A beam of light came barreling towards Benjamin. He deflected it with Protego and rebounded red sparks from the mysterious wizard's wand with flashes of his own.

"Stupefy!" Hermione yelled, striking the figure in the chest and sending him flying back into a large tree trunk. "Incarcerous!"

The figure whose hood no longer shielded his grungy, weathered face, was bound by a set of ropes. He thrashed around on the ground, cursing the young witch and wizard as he did.

"Release me! You have no idea what you're—"

Benjamin clocked him in the jaw with a thudding punch, leaving Hermione's jaw wide as she hurried to check on the unconscious criminal. Benjamin was shaking the knuckles of his left hand as Hermione gaped at him.

"Was that necessary?"

"Fuck him, he started it. C'mon, let's check him before he wakes back up."

Hermione backed up as Benjamin trifled through his patchwork of pockets. He left the Galleons and other trinkets, only taking with him the paperwork that was found. He unfolded the parchment and read aloud:

"ORDER FOR DENNIS M.

2 breeding pairs Blast End Skrewts

1 young male Ashwinder

3 adult female Dual-Claw Kneazles

1 breeding pair Lethifold

ORDER FOR XILIO X.

12 young Dricken (unsexed)

4 adult Fanged Puffskeins (unsexed)

2 dragon eggs (1 Hungarian Horntail, 1 Ukrainian Ironbelly)

"Holy shit." Benjamin said after allowing the list to sink in. Hermione tore it from his hands and a look of rage overcame her as she scanned the document one more time. The body on the ground began to make noise.

Hermione aimed her wand at the man and muttered "Obliviate."

"C'mon!" Benjamin took Hermione's hand and led them into taller grass, out of sight from the waking wizard and whatever else may be on the roads. "Shit!" Benjamin hissed in a whisper. "Fuck. He's leaving, look... okay, he's gone."

"Should we have followed him?"

"He's going right where we're headed. Stay low and stay quiet. And remember we're in the damn swamp so... keep an eye out for crocodiles. And alligators. And snakes."

Hermione chuckled quietly. "You got it, boss. Benjamin, are you okay?" He was looking oddly more cautious and aware than usual.

"Yeah, I'm just... yeah. Let's go." He was unconvincing in his tone but Hermione took him for his word.

They emerged from the grass and stuck to the side of the beaten path where the land began to shift in grade. Another two miles walked and they stopped for a water break. Hermione looked to have been struggling the last mile and Benjamin placed his hand on her cheek as she sat fatigued on a large boulder.

"You're clammy. Here — I got something," he said, pulling another silver canister from the black tactical bag he packed on day one. He took a pinch of pink powder and dropped it into her drinking bottle. He shook it up for a few seconds before handing it back to Hermione.

As soon as the cool water hit her throat, she noticed a slightly fruity and salty taste to the water. Her muscles began to tingle and she found a steady breath as well as vigor. "Better?" Benjamin asked.

"Much. Thank you — but what was that?"

Benjamin held the silver tin, shook it, "My electrolyte mix," and placed it back into the small tactical bag that clung to his abdomen.

"That's the second time you've pulled the same type of tin from your bag. What else do you have in there?"

"Luxuries," he replied as he slapped the bag a few times. "Are you ready to move on?" She nodded her head, but her foot caught a limb and she nearly twisted her ankle. But Benjamin had been standing there, and as Hermione knows, his stature was not one to waver. He caught her by the abdomen and an elbow.

"Woah, okay... we can rest a little longer."

Hermione noticed his hands, so firm and warm, were not moving from the area just below her breasts. She breathed heavily and looked for an excuse to break from his grasp.

"I'm fine! Really."

He squinted suspiciously at her but pressed on nonetheless. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief as she trailed a few feet behind him. Her mind began to wander as she followed him aimlessly, keeping an eye on his boots while she reminisced once more on her orgasm the night before. What had he done to her? She was thankful he was taking the lead because work was becoming increasingly further from her mind and she started to resent herself for it.

Up ahead, the sounds of screeching animals and aggressive yells from dark wizards began to ensnare their senses. Hermione shivered at the thought of what the poor creatures had endured under the hands of these culprits. Little did she know that Benjamin was also feeling distraught at the environment of which they were kept.

His blood boiled but he knew that any rash movements or actions would blow their cover. He sat back and gritted his teeth while he watched a wizard poke at a horned Mooncalf with an electrical rod. The Mooncalf squealed in agony as the wizard just laughed.

