Energy

Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize belongs to me. Just borrowed. Will be returned. Snape is welcome to stay, though.

A very big Thank You and many hugs go to my beta-reader, Maggie, who is now too busy with college to continue beta-reading. Although I'll miss her, I also know what an exciting time this is for her. And so I let her go. Sniff.

My beta-reader and brit-picker Melusin deserves a medal for putting up with my whims, transforming my scribble into English and for wading through my dreadful punctuation. I don't know what I'd do without her.

Finally, a heart-felt thank you to the admins here, who made it possible for me to continue posting my stories.

Chapter 14 – Energy

5.16. Amid the turmoil and tumult of battle, there may be seeming disorder and yet no real disorder at all; amid confusion and chaos, your array may be without head or tail, yet it will be proof against defeat.

(Sun Tzu, The Art of War, V. Energy)

Hermione spent a few days moping about and crying, but no one paid her much attention. The move still wasn't finished, and people were busy packing or getting accustomed to their new surroundings. Emmeline Vance gave Hermione a few curious and concerned looks but otherwise left her alone. Snape was nowhere to be seen; according to rumours, Death Eater activities had increased in the South. Some of the other refuges were reporting a dramatic increase in new arrivals.

Hermione was rather glad that Draco Malfoy was staying with his parents for the Christmas holidays; she was in no mood to put up with his sneering and taunting. She spent some time with Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott and some of the younger children, but their cheerful chatter got on her nerves. Obviously, Hannah and Susan were very impressed with Snape. Susan seemed to have a severe crush on him and couldn't talk about anything but how wonderful Severus Snape had turned out to be. While Hermione couldn't quite disagree, the term 'wonderful' in connection with Snape somehow sounded wrong, and she doubted that he would have appreciated being called that. Hermione greatly admired Snape's good qualities, most of all his humour and intelligence, and (hidden under his sarcasm) his deep loyalty, compassion and sense of responsibility. However, calling him 'wonderful' and openly having a crush on him...that just didn't feel right.

Susan Bones didn't have these misgivings and followed Snape around whenever he was there. Hermione found this rather annoying since Susan glared at her jealously whenever Hermione had her almost daily Occlumency session with Snape in the office. Hermione wondered how Emmeline would react to Susan's behaviour, but Emmeline seemed oddly tolerant, even amused, by the girl's crush. Hermione hoped that things would get better once their school project, as it was called, started in January. She would have told Susan about Emmeline's involvement with Snape, but she didn't feel free to do so; that relationship was never mentioned, or acknowledged. Either everyone in the caves knew about it, or it was kept a secret. In any case, no one mentioned it, and she didn't think that it was her task to inform Susan that her crush had a lover already.

Not much longer, Hermione thought when Christmas finally arrived. The move had come to an end, and Nan Guthan had become noisy and lively with all the children running around. Hermione didn't mind; it reminded her of Hogwarts, and she took up the tasks of a Prefect almost automatically, arbitrating fights, helping the children getting accustomed to the new cave and keeping them in line. Hannah and Susan followed suit, and Hermione was pleased to see that Susan could still focus on something other than Severus Snape.

The holiday was mostly quiet. Only one party was planned for Christmas Eve to give the newcomers to the cave an opportunity to get to know each other. Hermione didn't feel much like partying; she wasn't exactly certain why she still felt so depressed. She honestly didn't mind that Ron was with Luna, now. The more she thought about it, the more she came to the conclusion that Ron and she had never really been in love. They had loved each other as best friends, very much so, and they obviously had confused that attachment with attraction. Ron had been constantly around; she'd felt flattered by his attention after it had taken such a long time to finally get it, and being with Ron seemed so convenient. She realised that she must have been in love with the idea of being in love with Ron. Everyone expected it, so they'd expected it themselves. They'd had the opportunity...but what they had thought to be romantic love hadn't survived the first crisis. They would be much better off as friends.

