February 2003
Grimmauld Place was quiet and sombre.
One of the major safe houses had been compromised. It had housed several significant figures in the Resistance, members of DA and the Order. They still weren't sure what happened. A patronus from Alicia Spinnet had burst into Grimmauld Place in the middle of the night. By the time the Order could mobilise a response, whatever had happened had mostly ended.
It hadn't even been a Death Eater attack. Hags mostly and werewolves. The house had been overrun with them. According to Ginny, it had been quite literally crawling with hags, more than a hundred. Many of the survivors brought back to the hospital were missing too many internal organs to be healed.
Alicia Spinnet, Dedalus Diggle, Septima Vector, and about thirty other people had died.
It abruptly shattered the high spirits that had been buoying the Resistance. In the process of trying to recover the survivors, Kingsley and several other members of the Order and Resistance used Dark Magic in order to force their way into the house.
It had resulted in an explosive argument between Harry and Kingsley afterward. The whole house was on edge.
The next week, when Hermione returned to the shack alone, she walked in uncertain of what would happen next. The room was empty. She stood waiting nervously.
Draco apparated in a minute later.
They stood staring at each other for several minutes. He ran his eyes over her, cataloguing her appearance in a way that was habitual at that point.
She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what was going to happen.
"I brought practice knives today," Draco said as though the past two weeks hadn't happened.
"Oh."
He pulled them out of his robes. One of the knives was small, the same size as the set he'd given her for Christmas. The second was larger.
He pressed the blade into his hand demonstratively. "They have wards on the tip and blade; they can't break the skin. Although they can bruise."
He tossed the smaller knife to her.
"Knives are growing increasingly common in the field. Hags regularly carry them. Death Eaters are beginning to pick up on the trend. They're decent backup if you lose your wand."
Hermione examined the knife, running her finger along the edge that appeared razor sharp but felt more like the handle of a piece of cutlery.
"It's difficult to win in a knife fight. Even if you survive it."
"I am aware," Hermione said stiffly. She'd treated knife injuries with increasing regularity during the last year. As far as non-Magical injuries went, knives were the worst. Mangled internal organs, severe blood loss, punctured lungs, hemorrhage. Like severe slicing hexes, but always more ragged and difficult to close.
"I imagine you are." He had not met her eyes. Not once. Since the moment he made the Vow, his eyes had dropped away from hers. "We'll start with deflecting attacks. Then I show you how to attack with yours. Use non-lethal hexes to try to stop me. Your goal is to drop me before I make contact, or to deflect it if I get within range."
He walked toward her. "In order to avoid a knife attack, you should use your opponent's weight and momentum against them. If they're lunging, dodge and try to disarm them."
He demonstrated several techniques in slow motion; showing Hermione how to grab his wrist, guide it safely past her body, and then try to twist the knife free.