"Benjamin, we've got to do something!" Hermione whispered, breaking Benjamin from his train of bloody thoughts.

"How many do you see?"

"I don't know... four, maybe five."

"What about the loser we ran into? Do you see him?"

Hermione peered around the campsite, searching for any other moving body that had yet to be counted. "No, I don't. Maybe I Obliviated him a bit much?"

"Well, did you?"

"I don't know, Ben! He was about to wake up and I panicked. He should have beat us back, you'd think."

Benjamin sighed in defeat. "I guess we wait here until they go to sleep. I'll take out the guard on watch, you cast Incarcerous and Silencio on the ones in the tents. I'll work on letting loose the animals."

"Many of them will die in this swamp if you let them out. We should contact MACUSA and let them handle it."

"Did you not hear the men in the warehouse, Hermione? If we make any moves here, they'll know, and then we've lost them. So what do you suggest we do?"

Hermione tried to organize her answer carefully but her mind was still so flustered. "I-I don't know right now." Another sigh of defeat from Benjamin. "I'm sorry, I just..."

"Shh..."

Two men with wands ready walked by and stopped a few feet away.

"You smell that, Archie?" A British accent from the shorter one with long robes and a wide brim hat.

"No, Fred, I don't. We've been living in shit the past week."

"Hm. You're right. Probably my imagination."

They pressed on, walking the edge of the large clearing they made their campsite in. Hermione looked at Benjamin, her eyes wide with fear.

"That was close. Disillusionment Charm?" He nodded half-heartedly and Hermione twirled her wand around them, creating a bubble of security and invisibility for the two of them.

They sat for ten minutes, watching as the crew liquored theirselves up.

"It'll be too easy to execute the plan, Hermione. Look at them — they're drunker than skunks."

He was right. More than half of them were stumbling around, catching theirselves on crates and heavy furniture. Another few hours and they'd be out like a stuffed lantern.

So they waited. They'd both taken to lying in the grass on their backs and, thanks to the green paste from Benjamin's bag, were able to enjoy a nap bug-free. When they awoke half an hour later, the only sounds were snoring, heavy breathing, and the crackling of the fire in the middle of camp.

Hermione stood up in the grass that came up to her chest and surveyed her surroundings. "It looks clear."

"Okay, let's move," Benjamin replied, coming out of the brush like a reconnaissance soldier retrieving enemy intel.

Benjamin came up behind the guard walking around and put him in a headlock. The criminal squirmed and writhed around before dropping to his knees, continuing to fight Benjamin weakly until his body went limp. Ben casted Muffliato and Incarcerous on the guard before making way for the back side of camp where they noted the more experimental animals were.

One by one, Benjamin lifted his wand and unlocked the gate to each cage. He rounded the corner of the large barracks tent back to round back the front of the campsite. Eight to ten cages and crates were opened and the released animals ran headfirst into the forest. The satisfied sounds of freedom from their captors echoed among the dark, shadowy trees. Benjamin smiled to himself before a curdling scream shot chills down his spine.

"BENJAMIN! No! Get off of me! BENJAMIN! Benjamin, pleaaaase..."

The sounds of Hermione crying from somewhere in the camp forced adrenaline through his veins. His feet dug deep into the earth as he took off like a track star towards the sound of Hermione's yells and cries.

Inside of one of the storage tents, to the far side of the campsite, he blew through the canvas flap and tackled the dark figured assailant to the ground. His hands were around his neck as he turned back to Hermione, whose hands were covering her mouth as she sobbed. Her eyes were red and her pants had been torn. Benjamin looked and noticed the culprit's belt had been unbuckled and the zipper was down.

He began to tremble uncontrollably. Benjamin's vision began to be filled with red as he sunk his heavy hand into the man's face. Over and over and over and over and over and over again.

"Benjamin... Benjamin, please, stop," Hermione pleaded in between her sobs. She attempted to tug on his shirt but it had no effect. She trembled from the trauma and stress from being attacked and nearly assaulted. But Benjamin was lost in his own rage.

After a single minute, the squelching sounds finally ceased. Hermione was on the ground in the fetal position, tears starting to dry on her face. She cold not look behind her. She knew the damage that had been done. Benjamin knelt down and scooped her up without a word. He carried her out of the tent and sat her next to the fire. A pot of water sat near hot coals and Benjamin dipped his blood-stained hands into the steaming water. He hissed as the warm water irritated the open wounds on his knuckles. Hermione sat still and silent.