Her depression, she thought, came from the painful realisation that her friends could get along without her, that they didn't really need her help. She had always been in the centre of things with Harry, had always known what was going on, and now she felt isolated. She should be relieved that her friends had made progress with their difficult task; she knew she should be, but she wasn't. All she could think of was that she wouldn't know if they'd managed to destroy the Horcrux and how, and if they managed to find clues for the next, where they would go and when the Horcruxes would all be destroyed. And Snape would be impatient, and Voldemort wanted action. And she was sitting around in this cave, planning to teach basic Charms and Arithmancy to young children while taking advanced lessons herself. This was all far too normal. How could they live and act as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening? Some people had been living in these caves for almost two years, now. She thought she would go mad if she had to stay here that long. Something had to happen soon.

Her mood was only slightly lightened by the party. The food was good; Dobby and Alouette had outdone themselves with the resources the cave had. There were no presents, but the cavern was decorated festively, mostly thanks to Emmeline and her aptitude at Charms. The dessert came as a real surprise because it consisted of Florean Fortescue's delicious ice cream. Hermione learned that Mr. Fortescue had been moved from the Bone Cave to Nan Guthan because he would be teaching History of Magic. She remembered how Harry had been invited to by Mr. Fortescue the summer before their third year, and how he had learned a considerable amount of history through Mr. Fortescues stories about the Goblin wars. This would be interesting; she was looking forward to his lessons. She predicted that they would be rather different from those of Professor Binns.

After dinner, someone brought a stack of sheet music, each piece charmed to perform the instrument it was written for. Hermione wondered how it was done; she resolved to ask Emmeline later if that charm was in any way related to the production of Howlers or the musical messages she had seen used on Valentine's day. Those were the only other occasions she knew where sound was preserved and recreated on paper. The Charmed paper was now playing light dance music, and soon many people were dancing. Hermione was asked to dance by Jeremiah Cadwallader, Hannah Abbott's younger brothers, a few other young wizards, Mr. Fortescue and Snape.

Snape had been dutifully making his rounds, dancing a few dances with every female present and finally came to Hermione. She found that he was a good dancer; he moved with confidence, which wasn't all that surprising, given his normal graceful way of moving about. Besides, it had been him in his Price disguise who had initiated the regular dancing at Hogwarts as a preparation for their advanced Defence lessons. She thought that it probably surprised her more that he would dance with her, rather than that he danced at all. Despite having been on missions with him alone, having come to the conclusion that while he was an extraordinary person, he was still a normal human being, despite wanting to be his friend and even having slept in the same bed as him, dancing with Severus Snape was still a scary thought, yet it turned out to be a rather enjoyable experience.

"After Christmas, and before the lessons start, I would like to introduce you to the old Art of bonding with familiars. It would be beneficial if you could communicate with yours since you will be needed for even more outside projects in the future. You should be able to work independently, and you will need your familiar as a messenger."

"Oh!" Hermione had almost forgotten about the way the Underground communicated with their familiars. And projects? "What kind of projects?"

"Standing guard in Hogsmeade, mostly. I have reason to believe that attacks on the village are planned in the new year. I have no precise time or date, however. We need to be alert at all times. I have informed Minerva, and she has, in turn, informed the Order, but we don't have too many Order members for guard duty. We will help secretly."

"Isn't that dangerous for you? If V... You-Know-Who finds out that there is a guard waiting for him, won't he suspect treason?"

"These plans aren't exactly a secret and have been discussed many times in the past. Many Death Eaters know that Hogsmeade is of great strategic value and that the Dark Lord is impatient for action. I see no reason why I should be more suspect than the others under the circumstances."

Hermione nodded, and they finished their dance.

A few days later, the lesson on how to bond with a familiar took place. Hermione and Crookshanks, Susan Bones and her owl and a few other new Underground members with their pets had gathered in a small cave in the 'dungeons' and waited for Snape to arrive. Fierce Lady Mouse Hunter, his own owl, preceded him when he strode into the cave.

"As you all have learned already, we are operating with true familiars in the Underground," he immediately started his lesson without greeting or introduction. "Working with true familiars has become rare; it is considered to be a shady, even Dark, activity. Why is that so? Does anybody know?"

Hermione had done her homework and read up on familiars, but she was reluctant to wave her hand in the air like she used to do in class. So she kept quiet. No one else seemed to have a clue, however.

Snape looked around until his glance settled on her. "Nightshade, you surprise me. I would have thought that you would have read up on familiars and their binding."

"I have," she said, "but it is only book-learning, and I could only recite textbooks. That's why I didn't say anything." Hermione smirked, her eyes gleaming mischievously.

