Third Time's a Charm

Chapter Six: Draco's Mistake

After many unsuccessful nights of watching, Hermione finally decided to split her team up so that they could watch six houses a night. This still left over thirty houses unobserved, and she realized that her options were to explain her ideas to Violet Quisenberry so that other Aurors would be assigned to help her, or she had to figure out some way to narrow down the number of Aurors she needed to watch if she wanted to catch the Serpent Eaters at work. She vehemently did not want to tell her superior anything, partly because Quisenberry bore the brunt of Hermione's anger with the entire Auror Division for not being as saintly as Hermione had previously thought they were, and partly because Hermione knew that her ideas were only half-formed, and Quisenberry might laugh them off and tell Hermione to have her team go back to regular assignments. Hermione had the power to change her team's assignments when she had a hunch--part of her job was investigative--but she had no power over other teams, and those above her could veto her plans. She took the risk that she might eliminate the next house the Serpent Eaters would show up at, found out which Aurors worked the same shifts as Atalanta Dark, and watched them exclusively. There were five who worked with Atalanta, ferrying prisoners and visitors back and forth to Azkaban.

Every member of Hermione's team watched a house, except for Hermione herself, who took turns partnering the others. When she was with Tony, Gwen contacted her over a silver bracelet spelled by the Department for two-way communication.

"Four people, all masked, just went inside. Do you want me to go in?"

"No, you're too outnumbered. Wait for Tony and me to Apparate over. And contact the others."

Hermione and Tony Apparated to Gwen's side, with Clarence, Viola, and Michael appearing shortly after.

Michael was practically bursting with excitement. "You were right, Hermione, you were right. We can catch 'em and bring 'em in!"

"Don't get too excited," Hermione said, though she was pleased with herself and practically shaking with nerves as well. But she didn't let it show.

They went in different entrances, hoping to surround the dark wizards and end the whole thing quickly and easily. It was a mistake. Gwen and Tony had taken the back door with Hermione, while the others went in through the front. Hermione didn't see the others again until later, when backup teams found them dead in the front room where they had went in. Later, Hermione realized that they probably weren't prepared for the dark wizards to be waiting right there, wands drawn, when they opened the door.

Hermione, Gwen, and Tony made their way silently to the bedroom. Two wizards were there, cutting a piece of hair from a man in what was obviously a charmed sleep, but the other two Gwen had said were inside were nowhere in sight.

They were fast with their wands, just as fast as the Aurors. Gwen and Tony immediately started dueling with the two dark wizards so that Hermione could go find the others, but by the time she reached the door, Tony was dead and the wizard he had been dueling with came after her.

She heard Gwen scream and drop. Hermione could hardly believe what was happening. "Expelliarmus!" she yelled. "Petrificus Totalus!"

But by then the other Serpent Eaters had come in and she was outnumbered four to one. The wizard who had followed her dodged her spells, grabbed her wand hand and her chin, and forced her head up.

"Kill her, Draco."

"No, we'll let this one live, I think," he said.

"Why?"

"More Aurors will be coming soon. These ones underestimated us, but I don't want to meet the rest. Come on, we're going."