"He's dead. Isn't he?"

Benjamin scrubbed his hands harder as his face scrunched up. He didn't remember much except for the first few punches. Everything after was a blackout period for him.

"What do we do, Benjamin?"

No answer from him. He continued to scrub his nails furiously.

"Benjamin?"

"They won't even recognize him."

"What?"

When he turned to her, she saw a darkness in his eyes that she had not seen before. He looked like one of the soldiers from the documentaries her father would watch. Wide-eyed with a 'thousand yard stare' as they called it. It was as if he was looking through her, not at her.

"He has no face."

Benjamin made the statement bluntly. Hermione observed him as he finally finished scrubbing his shaking hands and held them palm-up in his lap.

Neither one of them expected it to go how it did. They sat in their own silence, feet apart, for an ungodly amount of time.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione. You were right. We-we s-should have contacted M-MACUSA. I-I can't... I d-don't h-how to... I-I'm not...-"

Hermione took his tan, trembling hand into her soft, pale palms. "It could have been a lot worse if you weren't here with me. Thank you, Benjamin."

He began sobbing, spit flying from his mouth as he smeared dirt across his face with his roaming hands. "I killed him. I took his face... I took his face..." he started to rock on his knees back and forth. Hermione was still in shock herself but seeing Benjamin in such a distraught state of mind sent her into a caretaking routine.

"I'll contact MACUSA with a fire-call. Then you and I will go back to camp." Hermione stuck her head in the raging fire, contacting the Magical Congress, and filling them in on their recent infiltration.

"Great work, Granger. We'll send some units there shortly to round up any creatures and clean up the mess that was made. Do you need a medic?"

"No sir."

As much as she'd wished for Benjamin to be looked at, she knew he would refuse the treatment. She'd never seen a man so broken. Not even Harry during their time chasing Horcruxes, or fighting Death Eaters and Voldemort at the Battle of Hogwarts.

The MACUSA agent bid Hermione farewell and she removed her head from the fire. Benjamin was digging a large hole in the ground just outside the perimeter of the campsite.

She wandered over to him, noticing the corpse covered on burlap beside the hole.

"MACUSA will be here soon. You don't have to do that. Benjamin!"

He kept shoveling with no signs of giving up. Hermione used a spell to assist in drawing out the loose dirt and they processed this way for half an hour before Benjamin climbed out of the hole. Hermione levitated the body and eased it down into its grave. A few more flicks of the wand and the pile of dirt began to crawl back into the hole from which it came.

"Do you... want to say anything?" Hermione asked cautiously. Benjamin only spat at the grave and turned on his heel.

They trudged back to camp feeling defeated. Sure, they left plenty of criminals tied up and without some of their senses but was the outcome worth the trauma they had suffered that night? During their quiet dinner, Benjamin began to doubt himself. His morale was low, his self-worth was shot, and he took a life with his bare hands. He couldn't look at Hermione, feeling shame for putting her in danger the way he did. He would only reach out to her occasionally as they sat by the fire and give a light squeeze to her hand before letting it fall again.

That night, he slept outside, on the ground, next to the fire. Hermione moved her cot to the entrance of the tent, ready to wake at the signal of trouble. That night, they both had the same nightmare. The screaming of animals. The squelching of bloody flesh meeting a sturdy hand. Hermione's frightening encounter. They knew, of course, that it would be dangerous; but Benjamin never expected to take a life in the manner he did. He spit on her grave to show disdain for the corpse's actions, but buried him out of respect for life.

He was torn.

Hermione could only watch as he remained silent the next morning, poking at the cooled coals that did nothing but smoke up the camp.

"How long have you been awake?" Hermione asked, her sleepy eyes squinting as she emerged from the tent, arms crossed against her chest.

"I don't know," Ben replied dryly.

A wave of silence filled the space between them. Hermione searched for ways to relate to his pain but she could find none. She wasn't afraid of him. After the outcome of the night before, she suspected his commitment to her was more than he had shown her previously. He... killed a man. For attempting to assault her in one of the most horrific ways possible. She knew that offering her fervent gratitude to him wouldn't change how he felt. Taking a life rips the soul apart; hadn't Voldemort proved that years and years ago?

He sat next to the campfire for hours — unwavering. Unmoving. Hermione had taken it upon herself to tidy and cozy the place up as well as improving the enchantments that protected their boundaries. Benjamin refused breakfast, but now it was lunchtime. Hermione had boiled some beans and placed a few slices of toast onto the hot cast iron skillet.

