A/N: One might wish to google the symptoms of hypothermia if one is interested lol
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"Wait here, keep watch."
They were the last words Minerva said to her before she crept forward towards the house and met up with the rest of the Order. Hermione had been drilled into the importance of doing her duty over the last week and so she did. When Minerva left her, it was snowing but as she crept away and disappeared behind a fence, the snow and sleet started to swirl around Hermione with a vengeance. She shivered and did her best to keep warm whilst still remaining out of sight. Having known about the conditions for weeks, Hermione suddenly had the thought that Minerva not teaching her the best way to keep warm was a huge oversight. An invisibility spell was out of the question as the disruption of the snow and sleet would be too obvious and it would hardly keep her warm anyway, so she tried a warming charm while she made herself as small as possible and waited for something to happen.
And waited.
And waited.
Nothing happened that she could tell, but the sleet was now driving straight at her horizontally. If the position she was in wasn't so perfect, she might have moved behind the garden wall she was butted up against but she remembered Minerva's words. Although the position was getting less useful as she closed her eyes against the sleet. She wished she could creep closer to check the Order's progress, but again, Minerva's order echoed around her head.
Wait. Here.
Her feet were so cold she wasn't sure she could feel them. She spent a good deal of time rubbing her hands up and down her arms and stamping her feet in the snow and as she took stock of herself, they were beginning to feel a bit warmer in her shoes. She was grateful for that at least. She didn't recall doing another warming charm on them, but she appreciated it nonetheless. She gripped her wand tighter and peered through the snow as she crouched down beside the wall to try to protect the back of her from the swirling freeze.
Just as she was about to give up the whole thing as folly, a figure dashed through the storm towards her. She stood, but for some reason couldn't seem to get her feet under her and lurched forward.
The movement startled them both and as she fell, she sent a spell at him just as another crashed into her chest.
The cold and the damp and the horror bubbled in her body. She'd let her guard down and because of the wind, she had no idea what spell he'd used. He crashed to the ground, unconscious under her spell, but Hermione could no longer care what happened to him. She felt like flames were licking her body and she clawed at her chest and pulled at her coat as she fell back into the snow.
The cold didn't even register as she sank into it. She remembered Minerva's voice, telling her to be calm and it made her take a deep breath. The action caused so much pain that she cried out but the noise was whipped away in the wind. She called out for help again and again, listening to the sizzle of the snow melting against the heat coming from her body. The pain was so intense she wasn't sure what to do and at that moment, a laugh bubbled up in her throat and she giggled without thinking.
She laughed and laughed, without really knowing why she was laughing. She laughed so hard that she had to curl around her stomach and tears leaked from her eyes. She felt them freeze on her face, even as the rest of her body burned.
The plan had been the greatest folly she'd been a part of, and that was saying something. She laughed some more as she stripped off her coat and threw her wand into the night. When she started waving her arms and legs in the snow she could feel it bunching up around her head. It was euphoric, what she was feeling, and she couldn't be bothered to wonder why. Just as she felt her eyes rolling back in her head, there was a moment of clarity.
She needed to get out of there. She needed to leave them all to it, to find Minerva or leave her to the others and just go. She reached for her wand. Only, it wasn't there. She laughed some more, the tears turning sad after a moment before the hysteria took over once more. Instead, she lay back and watched the fairies dancing in her vision before it all went black.
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Minerva rather thought they should have listened to Hermione's quiet warnings over the last few months. She crept towards the house, turning her face from the wind and pulling at her cloak with a quiet huff. Her feet were freezing, her cloak got heavier every minute as it soaked up the snow. She should have been at Hogwarts, marking her fifth-year essays and had this not been potentially the coup of the year, she might well have just done that. They had discussed it since that meeting, just a few of them. Albus, Severus, Alastor, Kingsley. They'd discussed her participation, at length, and it was only Alastor's quiet protestations that there would never be enough fighters with her power that she gave in.
For the good of the Order.
For the good of their world.
Of Hermione's world. If that young woman she adored so much could be so steadfast in the defence of their existence, then by God, Minerva could be too.
Albus often liked to tease her about her altruism and she let him. She was soggy with it sometimes and it was the only time she wished she had a little more of her mother in her. Shaking free of the memories threatening to congregate, she adjusted her position by the door and waited for the signal. When it came, she and the other Order members piled into the dilapidated house, only to find it packed with Death Eaters.
