Chapter 20

"What are you waiting for?" Oliver asked her, with a hurried tone, "Hermione, we can't stay here! It's not safe!"

But she didn't budge. As she turned to face him, she pulled out her wand. She had known from the moment she saw it, that she couldn't just leave. Despite it being a mostly wizarding population around them, it didn't mean that there weren't muggles around in the area and those neighbouring. She couldn't let them get hurt through this.

She wasn't all that sure how it even had formed. Italy wasn't known for being a popular tornado site. Sure, one happened every now and then, but it wasn't regularly occurring. And on top of that, it didn't help that she could sense something was just off about it. She was almost certain that it wasn't a natural occurrence, and that there had to be something larger at play. The timing was just a little too convenient, especially with what she remembered from the memories she had witnessed.

"Does that matter?" Hermione asked, her voice increasing as the twister came closer and closer toward them. "Oliver, the people who stay here, and can't apparate could be seriously injured once this passes We need to inform the Italian Ministry for help and try and protect as many people as possible! We could try and use spells to reduce the impact, and maybe even remove it entirely."

"What's the Ministry going to do about it?" Oliver asked in an annoyed tone.

"Can't you feel the magical energy?" Hermione asked, her eyes widening in shock. Because it was literally pulsing around them. She could feel it in her very core, shaking as the tornado grew closer and closer to where they were. It was very similar to that of the earthquake in the type of energy, however she severely doubted that it was due

Houses were torn apart in the path of destruction left in the wake of the tornado. She could see people screaming as it grew closer, trying to scramble inside a building to make it to a lower level. There was a mass amount of terror in the air, and she had very rarely felt as helpless as she did in the current moment.

It felt like an odd thing for her; to be terrified of a 'natural' disaster, as opposed to everything else she had faced in her life: Voldemort, the Death Eaters, and even just the cruelty of people. But she stood still, attempting to think of any possible spell to help her.

"Be reasonable, Hermione. We can't save all of them."

"Well we can try!" She shouted out, getting annoyed with her date. "Oliver, if you need to leave, then do it. But I'm not leaving these people to this fate, when I could have at least tried to save them. I won't hold it against you."

He looked irritated at that, "I'm not saying that you should 'flee' Hermione. I'm saying that there's nothing we can do to help them. We didn't learn weather spells or preventions in Hogwarts, and isn't exactly in our line of work. I'm a Quidditch player, and you are a Healer. We're not exactly the most qualified for the job. Isn't it better to leave it in the line of those who actually know what they are doing?"

"Well those people aren't exactly here at the moment," Hermione snapped. "Look, I'm staying and that's final. You're not going to convince me otherwise."

He shook his head at her, sighing, but pulled out his want anyways. There was probably a couple hundred meters between them and the tornado still, and from what she could see, despite the mass amount of buildings and streets currently being torn asunder by it, there weren't all that many people remaining on the streets; something she was thankful for.

She tried casting a finite incantatem, hoping it would simply undo whatever magic had caused this in the first place, but it barely even caused it to shake. The magic was beyond powerful, and she felt a feeling of doubt inside her.

She saw from the corner of her eye as Oliver sent out a patronus charm with a message about what was happening, and she hoped it meant she would be gaining reinforcements soon.

Oliver looked a little lost, but he joined her anyways in attempting to cast spells to at least try and diminish the impact of the tornado, but nothing seemed to be working.

"Aresto Momento," she tried, hoping to at least decrease the speed at which the torndo was coming towards them. While it seemed to work a little, there wasn't a large enough of an impact by it to help then in any way.

She could see Oliver trying as well, but from the perplexed look on his face, she could tell that he was clearly very out of his element, and that he wasn't all that sure what to be doing. She admired him for trying, despite the fact that they were still in danger despite it.

"Depulso," she cast, hoping it would at least try and banish the tornado. When that didn't work, she felt herself start to get let down.

What if they wouldn't be able to stop it? Was this how the world was going to be from now on? One terrible natural disaster after the other? It certainly would help in inciting panic among the masses, so if that was what the person behind it had intended, there was a decent chance that they would succeed, much to her dismay.

"Diffindo," Oliver said aloud, pointing his wand at the tornado. She watched with amazement, as it seemed to rip apart the tornado, but it seemed as if her excitement was short lived, as moments later, the strands made their way back together again, and continued on in its path.

Oliver turned to her, "Hermione, we tried, but it's not working. Please, let's go while we still can. We don't even need to leave Italy! Let's just get somewhere safe!"