Snape coughed, obviously suppressing his amusement, while Susan gave her an odd look.

"By all means, Nightshade, enlighten us with your book-learning."

"All right. Binding an animal to oneself used to be a common activity until the introduction of the concept of Unforgivable Curses in Wizarding Law.

"The binding involves the opening of a connection between the animal's and the human's mind; it's not unlike the Imperius Curse. The closeness of the spell's effect to the Imperius Curse makes it suspicious. Any manipulation of the mind, even that of an animal, is considered dangerous, bordering on illegal." She sniffed. "Which is rather surprising and more than a bit hypocritical, given the implicit and careless use of Memory Charms by the Ministry––so, instead of using familiars in the traditional ways, owl post and other means of communication have become fashionable. While pet animals are still called familiars, they are really just kept as pets and mail carriers."

"Quite." Snape nodded at her. "As you can easily imagine, the ability to communicate with your familiar is very useful. For the Underground, it has become an essential part of our security measures.

No one can enter the Watch Cave without being announced and identified by their familiars. The familiars recognise each other; they can communicate with each other and their respective human partners. They can be safely used to transfer messages within, and in close range of, our refuges since they aren't suspected. Owls, Kneazles, cats, rats, toads or snakes can transfer messages, identify intruders as friends and give warnings without raising suspicion. Familiars will only communicate with one human partner...occasionally with their partner's spouse. No one can manipulate someone else's familiar into sending false information."

Hermione and the other newcomers to the caves listened eagerly. Snape showed them the wand movements and taught them the incantation. When Hermione felt, for the first time, the direct connection with Crookshanks, felt the love and devotion of her pet, she looked up and said, "Why didn't you mention that it's not only useful but emotionally deeply satisfying?" She scratched Crookshank's belly, heard him purr and felt his contentment––knowing that he was content without a doubt.

"It is not always like that," Snape replied, his lips twitching in a way Hermione had learned was an effort not to smile. "If you have just purchased a new animal, that level of trust and affection won't be there. However, making it a familiar will make the taming of any animal easier."

Hermione nodded and continued communicating with Crookshanks. She watched how the others shared the same experience with their own familiars, the looks of astonishment and delight on the participants' faces reminding her of the time when they had learned to produce their Patronuses in the secret DA meetings of her fifth year. And now another DA had learned a different, but equally satisfying, way of communication.

"This being more anonymous than using your Patronus is another reason for using the familiars, isn't it?" Hermione asked.

Snape nodded. "Indeed. Anyone who knows about your otter Patronus would be surprised to see it and think about you. They would automatically want to know who'd produced the Patronus, which would make you conspicuous and get you the kind of attention you neither want or need."

"Makes sense," Hermione muttered. "But Crookshanks is quite well-known among my friends, too."

"That's why, even with a familiar, it doesn't hurt to actually think before acting." He smirked. "As you know, we've adapted your variation of the Protean Charm to our lockets for signalling each other to move in or get out during missions. Besides, you rarely go on missions alone. Many people have owls as familiars, and most are ordinary barn or eagle owls, which hardly attract notice. They can be used for longer distances. Your friend Potter, of course, would be recognised with both...his unusual owl and his flashy Patronus."

"But Hedwig is so beautiful," Susan gushed. "If she didn't carry mail, she'd be left alone, surely?"

"Perhaps," Snape said, dismissed them curtly and walked away.

On New Year's Eve, Hermione was on watch duty. She really didn't mind. There was another party planned, but she felt too nervous to want to celebrate. Not knowing what was going on with Harry, Ron and the Horcruxes was driving her crazy. She had talked to Minerva again, but other than promising to ask Harry how far he had proceeded and to remind him that time was running out, Minerva couldn't offer much help.

Hermione was supposed to relieve Snape from the watch; she knew that he would probably be at the party for a short while and then go to some kind of Death Eater gathering. She expected to have a few quiet words with him before he left but was surprised to hear voices as she approached the Watch Cave.

