. "Hermione. Do you think you can get down?" The horn had remained in place with a distressed dragon pulling at the tree trunk, and in the hope it would stay there while Hermione climbed down was there. Ever the optimist, Charlie thought dryly.

"Lift me off carefully," Hermione replied. She checked the horn, and its setting was in a dip in the wood, fairly stable on the thick trunk. "It's cradled well, so I don't think it'll roll anywhere."

Gus and Kurt, who were the nearest to where she had climbed carefully raised their wands while Charlie, Andrei, Seb and Caleb kept the dragon in check. The animal was delirious due to the pain it was suffering and it made it unpredictable. Any wrong move from it and they would all be killed.

"Mobiliporpus," they both cast simultaneously and Hermione was softly lifted from her handholds. Once she was in the air, the team exhaled a noticeable sigh of relief and she landed surprisingly graciously on the grass. The team moved a safe distance from the dragon to check Hermione over.

"Really, I'm OK Seb," she insisted as she felt the unfamiliar wave of diagnostic spells drown her.

"Are you sure it's a Erumpent horn?" Charlie asked firmly. "Not something else?"

"I'm certain. I've seen one before and this is definitely Erumpent," she said with a degree of authority with the memory of what it did to the Lovegood home all those years ago.

"Now what?" Seb asked the group. They knew it was there and were understandably cautious of it. The size of it was a problem, it was more the two feet and by Hermione's estimations, that was big enough to blow the entire clearing and destroy everything.

"I have a theory," Hermione offered quietly. They all looked at her expectantly so she continued. "I was checking the wards, over on the right side of the clearing, and nothing but attacking it did anything. I cast an impedimentia at it, and it rippled. The protection is like a huge dome with a weak spot at the top of the tree trunk. The blast the horn would give off would break it down completely, but that means when we have to leave it and the dragon here, or set it off and if we're out of range, the dragon goes up with it."

Clap. Clap. Clap.

The team spun to face the sardonic slow clapping coming from the trees behind them. Marco Valdez was walking lazily towards them. His face was the epitome of pleasantly surprised.

"Well done, Hermione," he praised. "Not bad. For a mudblood."

"What have you done, Valdez?" Charlie demanded, not lowering his wand at his former colleague.

"I really should have kept her," Marco carried on, ignorant of Charlie's question or the seven wands currently trained on him. "She's smart in spite of everything. I should have had you kissing my feet, Hermione.

"It's amazing what money can do for you in just a few short weeks, right Charlie?" Valdez continued after sighing in reminisce that he didn't have Hermione kissing his feet. "New teeth, people who work without asking questions, untradeable objects. You should have seen your face, Hermione. It was a picture." He said silkily while he held up a magical Polaroid photograph. He threw it at Hermione's feet and she chanced a glance at it. It wasn't a photograph of her discovering the horn, but of Charlie and she sharing a kiss all those hours ago.

"You've been following us," she stated smartly.

"I haven't personally, I wouldn't want to waste my time," Valdez said casually. "I have had people following you since you arrived in the country. Portkey Room Two, if I'm not mistaken. Of course I had people watching every Portkey room, and could have finished you off right there. 'That's Bessie', isn't it Hermione? I was pissed off for the longest time when Charlie and Gus here saved her, she was a powerful animal."

Hermione said nothing but gripped her wand harder. She had trained for weeks for this, but she wouldn't attack alone, or until she knew how many people she would be facing.

"That's right, Hermione. Charlie here has been wanking over you for weeks, no wonder he was the first to stand up for you when I asked about Bellatrix. Bless his Gryffindor heart."

"Why did you do it?" Hermione asked sharply.

"To see what I was dealing with," was the reason Valdez gave. "I was always going to do this, I've been behind it for years, but since you came onto the scene I've had to up the ante. I underestimated how clever mudbloods can be but you worked it out, didn't you? Clever little Hermione Granger working out the only way to bring the wards down. Nice little trick with the human presence spell, shame the wards are an isolation bubble or you would have seen us on the other side.

"It's been me from the start, Charlie. I've been sending people to kill the dragons and selling their most useful parts. They fetch a pretty price with my clients, even though they do end up on the black market. I had to start working with you so I could predict your next move and get your research slammed with the reserve workers. I love the irony of it; the money I get from selling dragon parts funded your trying to stop me."

