The Dark & the Middle

Chapter 8

Hermione spent the next day talking with Kingsley about the Order's next move and helping in the medical ward. Ginny woke up at one point and told her about how she'd stared Graham Montague in the face and cast a crucio before being hit the a curse to the head ("But don't tell anyone or Kingsley will have me socially hung," she'd added with an eye roll). Hermione hadn't breathed a word about it, but she had laughed at the thought and wondered if Ginny could really be held responsible, seeing as she was one of the Order's best fighters and clearly Kingsley needed her to keep fighting.

After a very disappointing meeting with Kingsley where she'd been told she would not be joining the battlefield, but she should meet with the Death Eater spy and demand more information, Hermione left the camp site under the excuse of searching for a new safe house. Instead, she apparated a kilometre south of the base she'd visited the day before and pitched a good hiding spot where she could see everything that happened around the area.

She stayed there for hours, but saw nothing. Whatever wards they had around the area were clearly designed to keep up the illusion the place was abandoned. Nevertheless, she stayed after night fell and waited for a sign that there were Death Eaters there.

It got cold quickly and while Hermione was good with warming spells, they could only do so much for an extended amount of time. When the moon was high and she was shivering in the cold, she decided it was finally time to leave. She wasn't making any progress staying there and there was no point of catching a cold for no reason, so she hoped out of the tree she'd been perched in and brushed off her trousers.

She froze as soon as she looked up from brushing herself off. She almost wasn't sure, but she could have sworn something had rippled in the air in front of her. It wasn't the same as a ward going off and she knew she hadn't triggered anything, but something had shifted and she could almost feel the after effects of the magic surrounding her.

Something shuffled behind her and Hermione whipped around, wand raised as her hood fell from her head. A tall, cloaked figure raised his wand at her and they disarmed each other in the same, nonverbal spell. Their wands went flying, but rather than panic, Hermione charged her attacker. Shoulder down and elbow drawn tightly to her body, she barrelled into the wizard and sent him tumbling to his feet. He grabbed her cloak and yanked her down with him, rolling them over until she was pinned beneath him. Snarling, Hermione brought her knee up sharply and kneed him hard enough he released her hands. She rolled out from under him and with a nonverbal, wandless spell, she had vines twisting around his wrists and holding him to the ground. She yanked off his hood and summoned her wand, ready to kill whoever had attacked her but paused. Draco Malfoy was glaring up at her with a bloody nose.

"Get off of me," he growled, bucking under her to emphasize his order.

Hermione rolled off his chest and removed the spell that bound his wrists, but didn't lower her wand.

"What the fuck are you doing out here?" she demanded, pulling a twig from her hair and smoothing down the braid Malfoy had so kindly messed up.

"Saving your ass apparently," Malfoy replied, glaring at her as he brushed off his cloak. "You broke the wards I set up when you fell out of your tree."

"Why are you setting up wards around a Death Eater base?" Hermione asked. She didn't bother correcting him about the tree part; it was unlikely he'd believe her or care either way.

"So stupid Order members don't get caught poking around," he replied. She glared at him as he mumbled, "Didn't think it'd be you."

"I came to check out the coordinates you gave me," she said, stabbing a finger at him. Malfoy pushed her hand away from his face and got to his feet, not bothering to help Hermione to hers. Not that she would have accepted his help.

"Anyone could have seen you," he told her. He pulled his hood back over his head but Hermione pulled it back off with a flick of her wand. His glare returned. "You're foolish if you think you'll be able to see anything. The wards around this place are designed to prevent prying eyes."

"I figured that much out," Hermione grumbled, rolling her eyes. There was an uncomfortable silence before Hermione remembered what Kingsley had asked of her before she left. She'd have to take advantage of Malfoy's sudden appearance, she realised with a groan and said, "Kingsley wants more information. After the attack on headquarters, he's unstable."

"I don't know much more than you," Malfoy replied shortly. Hermione narrowed her eyes, finding that hard to believe since Malfoy was a well-known and highly ranked Death Eater. "This isn't a popular base; only the rookies stay here."

"Well "the rookies" destroyed our headquarters and if it weren't for Harry, I'd probably be stuck in some Death Eater prison," Hermione snapped. She didn't bother explaining about the incident with the tracking charm since he likely already knew about it. "Your rookies also had Graham Montague with them who almost killed Ginny."

While he didn't show it very clearly, Hermione could tell Malfoy was surprised to hear about the Montague part. She wasn't sure if Malfoy and Montague were even friendly, but she knew they knew each other. Malfoy was sure to know Montague was no rookie.

"All I know is," Malfoy said, glaring at her when she attempted to interrupt. "That someone spotted movement outside your safe house and ordered an attack. Whatever wards were set up weren't good enough to keep prying eyes away, so maybe you could learn from the Death Eaters. Your Order isn't going to win if you don't take a spell out of our book."

Hermione glared at him, but it wasn't because she thought he was wrong. Kingsley had overseen the ward set-up on Dortmouth and hadn't insisted on regular upkeep. Despite hating the idea of it, she knew Malfoy was right and that she really should take a page out of the Death Eater's book when it came to protective wards.

Biting her lip and cursing Kingsley to hell and back, she dropped her glare and with a tight voice, she asked, "Do you know how to make the wards?"

Malfoy raised an eyebrow at her and leaned forward, almost mockingly.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" he asked, smirking just enough that Hermione knew he knew what she wanted.

"The wards on this base and the others," she snapped. Her glare returned as he smirked and she asked, "Do you know how to set them up?"

"Are you asking for my help, Granger?" Malfoy teased. Hermione was certain she'd never glared at a person harder in her life than she glared at Malfoy in that moment. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you're asking."

"Show me how to set up the wards or I'll turn you in to the Order," she threatened. Malfoy's teasing grin fell and he sneered at her.

"You don't have to threaten me, Granger," he snarled, summoning his wand and pulling up the robe of his cloak. "I'm already on the Order's side."

"Good," Hermione said shortly, raising her wand as well. "Then show me how to set up the wards."