Wand-Leader & The Spy

42- Possession

The Weald, Kent, Britain, October 2nd, 1999, 08.42 hours

Wand-Leader Hermione staggered, holding her side. One of the creatures had hit her, and while her shield had saved her, she still had been flung away, and had landed hard on a rock. Even with her ribs numbed, breathing hurt. But there were still monsters to fight. Or at least to destroy. She would do her duty. She aimed her wand, and burned a shredded leg that was dragging itself over the ground. She looked around for Ron and spotted him moving towards her. He was unhurt, as far as she could tell, and he smiled widely when he saw her.

He embraced her, and she yelped with pain.

"You're wounded!" He sounded shocked.

"Just some cracked ribs," she assured him. At least she hoped they were just cracked. He didn't look very reassured. Before he could say anything though, they were interrupted.

"Hermione!"

She turned around. Cleo was there. Robe torn and stained, but she was walking. Hermione smiled at her friend. "Cleo! Is Benjamin…" she trailed off.

"Wounded, but alive," the Wand said. She looked at Ron, then around.

Hermione shook her head. "Dean and Colin died."

"Damn." Cleo stared at Ron.

"That's Ron. My boyfriend," Hermione said. "Ron, Cleo."

The two nodded at each other. The scarred Wand set another corpse on fire while Hermione vanished unmoving bits and pieces and Ron stuck a wriggling torso to the ground, then burned it.

"Hermione! Report!"

That was Sarah. The Wand-Commander didn't look hurt. Hermione stood straighter, winced, then clutched her ribs. "James' team was wiped out fighting those abominations and Death Eaters. I'm the last one alive of my own team. But Bellatrix Lestrange is dead."

The witch nodded. "You're wounded, get treated! Cleo, take two more Wands and scout towards the enemy's hideout!"

"I'll take you there," Ron said.

Hermione wanted to protest, but she was exhausted, and the pain was getting worse. So she nodded. Before they had taken more than a few steps though, she heard something that stopped both of them in their tracks.

"It's Dumbledore!"

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Albus Dumbledore had arrived at the end of the hostilities, or so it looked. The Wands he could see were cleaning up - burning the still moving remains of the abominations, and checking the bodies on the ground.

To his great relief, he also spotted Harry, together with Miss Weasley, Mister Weasley, and Miss Hermione, among the Wands. Sirius was there as well. Albus didn't see many of the other Order members who had been with the Wand-Commander, though. Which wasn't a good sign.

"Professor!" Harry exclaimed, loud enough to be heard over the storm's slowly fading noise, coming towards him. "We killed Bellatrix Lestrange. And dealt with her property."

Albus felt a weight drop off his chest. That meant that the sacrifices had been worth it. "I have dealt with the Dark Lord, though he is not dead yet." He patted his pocket.

Harry's expression grew grim. The boy understood. Before he could say anything though, the Wand-Commander approached.

"Did you defeat the Dark Lord?" the witch asked straight away.

Albus nodded. "I heard Bellatrix Lestrange was killed. What is our present situation?"

"The battle seems to be over. We're linking up with scattered teams, but there haven't been reports of Death Eaters or monsters so far. And the storm's weakening, so we'll have flyers up again soon."