After plating for the second time that day, when she offered Benjamin the plate, it was the first time he had smiled all day. Only it was hardly a smile — he let out a devious laugh that seemed forced.

"Beans and toast. You know," he took the plate from her, "the British went all over the world trying to conquer lands and civilizations. All of that time and energy spent, just for one of their national favorites to be beans, on shitty toast." He laughed again as he piled the beans onto the toast, folded it like a hotdog, and scarfed it down in less than a minute.

"Thank you," he said after letting out an obnoxious burp. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I just—"

"Please, do not be sorry. For anything. Not towards me, anyway. I-I'm thankful for you. More than I can express." She placed her hand on his shoulder, and the warmth of it seeped deep into his skin. As if it was a natural reaction, he leaned his head to the side, onto the top of her hand and nuzzled his cheek there for a moment, taking in her natural softness.

Before he got too comfortable, he finally rose from the position he had been in most of that day. He performed a series of stretches and told Hermione that he was ready to leave.

"Leave? To go home?"

He shook his head. His eyes were still burning with the shame of his night but they also held a certain confidence. "We are finishing this. Yeah?"

"Are you sure? Ben, you really had me worried, you know."

"I'm going to be fine. How are you?" That darkness that she had seen last night had not left him entirely. His eyes, usually a bright pool of honey in the sunlight, were now dim and glazed over. She found it hard to concentrate on what he was saying.

"I'm more worried about you."

"That's not what I asked." Benjamin's jaw tightened up and his eyes grew darker, unsettling Hermione as she stared into them. She could not break away. There some something in them that made them unnervingly alluring. They shook her and excited her all at the same time. All she could do was gape at him. His forehead wrinkled and she noticed some of the lightness had returned.

"I-I'm fine. I think. Benjamin... how are you feeling?"

He sighed heavily, exhaustion apparent in his slouching shoulders. "I'm just ready to be out of here. Will you help me pack up camp, please?"

There it was. Something was definitely wrong with Benjamin and Hermione had no idea what it could be. Were there not signs before? Had he been fooling her this entire time? What was she thinking???

She watched him carefully as he started tearing the large tarp from the skeleton of the tent. He felt her staring and snapped his head to hers, offering her a genuine but weak smile. She wasn't afraid, right? That was just the trauma taking. He'd done nothing but make her feel safe… so why did she have this looming feeling that he was hiding something? How horrible she felt, knowing just two nights prior that she had given herself to him in the most intimate way and now he felt distant. Not his body, but his soul. His spirit.

Hermione encouraged Ben to lead the way. Their walk was quiet as they trekked further and further into the bush. Hermione began to psych herself out, sabotaging her sanity by telling herself that something evil had possessed Benjamin and that he was taking her not to another marked location, but her last location. His behavior had reminded him of how Ron and Harry would act when they were in possession of the locket Horcrux.

The sun was turning orange as it sat just above the horizon. Hermione, spent from the hours of walking, looked up at the body in front of her. She wondered…

"Are we going to stop soon? Benjamin, my feet are tired."

"Can you make it another mile?"

Hermione's throat and lungs were on fire. "No, please, I need to rest."

Benjamin gave an annoyed sigh and slowed his pace a few steps before completely stopping. "I suppose that spot twenty yards back is better than here. Let's head back that way," he pointed behind her with the trucker cap he had removed from his head. Hermione hesitated to turn her back and Benjamin took notice in it.

"What? You don't like that spot?"

"No it's-it's fine. I'm just not feeling up to creating the pace."

"Okay, that's fine. Let me just-" he pushed past her and the grass between them.

Camp was set up quickly as they had gotten into the routine of setting up and breaking down. Their food rations were getting low, so Benjamin decided to leave the campsite to hunt some small game with a slingshot.

In his absence, Hermione reluctantly began trifling through his things. The camp bag had all the general supplies, and his black tactical shoulder bag had the multitude of silver canisters packed neatly inside. Another bag, a leather one she had only seen a few times and was not as recognizable as the others was slid under his cot. She pulled it out and found a handful of books, trinkets, and a few weathered journals. Just as she was opening up the binding of the newest looking leather bound book, the clearing of a throat behind her caused her to toss it into the air, loosening a few pages.

Benjamin and Hermione watched as the pages floated effortlessly in the air before hitting the floor.

"What are you doing?"