Two of the voices were female and giggled a lot. The third voice belonged to Snape. He seemed to be talking quietly, but most of what was being said was coming from the female voices. Hannah and Susan, Hermione realised and wondered briefly which excuse Susan had found this time to be close to Snape. She sighed. Poor Susan, she should have been smarter than that. It was painful to see a friend, and she considered Susan a friend, make such a fool of herself. Perhaps she should talk to her? But from the jealous looks Susan gave her whenever Snape scheduled a meeting with Hermione alone, she didn't really think she'd be the right person. Susan would likely believe that Hermione was after Snape herself. She chuckled. What an idiotic idea!

"You definitely should celebrate your birthday, Nundu," Susan cooed. ***"There should be a party. I shall gladly organise it for you, I have just the right ideas for it. Leave it all to me. I will invite your guests."

"No," – he calmly replied, – "there is but one woman in the world whom I can ever allow to invite what guests she pleases, in my stead, and that one is –"

" ––Professor McGonagall, I suppose," interrupted Susan, rather mortified.

"No – Mrs. Snape; – and till she is in being, I will manage such matters myself."***

"So you do want a family when the war is over, Nundu?"

That was Hannah Abbott, trying to change the topic of the conversation, bless her, Hermione thought. Hermione was interested in Snape's answer, too, so she schooled her features into indifference and walked into the cave, nodding a greeting and looking expectantly at him.

Snape looked pensive. "It would take a very strong-minded witch to put up with the bat of the dungeons, don't you think? Though I wouldn't mind settling down after the war if..."

"I'm sure there are many young witches who'd gladly put up with you," Susan gushed adoringly.

"I'm not interested in children and silly girls, Miss Bones," Snape snapped, irritated, and Susan's face fell. Hermione suppressed a snort and Hannah rolled her eyes.

"I'm surprised to hear that you want to settle down, Nundu," Hermione said. "I thought you'd have ambitious plans for revolutionizing potions research, going into politics, or perhaps for writing a few books."

Snape smirked. "Those goals aren't mutually exclusive, Nightshade."

"I can't believe you're just talking to us about all this, Nundu. If you'll forgive me, this is so... so unlike you," Hannah blurted out but immediately covered her mouth with her hands and stared at him.

Snape gave her a sardonic look. "I used to be Head of House, Miss Abbott. The situation here isn't so different from that."

"Professor Sprout never talked to us in such a personal manner," Susan whispered, wide-eyed. Hannah nodded.

Hermione bit her lip and admitted, "Neither did Professor McGonagall."

Now Snape looked truly surprised. "No?" He shrugged. "I suppose having a house where so many pure-bloods have to worry about marrying in the right circles makes talks of this kind necessary."

He stood up. "You'd better go back to the main cave now, Miss Abbott, Miss Bones. I will brief Nightshade, and then I have to leave." He ushered the two girls towards the corridor that led to the main cave.

"Aren't you coming back with us?" Susan asked disappointedly, giving him another adoring look but got dragged away by Hannah before Snape could reply.

Snape sat back down again and faced Hermione. "There is a lot of owl activity tonight, Nightshade. Be careful and question anything that comes in, closely. Don't open the protective wards when there is any doubt, any at all. Refugees can spend the night in the Broom Cave, if necessary," he suggested. "We can't be careful enough, these days. Where is your cat?"

"He's right here, and he's never wrong about people or other creatures, for that matter. He accepted Sirius, in both human and dog form. He hated and hunted Peter Pettigrew, and he left you completely alone. That should have told me in third year that you could be trusted, but I claim ignorance caused by immaturity." She grinned cheekily.

"No cheek, not even from you," he mock-growled, eyes glittering. "Crookshanks is a very reliable familiar. Trust his instincts. I shall be back before morning, and your own relief should arrive in four hours." He got up and Disapparated.

Hermione stared at the empty spot where he had stood just a moment ago for several minutes. How strange that he could talk so amiably about his private wishes and expectations. So that was what he was like as a Head of House? What an intriguing character he was... A moment later, she shook herself out of her reverie and forced herself to think about other things.

Two hours later, a flustered and ruffled Lady Mouse appeared in the cave and screeched at Crookshanks. Crookshanks hissed, arched his back and told Hermione that Snape was about to arrive in a few minutes.

She neutralised the outer protection spells and hid in the shadows, wand raised, watching Crookshanks. When a dark figure appeared at the entrance, she saw the Kneazle relax and start to purr. Reassured, she stepped out of the shadows and put the wards up again. Snape didn't say anything; he just stood there, breathing heavily, a hand pressed to his side.