"Why change your game now?" Caleb asked. "Why didn't you kill this one?"

"For shits and giggles," Valdez almost sang in reply. "I knew how much Charlie despises seeing things get hurt. I can't even talk to a mudblood woman without getting attacked by him. I've always told my men to kill cleanly but I can't help it if they want to have some fun, because despite popular belief I don't enjoy it. It was worth it this time though, because it hurt him. It's amazing what an idea planted in your head can do."

The whole team was watching intently now, Charlie was looking him over with aggressively narrowed eyes.

"I told him someone would come after Hermione here, threatened her and Charlie didn't like it. Big, strong, Charlie didn't want her to be hurt so you all practiced dueling and changed your route to get here, hoping you'd stay hidden. That Ron sure does have one fucking big mouth around the Ministry, and he's not impressed with you, Charlie. It doesn't take a genius to work out the places to apperate in to Romania and then have someone watch them." He added slickly. "I didn't have a problem with you before, Charlie, but you stood up for the bitch who made a fool of me. Understand that no one makes a fool of me," he ended with a scream.

No one said a word and Valdez took it as his cue to carry on.

"Hermione. How are your parents?" he asked lightly now with perfect pronunciation, as a friend would ask over a cup of coffee. Hermione scowled at the taunt, but refused to give into inbred purebloods and their games.

"Ask Bellatrix," she said with a definite spit to her voice. Valdez narrowed his eyes at her and stepped closer. His chest was touching the end of her outstretched wand now, and he didn't flinch because of it. Charlie had his wand pointed on Valdez too, and the rest of the team took their opportunity to search for Dolohov or anyone else that Valdez may have employed. As it stands, a dark, rough looking man Caleb and Andrei recognize as Dolohov is at their right, and a clean cut blond man is moving closer to their left. Behind them two others were closing the gap.

"I would, but your boyfriend's blood traitor mother killed her. Just like she killed your parents Hermione. Sending them to Australia wasn't enough to protect them, so the Death Eaters brought them back and reversed your memory charm. I go to sleep listening to their screams." He finished with a whisper in Hermione's repulsed expression.

Hermione couldn't listen to the twisted vitriol spewing from Valdez's mouth and she cast a strong impedimentia, strong enough for him to hit a tree ten feet away and slump the to floor. Charlie bound him where he lay and turned his wand to the blond man.

This opened the floodgates for the others to attack. Seb blocked the curse Dolohov aimed at Hermione and fell into step dueling him.

"Help me out here, Hermione!" Seb shouted as he moved back. Fast and clean curses were defending against complex darker ones. Seb favored taking the defense until the opponent slipped up and then he took his time to incapacitate the attacker in any way possible. Dolohov was relentless and soon even Seb was starting to worry. The Death Eater, endless and surely damaging, was carefully aiming bright red and green lights at Seb. His shield charm was starting to waver as it took the impact of curse after curse, safely deflecting them into the endless sky above.

"Sectumse-" Dolohov started, but Hermione's shield was too quick as she added it to the one Seb had cast. It was too strong for him to finish saying that fateful word, and Dolohov was unceremoniously thrown into the air and spun like a top into the long grass at the edge of the wards.

"SEB!" Hermione called. "Tie him up!"

"Potrificus totalus," Seb snarled at the man staggering to his feet in the long grass a few meters away. He fell like a rock falling down a mineshaft where he was left while Seb and Hermione checked each other for injuries.

Kurt was doing well battling the Death Eater he was against. The Belarusian was swift in his movement, an elegance that wasn't shared by the scruffy looking man he was currently defeating. A strong leg locking curse and followed by a disarming and full body bind had him defeated easily. Andrei and Caleb were also doing well against the second Death Eater, and barely before casting a curse Caleb had shouted "Langlock!" and Andrei called "Expelliarmus!" and he was defenseless. Andrei made short work of binding him and moving his useless form to the center of the clearing where Hermione, Kurt and Seb were dumping their defeated opponents.

Over on the other side of the clearing, Charlie and Gus were fighting two-on-one with the smart looking blond who was giving as well as he got. He was a clever opponent, using non-verbal spells and rare curses they had never seen before to keep the dragon keepers on their toes. Bright flashes of green and blue were pointed to the tall ginger while Gus jumped around his fare share of crucio's. Hermione saw a killing curse graze by Charlie's outstretched arm and he fell to the floor. The proud and powerful man laid deadly still, his face covered in dirt and long red tendrils of his hair. His eyes still had their charming glint but the man was still.

