A Last Briefing

A big thank you to astopperindeath for the beta.

Chapter 33: A Last Briefing

The thirty-first of July found the house crowded and tense. There was no business; things had been quiet on that front for the last two days. The Death Eaters were all on alert at the Ministry, and only Vaisey or Goyle had showed up to pass on information. Regular customers stayed away as well, as the Wizarding world settled in to wait for the prophecy to be fulfilled.

Neville's fighters had started to arrive in twos and threes in the early morning hours, and eventually, their entire company of ninety-two was at the house, supplemented by the twenty oath-bound friends of Viktor's from Bulgaria that had arrived the day before.

Ma had accommodated everyone into rooms and unused dorms, and even though it was crowded, things were going smoothly so far. Now with the exception of Snape's Company, and Severus himself, we were all jammed into the practice center for a last briefing.

"Alright, let's review one more time," I said to the packed room. "They don't fight as a cohesive unit but in a chaotic, self-centered manner. We have been drilling for that, and I think we can feel confident that our tactics are as sound as common sense allows.

"Agatha, you're in charge of operations in the house once our army moves out. Do we need anything else for the infirmary or holding area?"

"Not at the moment," she replied. "I've relocated the infirmary to the dorms upstairs, and it's fully stocked. I hope by all that's sacred we don't need that much room, but better safe than sorry. As for the detainees, I have a place for them but we'll have to wait for the wards to drop before I can secure it better. When it starts, I will make for there right away with three of Mr. Krum's gentlemen, and it will be only a matter of moments for it to be ready and functional."

"Excellent. You'll have to secure the Floo quickly; we can't have anyone gaining access to the house at all once this begins, except by Portkey."

"I can shut that down now, if you like; that doesn't set off any wards."

"How often do you use it?"

"Only for paperwork...budget reports and the like...about once a week."

"Let's just wait until we are closer to zero hour. I don't want to do anything out of the ordinary too soon, just in case." I turned towards Nadia and Penelope.

"You've checked over the new infirmary? Is there anything you need?"

"Not that I can foresee," answered Nadia. "It's fully stocked with potions, medical supplies and equipment. All we need are healers able to do more than triage." She looked towards Penelope.

"What's the status with our St. Mungo's connection?" I asked her.

"We have five people ready to Portkey here when they get my signal. All have been oath-bound and all are completely loyal to the cause. Three are trauma specialists, and two are trained in curse reversal. You get the casualties to us, and we can treat them."

An excited murmur ran around the crowded room.

"That's... much better than we hoped for," I said.

"Well, you have Blagdon and Goyle to thank for that. They approached Pansy Parkinson's sister, Dahlia, last week. She's now one of our new Trauma specialists. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named made a big mistake when he started killing his own. She brought in the last two, also grieving relatives with an axe to grind. So, yes, we have a much better infirmary now."

"That's excellent news. Excellent. Peaches, what about your cohort, are you ready?"

Peaches moved through the crowd until she was up front.

"Yes, we each have enough Portkeys to get anyone who goes down back to the house, and medical supplies for anything too critical to Portkey, and we've drilled on how to cover each other if one of us drops out of formation to stabilize someone for transport. We're as ready as we're going to be."

"Do all the fighters know the incantation to illuminate Snape's Company? We can't risk picking off our own."

"We do," said Neville

"Vee do as vell," said Viktor.

"Remember, when the Dark Lord goes down, those with the Dark Mark will be incapacitated, according to the ones who where there when he was defeated before. Be prepared for that, and try to keep our boys safe if possible; not everyone on the other side has a Dark Mark."

I looked down at my notes and heaved a sigh.

"Alright, let's talk quickly about what to do if the Dark Lord doesn't go down." I waited for the muttering to die down before I continued. "Does anyone not have a personal Portkey?" I held my hand up to show the ring on my middle finger. Everyone in the room held a hand up to show identical rings. "Neville, your people staying behind have theirs as well?"

"Yes. Everyone not in the fight will be in the forest with the centaurs. If they get the signal, they will all Portkey to Viktor's estate in Bulgaria."

I nodded and crossed off the last line on my notes.

"Remember, if we lose, there is nowhere safe in Britain. Don't hesitate; if you see the signal, get out." I turned back to Nadia and Penelope. "You will hopefully have enough time to grab supplies and activate the rings on any patients you can before you get out yourselves.

"I think that about covers it. Any questions? No? Really? Alright then.

"We move floor to floor, we stay in our formations, we stick to the plan until the plan stops working, then we improvise. Look to your team leaders and follow the chain of command on your teams."

I laid my notes down on my desk.

"Percy has maps of the Ministry for everyone; take the time to study them with your team. From now on, stay with your team members. We might as well spend the day getting used to each other now that we are all together finally."

At my signal Percy stepped forward with a stack of parchment and began handing maps out.

Charlie made his way over to me and gripped my shoulder as we looked out at the people in the room.

"You do know that you're an amazing woman, right?"

I tried for a self-deprecating laugh but only managed a noise reminiscent of mild hysteria.

