Eek! So kind of sorry about the cliffy... But hoping that it might entice more people to review and yell at me. lol.
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Here is Chapter 33, hope you all enjoy!
The air around Sirius and Hermione grew blistering hot as they raced toward the site of the explosions. There were few people left on the streets now, but there were still obstacles and debris left in their pathway.
Hermione mentally applauded herself for never being one of those girls who wore heals in regular day to day situations; her black slip-on sneakers were making it easy to keep up with Sirius' long stride. They groped for each others hands at times; mostly to assure themselves that they were still together as they raced through the streets with wands at the ready.
Sirius rounded the last corner before the blazing fire and promptly knocked over another wizard, almost sending himself to the ground as well.
The witch behind the man stepped forward with lightning speed, drew her wand and leveled it at Sirius' neck.
Sirius raised both his hands in a motion of surrender, while Hermione stood flush against Sirius' back and thrust the tip of her wand into the gut of the witch threatening her boyfriend.
Hermione locked eyes with the woman over Sirius' shoulder. She was slender build, a little taller than Hermione, had straight shoulder length hair the color of chocolate, and fierce blue hazel eyes.
Sirius cleared his throat uncomfortably, but neither witch backed down or even glanced in his direction.
"Alice," the wizard who had been knocked over muttered soothingly as he righted himself, "Alice, I don't think Sirius is here to harm us."
"What of the witch; we don't know her." Alice Macmillin's harsh stare fluttered between Hermione's eyes. She was trying to size Hermione up, even though only the top half of the blonde witch's face was visible over Sirius' shoulder.
"Oh, where are my manners," Sirius croaked in a mock cheerful voice as he tried to pull back from Alice's wand. "Mia McGonagall, meet Alice Macmillin and Frank Longbottom."
Hermione's faux surname gave Alice and Frank expressions of recognition, "You're McGonagall's niece." A kind smile replaced the scowl on Alice's face and she lowered her wand, "Nice to finally meet you. You definitely share your aunt's fighting spirit."
Recognition flashed over Hermione's face as well; with Alice now smiling, Hermione realized that those blue hazel eyes were identical to Neville's.
Hermione lowered her wand, but did not loosen the grip she had on the handle. These are Neville's parents… She had no idea why this fact frightened her more than when she met James and Lily, but it did. Her stomach clenched and she felt a prick of pain shoot through her heart.
Sirius finally let his hands fall to his sides as he addressed his former classmates, "So what are you two doing here? I thought you were both still in training."
Alice looked at Frank nervously, "Well, we are. But…"
Frank finished her sentence with a stern expression, "We aren't here in a Ministry capacity."
"What the bloody hell are you talking about…" He was growing impatient.
"Sirius, stop it," Hermione put a hand on his arm to calm his tempered words. "It's Order business, isn't it?"
Alice and Frank glanced at each other again, conducting a silent conversation. "Yes," Alice admitted finally. "We've been tracking some Deatheaters these past three days and we caught wind that they might be planning an attack close to Hogwarts tonight. Obviously," Alice waved her hand wildly behind her, "They succeeded."
"Are there anymore Deatheaters in the area?" Sirius scanned their surroundings expecting someone in a black cloak and silver mask to pop out from the shadows.
"Not sure," Frank shrugged helplessly, "Our tracking spell went a bit erratic when the explosions began."
"You two should head back to Hogwarts; it isn't safe here." Alice sounded almost maternal when she spoke; Hermione had to shake the thought from her head.
"No," Hermione immediately protested, "We're going with you. The more eyes the better."
Frank and Alice didn't appear to have an argument for that logic so they turned on their heels and began the continued trek to the blown up building.
When they finally caught sight of the structure, Hermione realized with a gut wrenching horror that it was one of the personal homes in the village. "I think someone was being targeted; they weren't just going after mass chaos or they would have bombed one of the pubs."
CRASH.
More glass erupted from the upper floors of the small cottage, sprinkling over the group causing little painful bites to any exposed skin. Alice and Frank took point and lead Sirius and Hermione through the shadows of the crumbling building. They began to hear faint voices from the second floor as they approached the broken stairs.
"What do you mean it's not here you filthy half-blood?" The voice was harsh and airy as the speaker clenched her teeth together in rage.
Sirius wore a strange face of concentration, as if he was the one who had misplaced something.
"I… I never possessed such an item… never seen anything like that come through my shop, I swear to Merlin!"
"My dear Mr. Dervish, we both know that is a lie." The calm tone and speech pattern sent a dark shiver up Hermione's spine.
Frank and Alice quickly scanned the rubble and found that there was no pathway to get upstairs other than the crumbling staircase. Frank offered Alice a boost up to the last hanging stair, and Hermione used a non-verbal 'Levioso' spell. Frank and Sirius are sent up the stairs in a similar fashion after they lift Hermione up to the stairs and Alice helps heave her over the edge; no one else seemed able to perform non-verbal spells.
