Out of Hand by relativelypositive
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no money from the use of J.K. Rowling's characters.
Chapter 34
"Where have you two been?" Hermione asked the twins as though she had been looking for them for hours.
The twins looked at each other and smiled. "Hogwarts," they replied. They clearly found her entertaining.
"What is the situation there?" Suddenly she was all business. The jovial air dissipated from the room.
"Dumbledore has banned Rita Skeeter. I can't wait to see the article she writes for tomorrow! The professors have started patrols of the grounds. McGonagall and Snape have their hands full in the Great Hall. Mandy Brocklehurst had to be taken to the Hospital Wing. She was defending your honor, Hermione. The Greengrass sisters have started a smear campaign against you," said Fred.
"What are they saying?"
"Lots of stuff they made up. We know you're not trying to eradicate Wizarding culture."
"Is that what people think?" Hermione was getting worried.
"Some," George said solemnly. "But only people that don't know you."
Hermione thought that was the biggest problem in her life right now. People didn't know her, and she didn't know a lot of people. She could squeeze all the people that really knew her into a single taxi cab. She wasn't very social. She had her close-knit circle of friends consisting of Ginny, Ron, and Harry, and her parents.
Hermione wondered what the next tier, the acquaintances, thought about her. In this circle she included her roommates, the rest of the Weasleys, the Hogwarts professors, and her relatives.
The "people she kind of knew" category was quite a bit larger. She usually didn't care what these people thought of her. This included the rest of Gryffindor, some students in other houses, and childhood friends.
No one in any of those categories would think anything too negative about her, right?
The list of people that didn't know her at all was large, and their opinions were probably based on the peripheral fame that came from being best friends with Harry.
Where did Malfoy fall? What did he think?
"Where are Ron and Ginny?" asked Harry. "Why didn't they come back with you?"
"Did you think they would?" asked Malfoy. "Your friend abused his friendship with Hermione. Do you think it would help the situation to bring him here? We'd end up fighting all the time."
"We're fighting all the time, anyway!" Harry said, exasperated.
"But why do something you know is going to piss off half the people here?"
"He's still our friend," stressed Harry.
"Guys?" interjected Goyle. He was ignored.
"I don't really want him here, Harry," Hermione said, much to Harry's obvious shock.
"I know you have stuff to work out, and I know he was the biggest jerk, but he knows strategy. He'd be able to help."
"We don't need him," said Blaise. "You're working with Slytherins now. We scheme quite well, thank you."
"Hey!" Goyle tried to get everyone's attention again, but didn't gain an audience.
"Well then what's your suggestion?" challenged Hermione. She didn't know what to think about Zabini. He seemed hostile and overly sarcastic to her.
"We put our ears to the ground. Tap into some streams of intelligence. Subtly."
"Someone should obliviate me now," said Goyle with a hint of panic.
"Portrait room," suggested the twins.
"We've been dying to put it to use since we installed it!" added George.
"Sounds like a plan," said Blaise, and stood up to follow the twins.
"Obliviate me!" Goyle screamed as he clutched his forearm.
Everyone stared at him in shock.
"I can't stop it! Obliviate me!"
Hermione watched Malfoy burst into action. He grabbed Goyle's other arm and dragged him out of the room and to the staircase. Everyone numbly followed and watched as Malfoy gave up the fight and Stunned Goyle so he could be levitated up the stairs.
"Twin!" he yelled to the closest Weasley. "Open the door! We need to get him out of here! Now!"
Hermione was the first to reach Malfoy, but the twins, being about a foot taller, quickly bound up the stairs past her. At the top of the stairs they pushed a green button.
"What are you doing?" Malfoy asked in annoyance. "Stop stalling!"
"We're not stalling!" claimed George. "The shop isn't closed yet! We have to wait for Verity to move the counter and give us the all clear before she can let us up! We can't reveal the Warren! It's a safe house, Malfoy!"
"It won't be safe if Greg tells Voldemort all about it, will it?" Malfoy countered.
Hermione put her hand on Malfoy's back. She only wanted to lend support and maybe calm him a bit, but the effect was immediate and unexpected. He tensed and whirled on her, effectively removing her hand and startling her enough that she almost lost her balance. Harry steadied her from behind and she gave him a grateful look.
If Malfoy wouldn't let her support him, then she'd do what she could for everyone else.
"Who here can do a memory charm?" she asked hurriedly.
No one raised a hand.
"I suppose I can try. I understand the concept. Harry, you don't happen to have your cloak on you, do you?"
"No. Last I knew you had it."
"Well, does anyone have any great ideas about how to get Greg to Knockturn Alley without being seen by anyone?" asked Blaise.
"Why Knockturn Alley?" asked Harry.
"They wouldn't look twice at him, and he'd be able to answer his summons from there," answered Malfoy.