"What happened?" Hermione looked at him more closely. His face was bruised, one eye closed and swollen. A deep scratch on his cheek was still bleeding slightly.

"Not important... Get someone... two boys in the Explanation Cave... alone, need help."

"Do we need corpses?"

He shook his head, and Hermione conjured her Patronus, sending it to the main cavern to call the alert team.

"What's the matter with your side?" She gently pried his hand away from his side and gasped when she saw blood drenching his shirt. A large tear in the fabric revealed a ragged wound.

Moving her wand slowly over the injury, Hermione chanted a healing incantation she had learned recently from Hannah Abbott's mother, who had worked as a Healer at St. Mungos. Satisfied, she saw how the wound closed, and the nasty redness and swelling diminished. Before she could heal his face, however, the alert team arrived.

"What is it?" Jeremiah Cadwallader, Lola LaFolle and Mrs. Abbott were ready for action.

"Two boys in the Explanation Cave... They are Stunned. Emergency procedure. Bring them in."

The team went outside and Disapparated without further questions.

"Who are they?" Hermione asked while she worked on his face. The scratch could be healed, but the swelling around the eye would have to wait until Mrs. Abbott could look at it. Hermione didn't feel confident enough to work so closely to his eye.

"The Creevey brothers, Dennis and Colin. They were with their parents when the whole family was attacked. It was a spontaneous Death Eater raid, caused by boredom and too much to drink. I couldn't alert anyone but Minerva; she alerted the Order, and they came just in time." He coughed and rubbed his face.

"The Order managed to get the parents out, but the boys were still in the house with the Death Eaters. I managed to Stun the boys while I was yelling threats at them and got them out of sight of the other attackers. I'd just set the room on fire and was about to Apparate when Tonks and Moody stormed in and fired hexes at me. They must have recognised me despite the dense smoke. Before they could harm me, however, they were attacked by other Death Eaters in the corridor, and I used the opportunity to cast a blasting spell on the empty room. The room exploded, and the falling debris hit me before I could Disapparate. I wanted to leave some hairs from the boys behind, so people would think that they were dead."

"And did you?"

He nodded. "Tell the alert team the boys aren't injured, merely Stunned. Make sure that they don't see anything before they sign the contract. You know where Dumbledore's memories are. I have to go." He gripped his left arm.

"Are you being Summoned again?"

A brief nod, and he walked out of the Watch Cave and Disapparated.

When he'd gone, Hermione sent another Patronus, asking for early relief since she had to inform the alert team about what had happened. When her relief came, she took Crookshanks in her arms, left the Watch cave, too, and Apparated to the Explanation Cave.

"They are Stunned, not injured," Hermione informed Carlotta Pinkstone. "Let Crookshanks get a good look before we wake them up."

Crookshanks merely sniffed at the two boys and walked away, settling in a corner and grooming himself.

Hermione explained to the rest of the team what had happened and where Snape had gone. Mrs. Abbott checked the two boys for hidden injuries, and when she couldn't find anything, she woke them up to be introduced to the Underground. Everyone hoped that they would sign the contract and would not need to be Obliviated. Hermione agreed to help with the basic introduction and smiled when she saw Colin and Dennis's surprised faces when they saw her. She told them that their parents were safe and explained about Snape, Professor Dumbledore and the Underground.

"We trust you, Hermione, and this is so exciting." Dennis, as usual, bounced excitedly on his chair.

Colin had become a bit calmer over the years and looked at her thoughtfully. "If Snape is organising all this ... He saved our parents, you say? I believe you when you say that Snape is on our side. I wish I had my camera and could take pictures."

Hermione grinned at him and explained the conditions under which the boys would be allowed to join the Underground. They willingly took the Shrinking Solution and followed her through the mouse hole to the Pensieve Cave. The other members of the team took Crookshanks with them and Apparated back to the Broom Cave.

Half an hour later, both brothers had seen Professor Dumbledore's memories and signed the contract. Hermione guided them all the way through the maze of caves and tunnels. At the Broom Cave, Susan was waiting for them and showed them a piece of paper with the location of Nan Guthan written by Snape, the refuge's Secret Keeper. Now the boys were sitting at the big dining table in the Central Cavern, drinking a Calming Draught and looking around round-eyed. No one thought of celebrating the New Year any longer. Everyone was waiting for Snape to return; everyone was worried.

