Be Careful in the Dark

Sweat dripped down the side of her face and Hermione resisted the urge to wipe it away. The robes and mask she was wearing were ridiculously heavy. The sweat between her shoulder blades prickled. She shifted a little, trying to prevent her feet from making a sucking sound in the muddy earth. Intense rainstorms had pounded England over the past week and, while someone had cast a spell to keep the rain out, there was little to be done about the mud.

Around her, rows of dark robed figures watched the increasingly human looking Voldemort torture the Parkinsons. It was almost over. Voldemort had more or less satisfied his concerns that the Parkinsons hadn’t orchestrated their daughter’s disappearance twenty minutes ago. He was just having a little fun now.

Hermione repeated that a couple of times, fighting the rising tide of nausea. The past few months, Avery had solely been invited to soirees. While Voldemort had attended, he had not been orchestrating the events. Instead, he partook of what was offered. Only the inner circle was called to him for anything and the dissatisfied rumbles at the parties led her to believe it was not only Avery who had been left out. Voldie-butt was up to something and no one really knew what. This was the first time Hermione had seen what those soirees were attempting to ape. The Parkinsons screams had become whimpers and Hermione felt a surge of guilt that she was grateful. She would never be able to get that sound out of her mind.

The sibilant curses stopped and Hermione refocused her eyes. Voldemort stood with his arms raised. His black robes slipped down, revealing the morgue pale skin of his arms. “All that belongs to you, belongs to me.” He did not shout though his voice echoed in the clearing. His nose remained a slit and his eyes were oddly shaped. The rest of his face looked almost human. “Do not forget the promises you made or what you desire most. Power! Such power! Power as has not been seen for thousands of years.” He reached with his empty hand, stroking the dark mark on his arm. The whole audience moaned and shuddered. “Do not forget who you belong to.” He gave the mark another stroke and received another moan from hundreds of people. “WHO IS YOUR MASTER!?” He screamed the last sentences and, even from a hundred paces, Hermione could see the spittle fly.

Everyone dropped to their knees, Hermione a heartbeat behind them. As the fell, they screamed His name in one voice. They all genuflected, heads touching the earth. Even the Parkinsons clawed their way into position. Hermione groveled with the rest of them, sweat breaking out all over her body. This was new as well. I am in waaay over my head. Even when Snape had explained in the Order meetings, she hadn’t really understood. This was madness, utter madness. There was no other word for it.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she popped up, scanning around the clearing. Other Death Eaters were doing the same, smears of muddy earth on their silver masks. Voldemort dropped his arms and raised his wand. A low roar was the their only warning. Hundreds of Aurors poured out of the shadows of the woods around them, firing spells off. The Death Eaters scattered, screaming their own spells in return.

Hermione swore under her breath and dodged a spell. Avery’s body was portly and not particularly nimble. To her right, a Death Eater screamed and a spray of blood splashed across her mask. Hermione stumbled and fell flat on her face. She felt a tight band of panic tighten around her chest. She desperately wanted to take the mask off but couldn’t risk… couldn’t risk what? It didn’t matter. Hermione’s brain finally caught up with her and she tore the mask off. Sound poured over her and her scope of vision expanded. She took a couple of deep breaths. She needed to get the hell out of here before somebody killed her by accident.

She scuttled through the battle, diving into the mud a couple of times to avoid flying curses. To her right, an auror snarled "“Vitiosus Ventus!” at a Death Eater. The Death Eater reflected the spell back at the auror, who was hit by icy wind and knocked to the ground. Hermione tried to apparate but was unsurprised when the spell snuffed out. The anti-apparation spell had probably been what she had sensed just before the battle erupted.

Familiar howls of rage almost made her swallow her tongue. Was he mad? Turning her head to the left she saw Harry slicing his way through a dozen Death Eaters. The power surged off of him and he was screaming as if he wanted the attention of another dozen Death Eaters. Muttering under her breath, she rose from the ground and stepped carefully over the still body of a Death Eater. The blood and magic had made the muddier earth even more slippery.

Harry screamed something and five Death Eaters dropped to the ground, their hands over their ears. Hermione frowned. She hadn’t even understood the word he had used, let alone the spell. The Death Eaters on the ground began to throw their heads from side to side and then, one by one, began beating their own heads against the ground. Her stomach lurched. This was Dark Magic and Harry did not seem to care. His hair was wild, standing on end and actually crackling with magic. Even from fifty paces, she could see the whites of his eyes around his entire iris. He gestured with one hand and a Death Eater flew through the air, crashing into a tree. Harry hadn’t even used a wand.

Hermione dropped back down to the ground. She had been intending to help Harry but he seemed to be doing just fine on his own. She scrambled over the muddy earth, scanning the skirmishes in front of her. She was not intending to fight. Sooner or later, the Death Eaters would rally and try to break the anti-apparation spell. She wanted to be as far from the fight as possible when that happened. When she reached the tree line around the clearing, she looked back over her shoulder.

