Lion And The Snake (HermionexFemaleOC)

Chapter 27 : The Battle Part 1

An eerie calm. Posters of Harry -- "UNDESIRABLE NUMBER ONE" -- droop from every light post. Shops, shuttered at this hour, sit silently, shrouded in a thick fog. Only The Three Broomsticks evidences life, where yellow light and course laughter drift from greasy windows. Just beyond lies Honeydukes. The four of us apparated in the mist that surrounds the town.

Ron huffed. "Remind me again, why is she coming with us?"

I crossed my arms, glaring at him. "And here I thought we were on a first name basis?"

Hermione grabbed my arm. "My girlfriend is allowed to go wherever I go, from here on out. If that bothers you then I'm afraid you'll have to suck it up."

Ron swallowed harshly, shrugging. "I don't mean anything by it, just curious. Sorry mate." He looked at me as I shrugged him off. He will always be like this, won't he?

A scream rents the air. An inhuman shrill. The laughter dies inside The Three Broomsticks, as a mob of shadows fills the windows. Instantly, the four of us pelt for Honeydukes. As we close in on Honeydukes, Death Eaters spill from the Broomsticks.

"There! Right there!" A Death Eater shouted as we quickly turned on our heels, booking it into the mist.

Harry leads the way, running fast through the twisting streets, glancing down alleyways for signs of pursuers, the mist both friend and foe. Suddenly, a dark figure appears on the roof above and whistles. "I've got them! Down here!!"

We race down a side street and stumble into an alcove, lungs burning. "They were ready for us." Hermione whispers.

Suddenly beams of light break through the mist. "We know you're here, Potter. There's no getting away! Perhaps you need some convincing."

"What does that mean?" I whisper as Hermione gasps, pointing up to the nearby rooftop. Just above the rooftops, barely distinguishable from the night, Dementors drift like smoke. As Harry draws his wand, Hermione's hand covering his quickly.

"No, you'll give us away." She whispers to him. The night grows darker, the street lights dim. Our breath drifts visibly in the gathering chill. As the Dementors descend, I grimace, beset by bleak thoughts. A tear escapes Hermione's eye, trailing down her cheek as I reach up and wipe it away. She stares at me, filled with no hope. Finally, Harry couldn't take it anymore as he gripped his wand and turned around the corner.

"Expecto Patronum!"

A silver stag bursts from his wand and charges down the street, scattering the Dementors before vanishing around the other side of the Hog's Head Inn. "It's him! He's down there!" The Death Eater shouts. Footsteps clatter on the cobblestones. We glance desperately about when suddenly bolts grind, hinges squall and a door opens. A cat slithers out and a man appears in silhouette.

"In here, Potter." He speaks lightly and almost familiarly. We slip quickly past the man and inside. He gestures toward a rickety wooden staircase and brings a finger to his lips. We enter a room with a threadbare carpet and a small fireplace, above which hangs a large oil painting of a blonde girl with a sweet, but vacant stare.

I stepped over to a grimy window and peer down to the street, where half a dozen Death Eaters glance about in confusion. Hermione and Ron stood behind me, looking out the window to where I was looking and back and forth to each other as they stared at the man who rescued us.

"Did you get a look at him! For a second I thought it was-" Ron shuddered.

"I know." Hermione whispered to him as I turned back to her confused. She noticed my confused stare as she looked back to the old man. "He looks like Dumbledore, don't you think?"