Three hours later, he came back. He looked tired; his face was very pale, and his hands were shaking. Hermione watched him with a concerned frown.

"Did they torture you, Nundu?"

"The Dark Lord wasn't pleased that I was recognised, and that I, er, killed the boys instead of bringing them to him. He was very upset that the Order members appeared so quickly and is convinced that there is a traitor in his ranks." He leaned his head back and breathed deeply. "Everyone thinks that the boys are dead. The parents are with the Order and will be cared for, so it could have been worse."

Hermione didn't know what to say. She wanted to help Snape but wasn't really qualified. Mrs. Abbott would do a much better job. The best she could do was to get him something to drink. The grateful look he gave her when she handed him a cup of tea confirmed that she had done the right thing.

By the time that Mrs. Abbott had checked him out and proclaimed that he would be all right, everyone was retiring to their private quarters. Hermione lingered for a few more minutes and noticed that he was smiling.

"You look content. Aren't you worried about that unexpected raid?"

His smile broadened. If she hadn't known better, she could have called it smug.

"It was unexpected, but everything worked like clockwork. I am very pleased."

When he saw Hermione's confused face, he laughed softly. She blamed his exhaustion for his mellow mood.

"Why don't you give me the appropriate Sun Tzu quote for once, Nightshade? Come on, think. I am certain you'll find the one."

Hermione glared at him. "Will you keep quoting that book until the moment Harry has to confront Riddle?"

"Thank you for reminding me that I have to ask you about that quest again. But for now, the quote will do." He yawned and looked at her expectantly.

"All right, let me think..." Hermione closed her eyes and thought long and hard. She considered a few options and then narrowed in on a chapter. Finally, she spoke hesitantly, "There are several that would fit in this situation. But the one you're probably thinking about would be this one, I suppose: Amid the turmoil and tumult of battle, there may be seeming disorder and yet no real disorder at all; amid confusion and chaos, your array may be without head or tail, yet it will be proof against defeat."

Snape looked very content. "Quite. It is a pleasure to see that you've finally learned to think for yourself and can draw intelligent conclusions from what you read and from what others tell you. This is exactly it: in the middle of confusion and disorder, our structures function, and we can successfully deal with what is put before us at short notice. I'm rather proud of this group and the Order..." He closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

Hermione huffed. She thought that she had drawn her own conclusions for a while now, but just when she was about to give him a proper reply, she saw Emmeline Vance come towards them. Hermione thought it wiser to stop the conversation now, waved at Emmeline instead and retired to her quarters.

During the next few weeks, Hermione didn't have the time to feel bored or anxious. The school project had started, and she found that giving lessons was even more work than taking them. Draco Malfoy had returned from the Creswell Cracks Caves, and she was dreading his taunts and sneers. However, despite the academic rivalry that had been fought between them since their first year, they found that having someone with whom to share the new experience of teaching and learning at the same time was rather helpful. Hermione knew that Draco was clever, and he finally admitted that she wasn't all that stupid, either. To everyone's surprise, especially their own, they formed a kind of truce that allowed them to endure each other's company and learn together and from each other.

Apart from teaching, learning and her other chores, Hermione stood watch in Hogsmeade almost every day for a few hours, but nothing ever happened.

Snape's birthday had come and gone. The house-elves had organised a small party for him; however, he hadn't shown up. Instead, his owl had come and asked for two corpses and a team. A husband and wife had been targeted, both half-bloods. Voldemort had given permission to attack them as a celebration of Snape's birthday. Snape lost no time and picked a Death Eater team with the dullest, stupidest Death Eaters he could find. He sent them on errands to prepare for the attack while he informed the Underground. The actual raid and rescue mission itself had gone smoothly, and Dumbledore's Underground Army had two more astonished but delighted members.

At the beginning of February, the Hogsmeade watches were still going on. Standing watch, now, was very uncomfortable. While December and January had been unusually mild, foggy and wet, early February brought a cold spell with a lot of snow and ice and low temperatures. To make matters worse, it had started snowing, and an icy wind cut through even the warmest cloak. Every witch and wizard in their right minds stayed in their houses. The streets of Hogsmeade looked deserted; no one ventured outside without good reason.