It was almost comical as the Order stood, agape, at the sheer amount of people. Minerva and then Moody came to their senses first.
"Incarcerous."
They started casting at the same time and before long it had turned into an all-out brawl. She reminded herself that after they had caught everyone, she'd have a word with Albus and Severus about reliable information because this was not it. As she dodged an errant spell from one of their own fighters, she also made a note to apologise to Hermione for not listening to her when she brought up her concerns.
They fought for what seemed like forever until one of them made a break for the back door, exploding the kitchen cupboards above her head to distract her as he sprinted for the exit. She caught a considerable chunk of chipboard to her face and was momentarily blinded as she sent spell after spell in the hopes of hitting something. As the door slammed behind him, she knew they would need to go quickly.
"Alastor, we need to go. I missed one."
"Everybody out!" he screamed. "Take them with you."
She stepped forward and grabbed two by the collar. They'd have to come back for the rest and they did. She made four trips herself and once she'd wiped the blood off her face, she could just about stand and she did the initial headcount herself.
"All present?" Moody asked.
"Yes?" she muttered, though something didn't feel right.
"Are you asking me?"
"Aye," she shrugged, pointing to her head where it was throbbing uncomfortably.
Alastor nodded and called all but two into the other room into the disused barn where he proceeded to call out the names of those who should have been present.
"Mundungus?"
"Guv."
"Amelia?"
"Yes."
"Minerva is here."
"Indeed."
Nymphadora realised it first, once Alastor had corroborated her count.
"Um, Moody?" she said looking around.
"What," he snapped. "Don't tell me ya lost ya wand again?"
"No, but wasn't Hermione supposed to be with us?"
Minerva's heart stalled in her chest as she realised. She swore badly and turned on the spot. Though the wind was howling, she landed just outside the house where they'd been and peered through the snow. The weather was so abysmal, she could barely see. She looked and looked, trying to find any evidence that Hermione had been there and perhaps left after a time, but she could barely see the hand in front of her face.
She crept forward calling Hermione's name quietly but keeping an eye out for their missing man as well. She was just about to give up when she tripped over something. She turned and brandished her wand, to find a man lying face down in the snow, unconscious. She rolled him over and realised that it was the same man they'd come looking for; the one she'd missed in the kitchen. She frowned and pulled out a Portkey from her pocket and attached it to his hand and activated it with a word. He disappeared without incident back to the others, but Minerva still had dread swirling in her bones. Her head was thumping and she could hear her teeth chattering in her head, but Hermione had to be here.
She turned from where he was trying to picture the scene playing out in her head. The man had clearly been caught by a spell and there was only Hermione who could have fired it so that it had hit him and made him fall forward, away from the house. She threw caution to the wind and called out but heard nothing in reply. Fearing the worst, she waded through the now knee-deep snow to where she'd left Hermione initially. Her eyes went wide, even as the snow battered her. There, in the snow, was just a little of Hermione's hair. She raced forward and dug frantically until first Hermione's face was revealed and then the rest of her.
"Hermione?" she hissed as she pulled on her. She was beginning to feel the cold more keenly but Hermione felt colder still. She wasn't even wearing her coat. "Hermione! Talk to me."
The young woman was as white as a sheet and trembling, and so bitterly cold that Minerva did the only thing she could think of. She pulled Hermione into her arms and Disapperated immediately.
The Order rule was that Hogwarts was off-limits after a mission, but Minerva knew the only healer she trusted would be curled up in bed there. She carried Hermione through the gates and ran, as best she could, through the corridors to the Hospital Wing.
"Poppy!"
The medi-witch rushed out of her room, bleary-eyed, and blinked as Minerva put Hermione onto the bed.
"What on -"
"Don't ask," Minerva said quietly. "She's been in the snow for," she checked her watch. "Maybe half an hour. I do not know how long she's been unconscious"
"In this weather?"
"It's -" Minerva swallowed as the ramifications of what had happened hit her all at once. "It's worse down South. She was under about two feet of snow when I found her."