"CHARLIE!" she screamed, scared to the point of shaking that the curse had hit its target. She ran blindly towards Charlie's attacker, sound was silenced as she ran. The world didn't matter anymore; she just had to get to Charlie. Hermione was suddenly thrown back harshly by a spell she didn't see coming. Confusion at who cast it was setting in. She wasn't hurt as far as she could tell, just blocked from running any closer and now lay in a lump, arms twisted behind her. Hermione had run from where the Maltese and the Belarusians were, who were now working hard placating the dragon so it wouldn't uproot the tree trunk and deploy the Erumpent horn, while Gus was madly flinging curses and harmful hexes at the blond attacker, Neither of whom had heard Hermione scream.

Hermione's eyes scanned the people in the clearing, all of them busy or tied up, and finally her eyes set on Charlie. His face was impassive through his hair, his features just about visible. Hurt and realization was starting to set in around the mad panic that was there before. Hermione's chest was tight and her breathing shallow and frantic.

"He missed," he mouthed to Hermione with a wink. Hermione lay shell-shocked from where Charlie's spell had thrown her back. The world didn't make sense, and Hermione's breathing stopped for a moment. She was awkwardly twisted, her wand arm around her back but she could see Charlie's face. His beautiful, infuriating face was telling her the blond man had missed.

"Three…" Charlie mouthed again. Hermione nodded and carried on the countdown until both she and Charlie spring up, and flanked Gus on the left and right sides.

"Flank the bastard," Gus called, smiling as Charlie took to his left side. Hermione was on Gus' right, where together they made their advance.

"Miss me? EXPULSO!" Charlie asked between gritted teeth before exploding a tree to the blond man's right. He suffered a shower of sharp twigs and heavy branches, almost knocking him to the ground permanently if he hadn't quickly transfigured the shards into feathers.

"No way, Boss," Gus said back with no hate to his tone while he firmly blocked another dark curse.

The blond man was back on his feet, a stream of back oil splashing in front of his three competitors.

"Aguamenti!" Hermione screamed as the oil got closer. Where it had landed was beginning to smoke violently, and she didn't want to see what happened if it touched their skin.

"You cunt!" the blond man screamed at Hermione in his Eastern European accent in between casting more curses at them. "You mudblooded bitch!"

At his words, Charlie and Gus snarled. They increased the ferocity the power behind their curses, almost to the point of torturing the man.

"Don't think so," Charlie spat back, lifting the man harshly into the air and allowing him to drop twenty feet to the ground. He was confused, with broken bones but his wand still lay within reach.

"TRICIO!" he screamed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth as he wetly coughed. His wand was aimed at Gus, a shaking; spiking jet of white-hot sparks cracked from the end of it. It hit Gus squarely in his ribs, near the place where Hermione had grazed it in training a few days before. The blond man seemed satisfied, and with a smirk his body went limp and his wand dropped from his hand.

"GUS!" Hermione screamed from where she was still trying to tame the burning oil. Charlie heard the desperation in her voice, and ran and dropped at his side.

"Gus, come on Gus," Charlie started, his breath shaking as he tapped the black man's cheek, trying to wake him. His fathomless black-brown eyes opened a fraction, but the defeat was as clear as day. His skin was torn at his ribs where he was holding the deep wound. Quickly, and as gently as his trembling hands would allow, Charlie stripped from his shirt and bundled it into Gus' side in a frantic attempt to stop the bleeding.

"Boss," Gus said with a croaky voice and a sad smile. Charlie's relief almost broke him when he heard the soft baritone he was so familiar with. He shakily reached for Charlie's hand and grasped it tight.

"It's going to be ok, Gus," Charlie started, his voice only betrayed by the wetness in his eyes. "We'll get you back. We'll get you to the hospital on the Reserve, they'll know what to do."

"We got the bastards," he said softly, a smile on his face. He looked into the ever-strong face of Charlie who was slowly breaking apart; bit-by-bit he was tearing at the seams.

"Yeah, we did," Charlie replied thickly. "We fucking did."

