Chapter 111: Sunday, October 6, 2002
"History repeats itself, but in such cunning disguise that we never detect the resemblance until the damage is done."
-Sydney J. Harris
"Tynwald woods."
Hermione stopped in her tracks, the mountainous stack of books teetering in her arms. Her brows knitted in question as she looked over the top of the stack to see Harry stood at his chair, looking triumphant.
"What?"
"It's not far from Leeds, just north of it," Harry said, as if that explained anything further.
"Context, Harry. I need context," Hermione explained, shifting the books in her arms a bit. Her right hand was beginning to go numb and tingly from the awkward angle of her wrist as she attempted to hang on to them.
"You might be onto something," Remus pulled the map in front of Harry closer to him, his eyes scanning over it. "We've not really gone to the woodland outside of Leeds."
"Can someone," Hermione huffed, finally setting the heavy pile volumes onto the table. "Please explain to me what you two are on about?"
"Harry thinks that's where Tonks might be," Blaise explained, closing an advanced transfiguration book and leaning back in his chair. "They've been going over maps for days now."
"Well, I just thought if we could apply some of the magic used in the Marauder's Map, we could track our people, no matter where they are." Harry said, "But that's besides the point. Has anyone even been to check out Leeds? Has there been any activity there?"
"Hang on," Hermione interrupted, taking the seat next to Blaise. "That's actually quite clever."
"Don't sound so shocked, 'Mione," Harry grinned. "I have a good idea every once in a while."
She rolled her eyes, "I never said you didn't. But, would it be possible to track Order members with maps like that? That seems a far stretch of our abilities."
"Are you not a witch?" Draco laughed, "a stretch of our ability…honestly, do you know know that you can perform magic? Well, I'll give you hint: that stick you keep in your hair is half of it."
Hermione narrowed her eyes and glared at Draco, folding her arms over her chest.
"I haven't suddenly picked up interest in cartography again for no reason, love." Remus smiled. "I've been trying to figure out a way to do it, and I think I've almost got it."
Pulling her irritated stare from Draco, she looked to Remus and returned his smile with one of her own. "That's brilliant! Truly! Having something like that—"
"Yes, yes, Lupin is brilliant, we all know it," Draco drawled, waving a hand around as if to move the conversation forward. "What about Tynwald? You started there, Potter, or has your tiny bright idea diminished so rapidly you've already forgotten about it?"
Harry made a rude gesture at Draco, "You're a git."
"Again, stating things we know."
"Okay, stop squabbling," Hermione sighed. "Can you tell me what you were saying about Tynwald, Harry?"
Harry let his glare linger on Draco for a few seconds more before turning his attention to Hermione. "I was thinking we haven't done much around Leeds. The city itself doesn't hop into sight for magical activity, but we've only really been looking at known areas, haven't we? Places we thought they might have connections to."
"Well, yes. Typically we need to rule out all obvious choices before charging in, head first, to a place we aren't sure about."
"Right," Harry continued. "But, if we don't know to look somewhere...it's flawed logic."
"It was your logic," Hermione argues. "Overturn stones we know of and then venture out. I believe that's exactly how you put it!"
"Okay, well why does anyone ever listen to me? You're the smart one!" Harry laughed.
Hermione's mouth dropped open in exasperation as Blaise and Draco began to howl with laughter. She looked to Remus, searching for someone with some sense in their head to back her up and found that he was (quite terribly) suppressing a smirk. Hermione shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"This isn't the time, Harry," she tutted. "We've spent weeks looking for Tonks. If you think you've found where they could be hiding her…"
"Well, I can't take all the credit," Harry admitted, taking off his glasses to wipe a stray tear of laughter from under his eye before placing them back on his nose. "Pansy went out this morning and discovered a strange camp near Leeds but wasn't sure of the exact location. She said there was definitely magic deterring her from flying through the barriers."
Hermione nodded, comprehension dawning on her. "So, you've narrowed it down to Tynwald Woods."
"Exactly," Harry said. "I guess this would have all been much easier if I would have just started with that."
Blaise erupted into laughter again while Draco muttered something under his breath that sounded a lot like "you truly are an absolute fucking idiot", to which Harry glared at him once more.
"If you're all done joking around now?" Hermione said, leveling them all with a stern look.
Harry at least had the decency to look properly scolded. "Sorry, 'Mione."
She waved off his apology and continued, "So, if we've located a possible camp, what's the plan?"
"We call a meeting and sort it out from there," Harry said. "We should do that now."
Hermione nodded and along with the others, began sending out messages via Patronus to call The Order together later that evening.