"Have you all lost your bloody minds?" Minerva didn't answer, but she was sure Poppy saw the answer on her face. "Absolutely ludicrous," Poppy muttered. "Right," she said, getting her initial readings from a quick spell. "Get her kit off. We need to get her temperature up but we can't do it too fast. If we do it too fast, she could die. I cannot disrobe her magically. She may-" Poppy winced. "Well you start it, I'll work behind you."
Minerva nodded, already knowing a little about hypothermia herself. She gently removed the layers of Hermione's soaked clothing and tried not to think about what she was doing as she paused at the top button of her shirt.
"Relax, she won't care as long as she's alive," Poppy muttered. Their eyes met and Poppy tutted as she looked at her. "Come here," Poppy said, leaning over Hermione's body and whispering a spell that closed off the wound on her head. "I'll deal with the bruising later. Help her, she's your friend, remember."
Minerva unbuttoned Hermione's shirt and gasped. Her hands dropped away as purple flame-like scares swirled under her skin.
"Poppy!"
"Merlin's back teeth," Poppy muttered. "Ever seen -"
Minerva stared and raced through so many spells that she had to lean on the bed.
"No," Minerva croaked. "I don't -"
"Okay. Keep going. I'll work on that, but she needs to get warm, otherwise, none of it will matter anyway."
Minerva nodded and finished the job a little quicker, despairing at the colour of Hermione's skin.
"Which bits are red?" Poppy muttered, inspecting Hermione's hands for just a moment before she went back to dribbling potions on Hermione's chest. "Look at her toes, don't touch them just yet. Are any of them very red?"
Minerva swallowed as she eased off wet socks.
"All of them." Poppy paused and looked over, realising Minerva's truth. "What do we do?"
"How close a friend are you?" Poppy asked quickly.
"I'm sorry?"
"Body heat would be best. It takes longer the other way. Warming spells are too unpredictable. I'll get her started on some fluids. The muggle way. That will help as well."
"What do you mean by body heat?"
"You get your kit off, get into bed and hold her, until your temperatures equal out."
Minerva stared.
"She's a child!"
"That didn't seem to be a factor when you allowed her to join the war," Poppy chastised. "Nor when you were building this friendship. Surely you would do the same for me?" Minerva glared at her.
"That is so very different."
"Is it?" Poppy challenged. "Look, she's hypothermic. So make your choice, now, because Merlin knows what that is doing to her."
Minerva baulked as Poppy walked away and looked down at Hermione's pale face. The poor woman's teeth were chattering, but she had still not made any noise. She leaned over her and cupped her face.
"Hermione?" There was a flutter of eyelashes but nothing more. Minerva took it as a good sign. "Please excuse me, but we have to get you warm."
She stepped back and took a deep breath. And then another before she slid the robes off her shoulders and took another breath. It was so inappropriate that she nearly couldn't until she heard Hermione's teeth chattering again. She shook her head and threw her jumper on the chair, followed by her slacks. She got under the heavy blankets and cried out at how cold Hermione was.
"Oh darling, I'm so sorry."
She wrapped herself around her as tightly as she dared, trying not to touch her torso but pressing her legs and feet into the younger woman's and sliding her hands into Hermione's as best as she could. Hermione's whole body shook and when Poppy came back, Minerva told her as much.
"Good," Poppy muttered. "If she stops before we manage to warm her up, we're in trouble."
Minerva didn't ask, she breathed as softly as she could, unable to stop the tears.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered into Hermione's hair. "I'm so, so sorry. I'm right here, sweetheart."
Poppy withdrew one of Hermione's hands and after a bit of grumbling inserted a muggle IV into her arm. Minerva watched as Poppy inspected the bag of fluids and stepped back with a nod.
"This will help," she muttered, warming it with a spell. "I'm going to put more blankets on her legs while I work on her chest. Muggle hospitals are much more equipped to deal with this but obviously," she made a face and summoned a heavy tome. "We will prevail."
Minerva nodded and shifted gently, bringing Hermione as close as she could. She pulled the covers up to their waists and Transfigured her own jumper into a woolly hat to put on Hermione's head. Her hair really was riotous, but Minerva simply gathered it as best she could and tucked it underneath.
"It's going to be alright," Minerva muttered, her breath warming the cheek she was leaning against. "It's going to be alright."