"He's going to Voldemort?" shrieked Hermione. "He said he wasn't…" Hermione petered out as she realized what she was about to say.
She reached up to the levitating, Stunned boy and pulled up his sleeve.
The Dark Mark was red and infected-looking. How long had Goyle been ignoring the summons? Did he think it was going to go away?
"Did you know he was a Death Eater?" Hermione asked Malfoy gently.
"No. I didn't think any of us were yet."
"Yet?"
"For someone who thinks all Slytherins are Death Eaters you seem awfully surprised. Of course some of us will be! If we hadn't happened you know I would have been given the Dark Mark!"
Hermione was cut off from sniping back by the door finally opening. The twins left first, followed by Goyle and Malfoy, then Hermione and Harry, then Zabini.
They'd only been in the Warren for about four hours, but it seemed like much longer. The sun was setting and Hermione could see shoppers out the window picking up their last-minute items before heading home for the night.
How were they going to get Goyle all the way to Knockturn Alley without being seen?
Fred and George started flying around the shop grabbing items, dashing back to drop their stashes, then grabbing more.
Verity put on her jacket, said bye to everybody, and went home as though nothing weird was going on.
Fred shoved Comb-a-Chameleon into Malfoy's hand. "Time for a little camouflage, Blondie. They'll pick you out of the crowd with that gleaming beacon."
"Gleaming beacon!" roared Blaise. "Oh, Draco, that's not the last time you'll be hearing that!"
Malfoy opened the box and started combing it through his hair.
"Black. Why black? Don't I look pale and mysterious enough?" Malfoy grumbled.
Hermione hid her smile. For once her hair wasn't going to give her away.
Blaise received Magical Moustache Miracle Stubble Grow and started applying it to his face. He smiled as his moustache grew to a ludicrous length, hiding the smile.
George pulled out a canister of Weasley's Wet Weather. "First, let's get rid of a majority of the witnesses."
He popped his head out the door, ran out to the middle of the street when no one was looking, unscrewed the top, then ran back to the shop. The group watched in amazement as clouds formed above the canister and lifted to the sky. After a few minutes they turned dark and stormy, then started to rain.
The shoppers scattered like cockroaches in light.
"Harry," Fred said as he approached them, "you use this." He handed Harry a Headless Hat. "It's not subtle, but everyone knows you."
He put it on and Hermione gasped when his head disappeared.
"Let's go!"
"What about you two?"
"Everyone's used to us running around. We won't catch anyone's attention."
"What about Hermione?"
"Really? You think anyone would recognize her right now?"
Harry thought for a moment, then said, "Probably not."
It was exceedingly creepy to hear Harry's voice come from a headless body.
"What about Goyle?" she asked. "Peruvian Darkness Powder?"
"Doesn't work well outside. We'll have to hope the storm hides us from view. Let's go."
XXXXXXXXXX
Draco let Hermione lead him back to the shop.
He had watched from behind as Hermione Disillusioned herself, crept slowly to where Draco had left Greg laying, performed the Obliviation, then let up the Stupefy.
She backed quickly away from Greg and Draco almost put his arms around her. He stopped because he was also watching Greg. Greg stood up and kind of shook himself, before once again clutching his arm and screaming. Just as suspected, the denizens of Knockturn Alley paid him no attention. He grabbed his wand, touched it to his Mark, and disappeared.
The group re-entered the shop quietly and scattered. Harry and Blaise bee-lined downstairs. The twins went upstairs to their apartment.
Draco didn't know how to feel. One of his oldest friends was already a Death Eater.
How had Greg kept that a secret?
He felt Hermione's gaze. He felt her wanting to mother him. She kind of danced around him, picking up random stuff, then putting it back down.
"Sorry about—"
"Shut up."
"But I just—"
"Hermione?"
"Yeah?"
Draco had no idea what to say to her, he just didn't want her to talk.
He grabbed the closest item and said, "Wanna try this?"
She grabbed the bottle from him and read: "First Love Beguiling Bubbles? Don't believe I need a love potion, Malfoy, but thanks for thinking of me."
He grabbed it back. Maybe he should pay more attention.
He saw a box that said "Voodoo Fountain" and lifted it up for her to see. He lifted his eyebrows in question.
"Let's not burn down the shop."
He lifted a "Portable Swamp" and she said, "Put it down slowly and back away."
He did as she said. He searched frantically for something that would keep her busy while he sorted himself out.
"I wonder what these are for?" He watched her open a box of "Shimmering Silver Salt Drops," sniff them, and drop unconscious to the floor.
A/N:
I'm thinking five or so more chapters. End of Part One.
SPOILER: of course they're going to get together, and get it together. However, part two will be wedding planning, with a twist, starting…say…October 1st?
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