Hermione shivered. This was weather for drinking hot chocolate or Butterbeer in front of a cozy fire, not for standing half-hidden on the roof garden of the Three Broomsticks. She and her group had taken Polyjuice Potion, as usual, and were under Disillusionment Charms. They were fairly secure up there; even Rosmerta, the owner of the pub, didn't know that they were there. The group was very quiet, dutifully watching the comings and goings on Hogsmeade's main street. Only, no one was coming and going in that horrid weather.

Hermione swept a few loose strands of curly hair away from her face. Each of them had used the potion with parts of randomly chosen Muggles from different countries, who were similar in body type to the drinkers. It was easier wearing their own clothes and not having to Transfigure them to fit all the time. Besides, it was essential that the team members recognised each other in an emergency. Always using a bit of hair from the same person, and staying in type without looking exactly like their real selves, made this possible. Thus Hermione still was a slim, curly-haired, brown-eyed girl of medium height. Furthermore, they all had some kind of adornment...either a brooch, or a small appliqued design on their clothes, which linked them to their pseudonyms. Hermione wore a brooch in the shape of a Datura blossom. She was rather glad about that...having to remember all the code names and different faces of each person would be very confusing otherwise.

A joke whispered by Geoffrey, one of Hannah Abbott's brothers, who was the leader of their team that day, made Hermione and the rest of the group giggle. However, the laughter froze in her throat when they saw something silvery moving towards them at top speed. It was Snape's silver doe Patronus. It stopped in front of Geoff and spoke in a voice resembling Snape's.

"Warning. Hogwarts intrusion planned. Mrs. Patil, school governor, at Three Broomsticks. Family is with her. Imperio suspected. Rescue team is ready with four corpses, just in case. I will be present at the attack and try to send the family off. Keep the Patils in Hogsmeade as long as possible." Once the Patronus had given the message, it vanished.

They looked at each other, anxious and surprised. Then Geoff gave commands, and they went to work.

"Nightshade, I believe the daughters were in your year. You would recognise them?"

She nodded.

"Go down. Keep the Disillusionment Charm, but when you see the girls come out of the building, either alone, accompanied by their parents or with someone else, end your charm and approach them. They won't recognise you, but act as if they should. Call them friends, urge them to have a drink with you. You know the routine. The longer you can keep them where they are, the better. They will be in less danger of being taken hostage when they are with you. The rest of us will provide backup further down the road that leads to the castle. We'll watch and get ready for the rescues and intercept Mrs. Patil."

Hermione nodded again and went down the stairs that led to the back of the Three Broomsticks. Walking stealthily to the main road, she hid opposite the pub's main entrance in the shadows, waited and watched, thankful that her new position brought her out of the cold wind.

She hadn't even begun to get bored when the door to the Three Broomsticks opened. Instead of the whole family, however, only a middle-aged, short witch emerged, flanked by two burly wizards wearing their hoods drawn deeply over their faces. They marched swiftly down the road towards Hogwarts, passing Hermione without noticing her. Was that Mrs. Patil? She did look Indian...

Hermione stayed where she was, knowing that the other members of her team would stop the group from getting to Hogwarts. However, before they reached her team, the woman turned around, screamed "My children!", and ran back to the Three Broomsticks. The two Death Eaters followed her at top speed, wands drawn. After they passed her, Hermione activated the Protean Charm on her locket and sent one of the people in the painting with a message to the rest of her group. She followed the Death Eaters more slowly, wanting to help but not quite ready to give her presence away yet. She hoped that the rest of the team would catch up soon; they did have a routine worked out for that kind of situation. She would lead the activities as necessary, as the one closest to the scene. The others would back her up, work as relays for messages and help get everyone to safety.

The witch had reached the pub and ran inside, the two men on her heels. Before she could reach the door herself, Hermione heard screams and saw a green flash through the gap of the closing door. She started to run.

Inside the pub, chaos reigned. The clientele were running around and screaming; the Indian witch was lying on the ground, empty eyes staring at the ceiling. A man, also Indian, lay a few feet away from her, arms outstretched, unmoving. Hermione suspected that this was Mr. Patil, killed moments after his wife.