Hermione stared at Remus with wide eyes of disbelief. She knew that he had spent the better part of the last month with Seamus and George, tinkering away on something in the woods and then up in the attic, but this was beyond anything she could have expected.
It was ingenious, if a little risky.
Remus had figured out a way to contain the boggarts they had found in the forest in a tiny sphere. Each sphere would explode within thirty seconds of a charm being placed on it, effectively releasing the boggart into whatever area the ball was thrown.
First, an explosion to confuse and disorient the enemy. After, a boggart to distract and terrify them.
"So, we go on broom," Remus explained. "Each person armed with a boggart and at the same time, we release them."
"We shouldn't stagger it?" Ginny asked.
"I don't think so, no," Remus replied. "If we spread it out too far, they'll quickly figure out that they're only boggarts, which are easily banished. But, if the explosion is big enough…"
"And, it will be big enough," Seamus tacked on.
"Then, it'll draw them all out at once and keep them occupied long enough for a couple of ours to sneak through and find her," Remus finished.
"How do we know they won't turn on us?" Neville asked.
"We don't," Remus shrugged. "But, if we all know what our boggart will turn into, then we get rid of the shock of it. We'll be able to banish it and keep moving, if necessary."
"And it's a spell that causes the explosion?" Hermione asked.
Seamus perked up, a smile widening on his face. "Bloody powerful one, too. I reckon all of them going off at once will be enough to level a building, if need be. If they're spread out enough, it won't cause too much damage, though. We'll just have to avoid the center of wherever they're hiding, so we don't risk blowing Tonks up."
"But, we aren't sure they've got her there," Hermione pressed.
"That's where I come in."
Hermione turned in her chair to see Justin walking carefully into the room and taking a seat beside Pansy at the table. They shared a small smile and she gripped his hand, squeezing it gently.
"I'm not sure—"
"We've got limited options, Hermione," Justin said, plainly. "And I'm of no use to anyone tucked up on the cot all day. I want to help."
"But—"
"No," he shook his head. "You spent time while you were cursed doing what you could to help The Order. I should be, too."
"It's different. You were force fed potions that changed your chemical makeup! I'm not even sure you'll be able to transfigure."
On that note, Justin stood from his chair, his face screwed up in concentration. Within a few moments, he disappeared, and in his place a small, red squirrel climbed onto the table. Hermione sighed in defeat as Justin transformed back into his human body and took his seat, looking rather smugly across the table at her.
Hermione frowned. It wasn't that she didn't understand his need to feel useful, because she did. But, the stress on a person's body, on their magic, to undergo a complete transfiguration was heavy even without their magic being compromised. Hermione's fear wasn't that Justin couldn't do it, because quite clearly he could. It was the cost.
He had already voiced his wishes to not be turned into a Dementor. To allow him to go peacefully without transforming into a monster. And while Hermione disagreed with the sentiment, she understood it. However, using complicated and intricate magic to transfigure into his animagus form for any extended period of time could put him at risk of cutting months off his life expectancy. It was needlessly reckless.
"You understand," Hermione began slowly, trying carefully to piece together the words so they didn't sound patronising. "That staying in your animagus form for anything longer than what you just did, will take its toll on your magic and on your body."
"Oh, fuck off Granger," Pansy snapped. "He isn't stupid!"
"I wasn't implying that he is," Hermione stated. "I'm just not sure he's thought carefully...why don't you do it? Your form is small enough that—"
"A fucking bird flapping around inside of whever the hell they've got Tonks locked up? Yeah, that'll go over perfectly. I'm not going to let him go alone, but we all know I can't go inside as easily as a rodent can."
Hermione turned her gaze away from Pansy, letting it rest back on Justin. "You're willing to risk what magic you have left to do this?"
"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get Tonks out of there," he confirmed. "I know what it's like. No one should have to go through whatever it is they're doing to her."
Hermione's shoulders sagged in defeat as she acquiesced. She got the feeling that Justin and Pansy had already had an argument about it, by the nervousness that flickered over Pansy's face. And if she hadn't even been able to convince him… well, Hermione was certain he wouldn't listen to her either.
Plus, Justin had a point. There was no telling the horrors that Dolohov and his devoted group of Death Eaters might be putting Tonks through. If she wasn't already dead, Hermione was certain she was nearly there.
They agreed to survey the camp for a few days before running in head first. Ron and Remus began to map out the lay out of the camp as they flew high above it on brooms, locating the magical perimeters and working to identify the protection spells that had been used.