Mr. Dervish continued to plead for his life as the four positioned themselves outside the door of the only bedroom that was occupied. The manic sounding woman simply wanted to kill the man and move on, but the composed man seemed to be waiting for information he was certain the older gentleman possessed.
Just as Frank and Alice moved to breach the door, "Ah, our guest are here. Please come in, come in!" The man sounded gleeful and welcoming as he spoke to them through the slightly ajar door.
Hermione shook her head nervously; she had a good idea who the two aggressors in the room were. And neither of them could be considered friends of the Longbottoms.
Frank and Alice signaled for the other two to stay put; they carefully opened the door, raised their wands and entered the room.
"STUPIFY!"
A streak of red light streamed through the crack in the door.
"They must be Order of the Phoenix, my Lord. They stink of half-bloods and filthy mudbloods." Hermione could almost feel the sneer of disgust the woman was contorting her face into.
"Yes, that is quite possible. But they are not the individuals I am interested in speaking to tonight," the calm man came to the door and threw it open, allowing light to flood the dark hallway. "Ah yes, please come in. I've been hoping to run into you Miss; and my associate needed an audience with your friend."
Hermione and Sirius both stood to their full height and slowly entered the room; they carefully stepped over the stunned bodies of Frank and Alice. Hermione stood in front of Frank's limp form and Sirius followed her lead and stepped in front of Alice's.
Hermione was quite surprised by the man that now faced her. He was almost as pale as she remembered him to be in her time, but there was still hair atop his head. It was deep brown with flecks of grey and his eyes were an eerie golden color that tinted red if the light hit at a certain angle.
"Why did you let them live?" Hermione knew she shouldn't bring attention to the fact that Frank and Alice weren't dead, but she couldn't help her curiosity.
"I have no urge to spill the precious blood of purebloods, my dear. They are simply misled; they will find their way back to the old ways I'm sure." He circled the room and took a seat on the only remained intact chair, "I am, after all, trying to preserve my kind."
Sirius took a step forward toward the man, but Hermione grabbed his arm and pulled him back beside her.
"That's right little cousin; listen to your filthy little keeper." The woman snickered, but glared agitatedly at Hermione as if she were something sticky that would not blow away.
"Be silent. We still have not been properly introduced, I," the man bowed his head deeply toward Hermione and Sirius, "am Lord Voldemort."
Hermione did not allow herself to show any reaction to the man's announcement; Sirius's only response was to tighten his hold on his wand.
"And this lovely young woman is Bellatrix Black Lestrange, but I'm sure you already assumed that from the 'cousin' comment from before," Hermione was startled to realize that Voldemort was speaking only to her now. "I know that this young man is Sirius Black; but who are you, my dear?"
It took every ounce of strength and courage Hermione had to not drop her gaze as the Dark Lord's eyes bored into her.
"Amelia McGonagall." Hermione was shocked her vocal cords were functioning, but tried not to show her surprise.
Voldemort waved his hand as if he was brushing her comments out of the air, "No, no. You're real name, my dear."
To Hermione's credit, her mouth didn't fall open in shock. Instead she felt her mouth down turned and her eyes narrowed at the comment. She also had to hold Sirius back with both hands so that he would not lunge at the man seated in front of them.
Thankfully, Sirius had part of a plan developed, "What the bloody hell are you talking about? Of course that's her real name."
Bellatrix cackled, "You don't know that your filthy little witch is using an assumed name?"
"Be still Bellatrix. Perhaps your poor cousin has been suffering under the Imperius curse or maybe he has had to undergo a few memory charms." Voldemort stood and clapped Sirius on the shoulder, trying to comfort him, "Let us enlighten you my dear boy."
Voldemort motioned for Bellatrix to step forward and take the floor.
"Well, the real Amelia McGonagall is dead. This girl is a fraud. And whatever she's told you, dear cousin… I would assume they are all lies." As the woman came closer, Hermione was surprised to find that Bellatrix was not as manic in appearance as she was in voice yet. She was still quite beautiful and even regal looking; such a contrast to her future self.
Sirius turned toward Hermione and gave a slight wink as he made a show of ripping her hands from his arm and taking a small step away from her, "What kind of lies, Bella?"
Hermione hoped her facial expressions looked pained and alarmed; but with Sirius beside her, she actually felt empowered and somewhat interested in the scene unfolding in front of her.
"We are still unsure of what this girl is; but a few claim she's a seer or maybe even a time traveler," Bellatrix threw her head back and sniggered as if nothing in the world was more ridiculous than the notion of Hermione being either of those things. "I think she's just a little nobody, trying to make her mark by smearing the good name of Black. That's why I sent my little dogs in to say hello; did you enjoy my Halloween gift Sirius?"
Sirius twitched with rage, but forced his voice to keep an even tone, "That seems a bit messy for your taste, and very... impersonal."
"Yes, well I couldn't show my face at Hogwarts. They know too much of me and my work for the Dark Lord," Bellatrix smirked and twirled around as if she was a happy school girl playing outside.
"Enough Bellatrix."
"My apologies, my Lord." Bellatrix washed her face of emotion, "The Dark Lord needs to confirm my suspicion that this girl is worthless. That's why we're here Cousin."