She could see Voldemort behind a shimmering shield. Most of the inner circle was with him. It was difficult to tell who was who under the masks but the cut of the robes and the shape of the masks of Voldemort’s favorites were slightly different. The Death Eaters inside of the shield appeared to be working on some kind of counter-spell. They were crouched down, in a circle, furiously carving something into the earth with their hands. One of them had clearly been struck by a fairly serious spell as part of his robe and mask had been burned away. Despite the burned fabric, he was uninjured, his skin so pale and smooth that it almost glowed under the all the magic and she could see a strand of snow-white hair that seemed to be tipped in black. The white haired Death Eater stood, motioning imperiously at the others. They stood, keeping their backs to the battle, and joined hands. The white haired Death Eater went to Voldemort and, with a courtly bow, gestured for Voldemort to join that circle.

There was something about his body movements that was so familiar. She knew it was a man, too. The itching, nagging feeling that she knew who she was looking at crawled under skin until her whole body itched. She wondered if that was Voldemort’s new right hand. She shook her head. She had other problems to think about at the moment. Problems such as getting the hell out of here, now. The inner circle was clearly planning a major spell and she needed to be as far away as possible when it was cast.

She risked a glance over at Harry. He was continuing to plow through Death Eaters like a knife through butter. Behind him, one Death Eater rose shakily to their feet. The wand rose, pointing directly at Harry’s back. Without thinking, she screamed “impedimentia!” The Death Eater froze, arm still stretched out, and then tumbled over like a block of wood. Harry’s head whipped around, staring first at the rigid Death Eater and then in her direction. She couldn’t help giving him a little wave and then turned, taking off into the woods.

She ran as quickly as Avery’s portly body would go. As she ran, she cursed under her breath. Avery was now useless as a cover. At least fifteen people had seen Avery help Harry Potter and the aurors had seen Avery’s face. Still, it wouldn’t mean much to have Avery as a cover and Harry dead or injured.

The magic under the protective dome was growing, pressing in on her until her eardrums hurt and her skin felt too tight. The spell was close to being finished and she could only hope it wouldn’t kill them all. She halted, trying not to trip as Avery’s large belly shifted uncomfortably. She held her breath and tried to calm her pounding heart. She had heard a familiar voice shout in fear. Hermione didn’t hear Severus’ voice again but another voice came, an angry voice, from somewhere in front of her and to her left.

“Bloody useless men.” She growled and began moving stealthy forward. After about twenty feet, the voices got louder.

“Traitor! I always knew it Severus! The Dark Lord with thank me when I hand you over to him.” The voice was deep and he shaped his words in such a way that Hermione knew he was a pure blood.

“Rodolphus, don’t be ridiculous. I missed, that is all.” Severus replied, silkily.

“The audacity! The nerve! To lie even now!” Rodolphus sounded even angrier.

LeStrange? As in Bellatrix’s husband? Interesting. Hermione peered around a tree and took the scene in. Under the light of Roldolphus’ wand, she saw an unconscious Death Eater and an auror. She also saw Severus lying on the ground. She would guess Rodolphus had knocked him there. He was propped up on one elbow and held the other hand up. Neither man wore his mask.

Hermione moved slowly out of sight and looked up. She closed her eyes. She could see only one real option and that was mostly a gamble. Rodolphus was a strong wizard and she was surprised to see him so far from his Master. With a deep breath, she stood.

“Rodolphus, what are you doing?” She said, her voice nasal and ingratiating. Walking through the trees, she held her hands up to show her wand was tucked away.

Rodolphus scuttled off to angle, covering both her and Severus with his wand. When he saw that it was Avery, he relaxed and stepped back to his original position. Hermione moved to his left but stayed a step behind him and kept a respectful couple of paces between them.

“Avery.” Rodolphus said with a sneer. Then he shifted his glance to the right as it occurred to him that Avery could be of use. “I caught Severus here, attacking one of our own to help that.” He pointed with his free hand at the unconscious auror.

Hermione lifted her eyebrows. “Severus, why would you do that?”

“Idiot!” Rodolphus screamed before Severus could respond. “He’s a traitor!”

“Avery, I just missed the auror. He went down before I was expecting him to and I hit the wrong person.”

Rodolphus snarled, “The auror was already down when you cast your spell!” He took another step forward, gesturing sharply with his wand. “I will take you to our Lord for judgment, traitor!”

Hermione opened her mouth to say something when Voldemort’s spell, as she expected, burst over them. Both the protective barrier and the anti-apparation spell came down at the same time. The sound of the rain pounded their ears and the water that had been held at bay by the Death Eaters’ spell plummeted down, a solid block of water. As the water hit, Hermione leapt forward and an eight-inch knife materialized in her hand. She drove the blade through Roldolphus’ ribs, slamming it into his heart. She pulled the knife free and jerked the blade across his throat. The body fell forward, partially landing on Severus’ feet. He didn’t move. He just stared at her, his mouth hanging open.

The rain was falling more normally now though it was still coming down in torrents. It was cold, barely a degree or two from freezing.

“THIS is why I’m more dangerous than you thought, Severus.” Hermione shouted through the rain and pointed at the body.

Severus’ mouth actually feel another inch as he figured out who she actually was. Then he grinned. She grinned back and apparated away.