For the briefest of moments, she considered relenting, as a small voice inside of her told her that it was useless, and that they wouldn't be able to change anything. That maybe being the smartest witch of her age was no longer enough; she was no longer enough.

But as quickly as that thought entered her mind, it exited, when a group of witches and wizards apparated on site, wearing a white looking uniform. While she wasn't all that sure, she suspected that they were Italian Aurors, and had arrived to help.

"Why aren't I surprised that you're right in the centre of this, Granger?" a lightly accented voice said with a teasing tone.

She looked up in surprise, trying to identify the olive-skinned man, who she recognized to be Blaise Zabini, a slytherin in her year at school.

"Zabini?" she said in disbelief, as she watched the team of Aurors attempt to tame the tornado which had nearly gotten the best of her. "What are you doing on the Italian Auror force? I thought you lived in England?"

He shook his head, "I was born and raised here, so I decided to come back to my family home after the war. England held too many bad memories, even for people like me who weren't directly involved in the war. So I returned and put my NEWTs scores to good use."

"And Draco never tried to convince to you stay in England? The two of you are still close right?" Hermione asked, watching Oliver scowl at the mention of the Slytherin.

"Yes, him and Theo Nott tried their best, but we still try and see each other every week or so," Zabni nodded, "Speaking of whom, I'm partially surprised to see you here, on a date."

From the emphasis, she could easily guess that Draco had filled in his friends. While she figured he probably would, she was slightly surprised to see him mention it, even if it was something subtle which the rest of the group would miss.

"Zabini if you're done catching up with your friend, we do have a tornado to deal with," an Auror shouted out from several meters away.

Zabini winked at her, as he returned to his position of casting spells.

"On the count of three, we're going to cast a group banishing charm," one of the older Aurors shouted, as the tornado grew closer, making it hard to hear the others. "The amount of magic from all of us should be enough to get rid of it."

As the countdown started, she pointed her wand toward the tornado, and when 'one' was said, she used as much power as she could as she shouted, "Evanesco!"

The group took a step back from the force that erupted from the tornado, with white shards of light breaking through from it, as the tornado crumpled to the ground. If it weren't for the damage left behind, it would appear as if nothing had even occurred, to her astonishment.

"Bellomi, Dioli, start on repairing the damage to the area. Orsini, summon the memory reversal team," the older man said, before switching into full Italian to give out orders.

"How did this even happen?" Oliver asked one of the Aurors, "Doesn't your country have charms in place to prevent this sort of thing?"

"No more than England does," one of the Aurors snapped, his accent peeking through, "I heard you lot just had an earthquake, so who are you to ask us that?"

"Sorry," Hermione apologised for her date, "I hope it didn't cause too much damage. This town was so beautiful when we arrived, so I hope you're able to restore it to its full glory."

"Are you okay?" Zabini asked, giving her a quick once-over. "I hope this didn't ruin your date night. I let Draco know that you were here, because I figured he'd be worried if something were to happen to you." He gave her a knowing look, and she flushed at the implication. Just how much had Draco told Zabini?

"Why would Malfoy care?" Oliver asked in disbelief, as he protectively wrapped an arm around her.

"They're friends," Zabini's eyes flashed at him. "Obviously he's going to care that she was nearly in the middle of this."

"Since when?" Oliver asked, looking at her accusingly, "You never mentioned you and Malfoy were friends. Isn't that the sort of thing you bring up somewhere along the line?"

"It never came up," she said simply, "Besides, I didn't think it mattered."

"You didn't think it mattered that you're friends with a Death Eater?" Oliver asked incredulously. "That you are friends with the very man who was in the heart of all the death and destruction that occurred over the last few years? Hermione, I can't you believe that you would be friends with such scum."

"Don't call him that," she snapped, causing Zabini to give her a look of admiration. "He never wanted to be involved in any of it. Besides, he's not the same person he was back when we were in school."

"How can you defend him?" Oliver asked her, eyes widening.

"Because it's my choice!" she said tiredly, "Look, I'm tired. Can we just go home?"

"You were brilliant, Granger," Zabini complimented. "It was an honour to get to fight by your side."

She grinned, "You were pretty decent yourself."

"Because it's his bloody job!" Oliver cut it, "Not yours, Hermione. Look, I get it. You've been in the centre of the wizarding world for years. You helped Harry all throughout school, and you were the top of your class. But with that said, you chose the path of healing! That's what you're meant to do with your life. You're not trained to be risking your life every day. Hell, you got lucky just now; that tornado could have killed the both of us because of your stubbornness. There's a difference between being brave, and being stupid."

"Did you just call me stupid?" she asked, shocked. She crossed her arms, as she waited for him to answer.

