From Wiltshire, With Love

Chapter 51

Group 1 Disillusion and Apparate to top row

Hermione glanced down at her Galleon and then over at Ron nervously. He gave her a smile of encouragement. Having been in more missions and raids than he could count, he wasn't nervous at all. She was. Being part of Order leadership meant she seldom participated in fighting, despite the rigorous combat training. She knew too much. In this case, she and Tonks were both here, wanting to ensure the Order wasn't falling into a trap.

Aside from that, Wembley Stadium was huge, and they needed everyone to comb it.

Despite the severe reservations she, Tonks and Remus had about this operation, Kingsley was outvoted three to two on preventing the suspected terror attacks. The votes were always anonymous, so no one knew it was Hermione who had voted with Kingsley. She could tell, they all thought it was Tonks who had sided with him.

But Tonks knew it was Hermione and said nothing. If she was surprised or disappointed, she didn't reveal her feelings on the matter.

Hermione agreed with Kingsley's reasoning. A terror attack of this magnitude would destroy the Statute of Secrecy. It would cause the international wizarding communities to get involved in a conflict which had remained confined to Britain, which would lead to upending Voldemort's tenuous hold on the Ministry. On top of all that, Voldemort knew the Order captured Macnair and likely suspected they were privy to his focus on Brockton Bridge and Wembley Stadium.

The whole situation reeked of bait to draw the Order out for a purpose they hadn't been able to identify.

But the risk if an attack couldn't be prevented pushed Minerva, Remus and Tonks to walk into the fire regardless. 90,000 potential Muggle deaths. Hermione had never made such a hard decision in her life and agonized over her vote. In the end, she sided with Kingsley, and felt terrible about it. She was relieved they were outvoted, and felt sick to her stomach at her decision.

Tonks had a team of Polyjuiced Order members scoping out Wembley Stadium and Brockton Bridge every day since.

No traces of magic could be found. No Death Eaters. No suspicious activity.

However, not just half an hour ago, Brockton Bridge had been destroyed in seconds by a series of well-placed Bombarda Maximas, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Muggles. Almost the entire Order was out patrolling Wembley Stadium now, which was in the process of being evacuated along with other crowded areas and government buildings.

As before, there were no sign of anti-Apparition wards. No sign of dark magic. No sign of magic, period, aside from scanning charms performed by the Order.

No sign of Death Eaters... so far.

She wondered where Draco was and what he was up to. Briefly she considered contacting him but worried that would get him in trouble, and left it up to him to contact her.

Wembley Stadium couldn't be destroyed as easily as a bridge. Hermione had thought it was a trap until Brockton Bridge was destroyed. Now she wasn't sure of anything, and her terror was mounting.

Hermione reappeared in the top row with a crack, still Disillusioned, scanning the stadium below her. It wasn't as chaotic as it could have been. The Muggles were evacuating according to whatever procedure the stadium had in place. However, Tonks had quickly figured out that with the tension and fear in the air, it wouldn't take much to cause a stampede. One or two Bombarda curses and that was it.

Hermione wondered if that was the plan. The noise in the stadium was deafening as people talked with each other, trying to figure out what was going on as they filed out. Hermione bit her lip, feeling anxious and waiting for something to happen. Hoping that nothing would.