"It hurts," Gus admitted quietly, a lone tear escaping the corner of his eye. "I can't- My ribs. Is it bad?"

"It'll be fine, mate. We'll get you fixed up soon." Charlie was looking around, trying to catch the eye of anyone, but no one did. They were calming the dragon, or keeping the hot oil at bay. Charlie's muscles were shivering despite the warm air as he gripped Gus' hand tightly. "Keep hold of my hand Gus, you're not going anywhere."

"Its bee- It's been an honour, working with you Charlie," Gus started but his words were breaking. Gus, despite his flirt and his optimism was also a realist. "I'm glad I met you all them years ago."

Hermione had trapped the hot oil and moved closer to Charlie and Gus but didn't interrupt them. She saw the blood on both their shirts, and the telltale signs of dark magic and brought her hand to her mouth to hide her shaky sob.

"Don't talk like that," Charlie said firmly through his weakening voice. "I'll get you back and you'll get better. We'll get back to England and have a beer when all this is over, you'll see."

"Keep safe, brother," Gus coughed softly. "Take care of the guys. Take care of Hermione. And don't you dare let them hunters win. Is she there?"

Hermione took this as her invitation and kneeled opposite Charlie and looked down at Gus.

"Any chance of a kiss before I go?" Gus coughed with a smile. Hermione lowered her lips to his and pressed gently.

"Ever the flirt," she whispered thickly as she felt him smile.

"I've wanted to do that for a while, but you need to look after Boss. He's going to need you, Girl," he said in reply. He turned his eyes one last time to look at Charlie. "Fucking love you, Boss."

"They won't win," Charlie whispered as Gus took his final breath. "I promise you they won't. Fucking love you too, Gus."

The grip on Charlie's hand was gone in that breath, and Gus' limp fingers fell into the grass. Charlie didn't take his arms from around his shoulders, or move from where his lips were pressed to his forehead as Charlie fought against his burning eyes. Tears fell silently through the grime and dirt on his face.

Hermione moved and knelt next to Charlie and carefully placed a hand on his back, tears of her own dropping heavily from her nose and chin.

"Where's Valdez?" Charlie asked in a dangerous whisper.

"Tied up with the others," Hermione replied thickly. "Go on, the others are calming the dragon. They won't notice."

This was all the encouragement Charlie needed as he softly laid Gus' still body on the grass and walked towards the bundle that was Valdez. Hermione said nothing more and carefully placed her fingers over Gus' eyes to close them and straightened his clothes as Charlie went to vent his anger.

The redhead walked with heavy feet and a murderous look in his eyes to where the Death Eaters and Valdez were tied and without uttering a word, Charlie landed his heavy boot into Valdez's stomach.

"You killed him," Charlie spat between kicks. "I loved him and you fucking killed him."

"None of you were meant to die," Valdez spluttered his lie quite convincingly. "Just play with your heads a bit."

"Stop." Kick. "Fucking." Kick. "Lying." Kick. "To me."

Before Marco could respond again, Charlie knelt so he was speaking into the bruised and abused man's face.

"I look forward to handing you to the Dementors myself. I want you to beg for death," Charlie whispered, malice playing on each syllable.

Later, after Caleb called for the reserve managers to help subdue the erratic dragon and Charlie had left Gus' body in their care did they begin the long walk home. Charlie would have taken Gus' body back himself, but his final promise to the man was yet to be fulfilled.

With a risky sedation, the dragon was healed as much as was possible, but everyone knew that it would be a long time until the dragon was fully healed. With extreme caution Charlie lifted the Erumpent horn from the tree, allowing Hermione and Kurt to climb up and attack the cursed rope with severe severing charms. After what seemed like an age, they came away and dropped heavily on the dry ground.

With grim determination, Charlie ushered the remainder of the team to the perimeter of the protective wards and stepped through them. Without uttering a word, Seb held his hand out and they all held onto it, allowing the twisting lurch of apparition to bring them back to the Love Shack.

For now…
DZ Author AKA DZ Mom, please don't hate me!
So, what do you think? This was a tough chapter to write as I loved Gus a lot but this was always meant to happen. There have been a few questions in reviews I've received about why people do things, and hopefully this answers everything (if it doesn't send me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible).
Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts. There isn't long to go now!