"No!" he said quickly, "But I don't think you should be putting yourself in the middle of every single dangerous situation."

"Then you clearly don't know me very well," she said fiercely, but deep down she felt her heart sinking. If he didn't even support her during what just happened, would he even be supportive of the fact that she was about to go to war with some unknown person who wanted to take over the world (again)? And would he look at her son the same way he looked when Draco was mentioned? Would he be disgusted in the future that she apparently had a child with a man he despises more than anyone?

She took a deep breath, knowing what had to be done, despite it hurting her. "Oliver, I don't think this is going to work."

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"Us," she stated. "I don't think a relationship between us is going to work."

"Why?" he asked, "Because I don't want you to risk your life or hang out with bad people? Are you serious right now?"

"I am," she said firmly, "It's not just that. You don't respect who I am as a person. You make decisions for me, which even if you overlooked what you just said, you've been doing it all evening! The surprise was nice, yes, but you ordered for me, without even asking if I wanted it. I feel like you would even want me to quit my job eventually so you could keep me like some sort of trophy wife at home all day."

He didn't say anything to that, and she felt her jaw drop, "You do, don't you? Oliver, we're done."

And with that, she walked away.

"That was pretty rough," Zabini said sympathetically, "I'm sorry your relationship was ruined."

"I feel like it was doomed from the start," she sighed. "It probably wouldn't have worked out once he found out about Scorpius."

"At least you found out sooner rather than later," he said. "Now, will you allow me to escort you home?"

"You don't need to do that!" she said hurriedly, "I can do it myself."

"I have no doubt about that," he chuckled, "But Draco will have my head if he knew that I let you go home by yourself. Besides, I feel like I owe him a visit; my patronus to him was rather ominous."

She smiled at that, and slipped her hand through the arm that he had extended to her, she apparated them to Grimmauld Place.

"Hermione!" she felt Draco let out a sigh of relief, as he saw her, pulling her into a tight hug. "I'm glad you're okay! After this tosser sent me that message, I was worried sick, but jurisdiction laws state that I can't come to the aid of other countries, unless a formal request is put through, so being there would endanger our countries relationships."

She shook her head, "I'm fine," she smiled, relaxing into him slightly, before pulling away, "We stopped the tornado and saved the day."

"How was the date?" Draco asked her, as they sat down at the table, "Is Wood okay?"

"I ended things with him," she said shortly. "He didn't understand who I was, and wanted to try and change me into something I'm not."

"Why would he want to do that?" Draco asked, stunned, "What a wanker. I'm really sorry. I know that you liked him."

She shrugged, but didn't really feel like answering. Instead, she busied herself by walking to the kettle to put on some tea.

"You should have seen him," Zabini snorted, "He is by far the worst Gryffindor I've ever met. He had absolutely no sense of nobility and bravery. Instead, I swear he was cowering at the sight of the tornado, and wanted to run as far away as he could."

"Did you see where it originated from?" Draco asked her as he leaned back in his chair ever so lightly.

"No," she shook her head, "I just know that one moment I was ready to order dinner and eat, and the next we were running toward it, attempting to find a way to stop it. It was rather lucky that the Italian Ministry showed up when they did, otherwise we might not have been able to put a stop to it."

"Do you think it's connected?" Zabini asked her, studying her face, "To everything that apparently happens in the future?"

"I think so," she nodded, "I mean the timing can't be coincidental. Besides, in the memories we looked at, there were a series of disasters like this across Europe, so I suppose that whatever was supposed to happen has definitely escalated up another level."

"That can't be good," Draco sighed, "I wonder if whatever caused this was related to the item stolen from Gringotts."

"Possibly," she said as she sighed to herself. "I don't even know anymore. Everything that's been happening lately seems to be related to whomever is behind all of this," she waved her hand abstractedly in the air, as she wore a tired look on her face, "It makes me wonder if we are even making a difference. What if we can't stop it this time either?" she said as she sat back down at the table.

Draco placed a comforting hand over hers, "We will," he promised her, "For the children's sake, and the sake of our future, we will put an end to this."

She yawned in response, struggling to cover is up, and Draco looked at her sympathetically, "Get some rest, Granger," he told her, "We can talk about this with everyone in the morning. But for now, you could use the sleep."

She nodded in agreement, as she wished the two men a good night, and headed up the stairs, exhausted. She hoped that whatever the new day brought, it wouldn't be as tiring as this one was.

A/N: And Oliver is officially gone. Well their relationship is over anyways; I can't promise he won't make any surprise appearances every now and then. But maybe now Hermione will start to pay more attention to the man already in her life!