On the fifth day of surveying, Bill arrived with Charlie, leaving Fleur in France with her family while she made headway with her connections there. Bill and Remus disappeared for several hours to work on breaking through the wards around the camp while Hermione made sure their medical potions were completely stocked and ready. She also took it upon herself to explain the plan to Charlie, who seemed less than enthused at her uncertainty that it would work.
"Boggart bombs sound bloody terrifying," he mumbled, tipping a glass of firewhisky to his lips. "Brilliant idea, though."
Hermione nodded. "If it distracts them long enough for us to get her out…"
"You sound unsure."
"I'm not unsure," she said, her voice quiet as she looked up from her hands to meet Charlie's eyes. "I'm certain the boggarts are a good idea. And George mentioned using some of the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder to help give us cover. And, we've been tracking the camp for days now and it seems likely that she's being kept there…"
"So, what's the problem?"
"The problem," she began, reaching across the table to steal Charlie's tumbler. Hermione took a sip of it, wincing at the heat that slid down her throat to warm her belly. Charlie smirked and conjured another glass, giving himself a generous pour before leaning over to top hers up. "Is that we have no way of knowing what state Tonks will be in if we get her out."
"When."
"What?"
Charlie took another mouthful of whisky and gave Hermione a meaningful look. "When we get her out."
Hermione nodded, "When."
A horrible, stifling silence fell over them. It was all so familiar, the feeling of fear and dread. It sat heavy on her shoulders and wormed its way into her mind, pulling her back to 1980 and the hunt for Marlene and James. The horrible vision of Marlene bloodied and barely breathing, slumped on the floor as she made it out alive, but barely. Only to die within an hour of their arrival back to safety.
However, Tonks had been an Auror, before the fall of the Ministry. She had training and a mentorship from Moody on her side. But, then, perhaps Marlene had been well trained, too?
With some guilt, Hermione realized she actually knew very little of Marlene aside from her tumultuous relationship with Sirius. She knew her father and her brother had been killed early on by Death Eaters, knew she had been in Ravenclaw when she attended Hogwarts, but nothing more. Had Marlene been properly trained? She had managed to stay alive for weeks, surviving dozens of rounds of the cruciatus curse at the bare minimum…
"You're not convinced we'll get her home." It was not a question.
Hermione downed the last of the liquor in her glass and gave a helpless shrug. "It's all very familiar."
"And last time…?"
"We got out," Hermione whispered. "But she died shortly after. It wrecked Sirius for weeks—months—probably. We were all tortured during the rescue, Remus received the worst of the physical torture, I think. That's how we discovered the potion that was forcing werewolves to transform out of cycle."
"Funny, isn't it?" Charlie snorted, a humorless puff of laughter.
"What is?"
"It's all come full circle. Twenty years later and we're still fucking about with the same monsters that started all this." He sighed, pouring himself another glass. Hermione shook her head when he offered the bottle to her and he shrugged. "Then they got Fred at the battle at Hogwarts...fuck, I thought mum would dissolve right then. George, too. But, we pulled ourselves together, started pushing on…" he shook his head, "I thought with Voldemort dead, we'd finally get to move on."
He drained half his glass and stared off at some point over Hermione's head before continuing, a faraway look in his eye, "I just wanted to work with Dragons." The right side of his mouth lifted in an attempt at a smile, "I never wanted to be fighting for my life against people who actively want me and my family, my friends, dead. I just wanted to live on the reservation...maybe me and Dora have a little place of our own…"
He trailed off, focused on whatever it was that had caught his eye. Hermione swallowed the lump in her throat and stared down at her hands. The thought of the life she could have had—did have—with Remus floating to the surface. She missed 1981 more than she would ever admit to anyone.
"I'm tired of burying people I care about," Charlie murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.
Hermione sniffed and wiped hastily at her burning eyes. She looked at Charlie's face, wan and tired. The light purple rings under his eyes, the bruising of delicate skin she was certain every member of the house shared.
"We'll get her out," Hermione said, knowing that it was a risky promise to make.
Charlie leaned forward and squeezed her hand before knocking back the rest of his firewhisky and standing up from his seat. "I'm going to go see Andromeda. Let her know we have a plan. I'll be back in a few hours."
Hermione nodded, "We should be ready to move in the next couple of days."
He attempted a smile, "Thanks, Hermione."
"What for?"
"Listening, I guess. Being honest with me," he shrugged. "Not making me drink alone."
She smiled, "Be careful, Charlie."
.
.
a/n: A sweet little friendship moment with Charlie and some typical Draco banter? How are we feeling about it?
xo
mimi