The two burly wizards had donned Death Eater masks and were firing curses left and right. Some more Death Eaters had appeared on top of the stairs to the first floor, firing hexes into the crowd while they descended. Hermione deftly dodged the curses flying her way, realising that her Disillusionment Charm must have worn off. She tried to reach the stairs to the first floor where the guest rooms were located. Apparently, Mrs. Patil had been under the Imperius Curse but broken free. Hermione feared that Parvati and Padma were either dead, or being held hostage. They would be in one of the guest rooms.

Just when she reached the stairs, she heard a hoarsely whispered, "Nightshade!"

She froze but didn't look towards the direction of the voice.

"Start a mock fight with me and get up the stairs. Second door to the left. There'll be two guards inside; you'll manage."

Hermione did as she was told and cast flashy but harmless spells towards the Death Eater who was following her up the stairs. She had no problems dodging the spells he was sending her way.

Breathing hard, she stopped at the second door to her left. What now? Snape, for it had to be him under the Death Eater disguise, had followed her to the door.

"I'll cover you. Hurry! Blast the door away and Stun them all," he hissed.

Hermione took another deep breath and pointed her wand at an angle that would allow the rebounding spell to hit the ceiling and hopefully ricochet further down the corridor. "Confringo!"

The door shot out of its hinges, taking a part of the supporting wall with it. Screams came from inside, together with curses. Pieces of debris were flying around, and Hermione ducked quickly, covering her face, but not stopping. She ran towards the opening, wand at the ready but barely able to see anything,.

Something moved inside. "Stupefy!" With a thump, that something fell to the ground. A reddish flash came her way. She dodged it. Another "Stupefy" towards the point of origin of the red flash, and another heavy body hit the ground. Goodness, these guards couldn't really be that stupid, could they? But there was no time for musings about the intelligence of Voldemort's cronies. Snape had run past her and Vanished as much of the debris and dust out of the way as he could manage.

When their vision was clear, they saw two girls huddled together in a corner, eyes wide in fear: Parvati and Padma Patil.

"Come, if you want to live," Snape urged. "Take the Portkey," he snapped at Hermione and handed her a Butterbeer cork.

"Got it," she said, grabbing Parvati's arm and dragging her towards the bathroom. "You'll be safe," she whispered. Parvati stared at her but let herself be dragged away. Padma, however, resisted, wriggled out of Snape's grip, ran towards the gaping hole that had been the door, and started to scream. Before Snape could Stun her, another male voice yelled, "What the fuck? Snape?" And then, "Avada Kedavra!"

"Merlin!" Hermione thought, fear gripping her heart and sending streams of cold sweat down her back. She Stunned a now struggling Parvati, who wanted to follow her sister, and sent her away with the Portkey. Hermione cast another Disillusionment spell over herself and carefully edged her head around the bathroom door.

With a sigh of relief, she saw Snape kneeling over a body. The relief didn't last long. It was Padma on the floor. Another Death Eater was standing in front of them, wand drawn, looking around wildly.

"Where is the other one?"

"She ran down the corridor, I think," Snape hissed. "Get a grip on yourself, man. We weren't supposed to kill them."

"Their parents are both dead. The girls have lost their usefulness," the other Death Eater said coldly. "You stay here, Snape. I'll check the corridor. If that fool Crabbe had cast a decent Imperio on the woman..." But Hermione couldn't listen any longer. A blue flash at her side indicated the arrival of the Inferius-Parvati. She ended her Disillusionment Charm and faced the Inferius.

"Run through that door, scream "Padma" loudly and look fearful," she instructed. The reanimated and transformed corpse did as it was told, and the immediate "Avada Kedavra," yelled by two wizards at once, sealed the fate of the fake Parvati.

Hermione heard Snape curse loudly, and then running footsteps indicated that the two wizards were leaving the room and running down the corridor...

"Get out, get out. It's over!" she heard Snape yelling at the other Death Eaters.

Hermione waited a moment longer, renewed her Disillusionment Charm and went to check that the Inferius was really destroyed. Satisfied and hoping that the other members of her team had made it out unharmed, she Disapparated from the bathroom in the Three Broomsticks.

A/N: My sincerest apologies to Jane Austen. The part between asterisks was shamelessly stolen. It won't be the last time.