"How do you indent to confirm what she is or what she isn't?" Sirius wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to know the answer, but it was the next logical question.
"Well, I'm afraid that is the reason that I wanted to speak with you Sirius," Bellatrix tried to seem sorrowful, but it just came out as discussed. "Since she didn't even tell you her actual name, I'm hesitant to think anything she told you was real. But, according to Regulus, she does seem to care for you…"
"CRUCIO!"
"Expelliarmus!"
Hermione reacted too slowly and had to watch in horror as Sirius was put under one of the Unforgivable Curses the same time her wand flew into Voldemort's outstretched hand.
"STOP! Please!" Hermione pleaded as she fell to her knees and witnessed Sirius's convulsions.
Bellatrix stopped and peered at Voldemort for further instruction.
"Are you a seer?" The Dark Lord picked his fingers casually, as if the scene before him was simply an everyday occurrence.
"No, I have no gift of prophecy."
Voldemort waved his hand; Bellatrix cursed Sirius into tortuous spasms again.
"Sirius!" Hermione felt tears streaming down her face. She lunged forward in an attempt to tackle Bellatrix, but Voldemort lazily flicked his wrist and Hermione felt like her shoes and hands were glued to the floor.
Voldemort raised his hand; Bellatrix halted her curse. "Are you a time traveler?"
Hermione openly wept; she knew Sirius would never forgive her if she gave in to the Dark Lord. "No, I'm not! Do you think I would be sitting here watching this if I could whisk myself away and make sure this never happened?" She pulled at her hands; mentally shifting through counter curses in her head.
Sirius smirked at Hermione's answer; he was in hellish agony, but he was so proud of her. The happy thought carried him through the third round of the Cruciatus curse. He smiled roguishly at his cousin, "Apparently my witch doesn't care for me as much as you think, or she truthfully has nothing to tell you, my dear Bella."
Bellatrix sneered at her cousin, "Don't worry your pretty head, little Sirius. I will make sure she pays for whichever treachery she is guilty for."
Voldemort raised his hand to silence Bellatrix yet again, "Perhaps we are approaching this conversation from the wrong angle Bella. Your cousin is either too brave or exceedingly narrow minded; I think he fancies himself a hero." The Dark Lord stood and paced the room, drifting back to a dark corner that Hermione had not noticed when she first entered the room. Voldemort dragged out the half conscious body of Mr. Dervish and laid him at Bella's feet.
"The issue with heroes is they would happily go to slaughter protecting people. It's like an unwritten code of ethics and loyalty for them. And dying for another hero's secret… that is the epitome of heroic." He signaled for Bellatrix to face the old man and continue her torture tactics.
A wicked smile crept across Bellatrix's face. She looked almost joyful; as if she had just remembered the answer to an impossible question, "But allowing an innocent to die for them or their secret is blasphemous, is it not my lord? CRUCIO."
The old man's shrieks filled the air.
Hermione wasn't sure why or how, but the man's screams helped focus her mind to retrieve the counter to glue hexes. She quickly directed her emotions of pain and anguish into the spell. It was the only way she knew how to make wandless magic work; challenging her emotions completely into the words of the spell. "Luoego."
Bellatrix pulled back her wand so that Voldemort could resume taunting the other inhabitance of the room. Hermione didn't hear what he was monologuing about this time because she was wiggling her fingers freely under her body and trying to formulate a plan.
"Da… Dark Lord… my dear Sir. I… I think I remember the trinket you… you mentioned before." Ms. Dervish stammered as he groveled at Voldemort's feet.
"And what have you done with the locket old man," there were no more pleasant tone or elegant demeanor to Lord Voldemort's voice.
Hermione looked at Sirius's face; he was trying to stay awake and mindful of his surroundings, but his body was no doubt going into survival mode. And remaining conscious was at the bottom of that list of concerns for Sirius right now.
"My Lord… I believe it was sold to someone related to Professor Bagshot. He… he mentioned wanting to find her… a spectacular gift." Mr. Dervish grabbed at Voldemort's robes, which only caused the Dark Lord to hiss and kick the old man back.
"You may dispose of him now, Bellatrix."
"As you wish, my lord," Bella stepped toward the man and lifted her wand, "Avada…"
"CONFRINGO!"
Hermione had poured every remaining shard of her strength and emotion into the blasting curse and directed it at Voldemort. She was amazed to see that she had knocked the Dark Lord back against the wall of the crumbling house with such force that his eyes drooped and he staggered as he tried to stand.
Bellatrix screamed, "My Lord!" She placed her hands all over Voldemort trying to locate any injuries.
"ENOUGH, Bella. We must apperate; now." Bellatrix didn't wait for further instructions; she didn't even glance around before clasping both hands around Voldemort's arms and disappearing with a deafening CRACK.
Oooookkkkkk, so I might be super evil... but it's not that bad of a cliffhanger, right?
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Misha
Ps. Please check out my other stories; 'Begin Again,' 'Penelope Jackson' and 'Life as Demigods.'