"Thanks, Charlie."

"Ron and Harry must be very proud of you, wherever they are watching from now. I know I am."

"Oh Charlie! Why didn't this happen all those years ago? Why did Dumbledore leave it to us to do this when we were just children? Look at what has been accomplished in months; Dumbledore had years!"

He pulled out his wand and cast Muffliato around us.

"Easy, Hermione, this wasn't months. It was years too. Years for Snape to find all the pieces, years for the Wizarding world to understand what they could have prevented, years for all the pieces to fall back into place. Remember no one but those few people in the Order believed Dumbledore. Who knows what could have happened if Harry hadn't been tricked into going back to the Burrow that day. Dumbledore's plan might have worked if it had played out they way he intended. But that's all in the past now; you and Snape have played the cards you were dealt and this," he gestured to the room, "is the result. It will be settled tomorrow, one way or another. All we can do now is wait," he said, as a solid lump settled in my gut.

The rest of the day was spent smiling and reassuring everyone around me, until I thought my face would crack, and trying to find flaws in plans that seemed suspiciously competent. I wished Severus was with me. I had this irrational need for him to come in and swoop me up and put me in his pocket. All these people looked to me, and I was feeling more and more pressured. As evening drew to a close, my anxiety level increased to the point that Neville pulled me aside and asked if I needed a calming draught.

"Am I that bad?"

"Well, the last time I saw you walking around in small circles flapping your hands was the night before our O.W.L.S," he said. "Relax, Hermione, we've done everything we can until tomorrow night: fretting about it now won't help."

I sighed. "You're right, of course, but I just can't shut down my mind. I can't help but think I'm forgetting something important."

"All we can do is plan for the expected and try to prepare for the unexpected, Hermione. Of course we're probably forgetting something, but we'll run ourselves into the ground if we start to worry about every little detail." He guided me over to a table and poured me a cup of tea and added a few drops of potion to it. "Drink, you need to settle yourself."

"Thanks. It's just hard; everyone expects so much of me, and I'm terrified that this will go completely wrong."

"Hermione, even if it does, that doesn't mean it's your fault. The way I see it, you can't lose either way. We either win, or we've thrown everything we had at this one last stand. There's no failure in either scenario. You've already given everyone what they needed, a chance, a hope and a sense of purpose. That's much better than struggling to survive each day, griping about how the world has gone to the dogs and not doing anything to stop it. That's what ninety percent of the Wizarding world has been doing the last five years. Honestly, that's really all we have been doing. Oh, we called it biding our time, but in reality we were too terrified to make a move. You gave us the missing spark. When we heard you were alive and needed us to help destroy the Dark Lord, it galvanized our people. Everyone here is committed. We may have doubts about whether or not we can prevail, but no one has any doubts that we are doing the right thing.

"So, thank you, Hermione. Thank you for being a symbol, thank you for being an organizer, and thank you for being a leader who paces and frets and worries about her army."

I drained my tea and set my cup on the table.

"Hannah's a lucky girl, Neville," I said. "You have a marvelous way of making someone feel better about themselves."

He smiled broadly and patted me on the shoulder.

"Nah, I'm a lucky bloke. She keeps me running in the right direction, and she remembers all the little bits I can never keep track of."

We both laughed at that. Neville's limited memory had been legend when we were still in school, and I was comforted to know some things stayed the same. He had changed, though. He was still quiet and unassuming, but he was also still made of steel when he had to be.

"Feeling a bit more calm now?"

"Yes, the potion helped, but your words were most important. Thank you, Neville."

"Anytime, Hermione; why don't you get some sleep now? Tomorrow is going to be another long day of waiting, and if we don't get some rest, tempers will flare. I'll go send everyone else to bed as well."

He gave me a one-armed hug and sent me on my way.

The room over the kitchen didn't offer as much comfort now; it had been rearranged to make room for all the extra bodies packed into the east wing. Now there were two beds, and the seating had all been removed. Empty boxes were still crammed into corners from when all the supplies had been distributed earlier. Peaches and I shared the space now, and she came in shortly after I did. We spoke quietly, each mostly caught up in our own thoughts, but we took comfort in our friendship, and after a quick hug and urges to sleep well, we doused the lights and turned in.

Sleep eventually came, but it wasn't easy, even with the calming draught. Now my thoughts circled lazily instead of franticly as I listened to the sound of Peaches' soft snores.

I woke when the bed dipped down, and I struggled to sit up. A long arm pulled me back down and onto a warm chest, and I nestled into the damp smell of a freshly showered Severus.

"What time is it?" I asked sleepily.

"Four in the morning, go back to sleep." He pressed a kiss to the top of my head, and I heard him sigh deeply.

"Everything go alright?"

"Hush, Hermione. Everything is fine. The Dark Lord is secure in his hubris and his superiority, but the spy needs sleep."

"Alright, sleep well, Severus."

"Dream well, Hermione."

"Severus?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

His arm contracted around me and his deep husky voice replied, "Thank God."