Hermione waited for the backup teams.

~~~

Except for missions, the Serpent Eaters and Voldemort did not venture outside the borders of Hag's Hill. They knew what happened in the outside world only because Emma subscribed to the Daily Prophet, and it was still faithfully delivered to her by Owl Post every morning. Draco, Emma, Blaise, and Vincent were wanted by the Ministry of Magic, as Draco had known they would be as soon as Gregory Goyle was captured. Voldemort couldn't leave because he was having a difficult enough time existing in one place. He was growing weaker without a body as the days wore on. Once Vincent asked him why he didn't share a body with an animal or one of the Serpent Eaters, and Voldemort said that he couldn't share a body--didn't Vincent think he had tried? He couldn't get a good grip on the body, and the other soul would push him out, even if inadvertently. He needed his own body to regain his strength and his legendary power.

Emma and Blaise had dated nearly every other Slytherin at Hogwarts but each other, and were now embarrassing Vincent by making up for the lost time all over Hag's Hill: in their bedrooms, outside, in the library, and sprawled across couches in the living and sitting rooms. When not indulging their pent-up hormones, they dueled and practiced curses on rabbits and birds in the overgrown gardens outside, and on bats they found in the empty towers. Vincent dutifully practiced curses with Emma and Blaise and learned more spells from them than he had ever learned from his professors at Hogwarts. He was becoming quite proficient at dark hexes.

Draco spent his time with Voldemort. It kept him sane. He had thrown his life away--his shot at living a respectable life as the rich and privileged Malfoy heir. He had felt he had to do it, because with the Wizarding world in the state it was in, Draco could never have the kind of power he wanted, and he could never practice the kind of magic he knew was his birthright. The Wizarding world needed to change its Muggle-loving ways to stay alive, and Voldemort was the one Draco knew could successfully institute the change, with the right support. Draco would be that support. Wherever Draco was--outside when there was a cool breeze, or in front of the fireplace in an otherwise dark room, or pacing the length of the library, Voldemort was there, assuring Draco of the kind of power he and the others would have, soon. They discussed plans, and Draco drank it all in.

When Draco and the others came back from their mission, Voldemort knew immediately something had gone wrong.

"What happened?"

Emma answered. "Some Aurors showed up. But we killed them all." She smiled.

"Was the mission successful?" Voldemort demanded.

"No, but there will be other times. I'm starved; let's go find something to eat, Blaise. Vincent, you can come if you want," Emma said.

"There won't be many more chances," Voldemort wheezed. "Yes, go find yourselves nourishment."

Draco stayed.

"Something is troubling you, Draco."

"No. No, sorry, I was just distracted. I'm going to go eat with the others."

"Wait! I can tell when you are lying to me. Something is bothering you. What is it?"

"I--" Draco stammered.

"Yes?" Voldemort's voice urged him on.

"We didn't kill all the Aurors. There were six. We killed them all except for one."

"You were outnumbered and none of yours were injured, while they were almost eliminated. I'm pleased." The spirit of Lord Voldemort was a velvety purple light in the air that Draco could see, and it advanced on him, covering his chest, drawing the truth out of him.

Draco spoke very slowly, but he couldn't help saying the words. "She's alive because I...I...told Emma not to kill her. I recognized her...I knew her, in school."

"That is a weakness," Voldemort concluded. "Is there more?"

"She's...a Mudblood."

The pressure on his chest grew heavy and frenzied and the wisps of Voldemort grew more tangible for just a moment, causing a gentle ripple of pain across the skin and muscle of Draco's torso. He wondered if it was Voldemort's anger flowing into the air with no body to stop it, or all the Cruciatus a bodiless spirit could cast. Surely Voldemort wanted to punish him for the brief weakness that had compelled him to leave Hermione alive.

"I am disappointed, but since what is done is done, we must take advantage of the fact that you were close to an Auror. Tell me more about her."

Draco told him everything he remembered.

"Do you know where she lives?" Voldemort asked.

"I can find out," Draco said.

"Good. You, and choose one of the others, prepare to seize her and bring her back. She may be very useful in carrying out our plan. We don't have much time; she can speed things along."

~~~

Hermione had boxed up her grief for her fallen teammates in a far corner of her mind, to be opened at a much later date. Her court martial was held in a briefing room in the Auror Division. Violet Quisenberry appointed the three presiding officers: Carl McKinney, from the Office of Magical Law Enforcement; William Jones, an Auror who was also Gwen's father; and Dannon Dagmar, from the Department of Mysteries. Violet Quisenberry was the only audience.

When Hermione entered the room, Quisenberry was sitting in the back, and the other three sat in the front. Carl McKinney nodded his greeting at Hermione, and looked eager to get on with the court martial. William Jones, in his golden Auror robes, sat with his arms across his chest, and Hermione thought that Quisenberry had been cruel to both of them when she chose him to be part of Hermione's judge and jury. And of course, wearing robes of an electric blue shade that Hermione had never before seen on wizards' clothing, there was Dannon Dagmar, who smiled at Hermione. She thought he must have only done it because he smiled at everyone, even people who led their teams to slaughter. But she was grateful for the calming effect of the friendly face and, for once, the meddling that must have put him there.

Carl cleared his throat and stood up. "I will be speaking on behalf of the tribunal today. Hermione Granger, you are on trial for leading an unauthorized mission and for causing the deaths of the five Aurors who were with you on that mission." Hermione knew full well that if no one had died, they had captured one or more of the Serpent Eaters, or at least found out what they were up to, there would be no court martial. But as things had been such a disaster, if the Auror Division wanted to continue handling its own affairs with no interference, Violet Quisenberry could not turn a blind eye to what Hermione had done, nor did she want to. Hermione herself did not want to get away Scot free, so when Carl asked her to tell them what had happened, she did so plainly and did not try to defend her actions. Then he asked her the obvious question: Why were they at the Auror's house and how they knew the Serpent Eaters would be there? When Hermione told them her reasoning, a strangled, disbelieving noise escaped Violet's throat.

"Well, I think we'll take an hour lunch break before we reconvene and decide what to do with you. We'll have an elf fetch you when we come to a decision, Miss Granger," Carl said.

It didn't take them long to come to a decision. Hermione took her lunch in an empty break room, avoiding the dining hall where all the other Aurors would be eating. Shortly after she was finished, she was summoned back to the briefing room. Carl told her what they had decided.

"You are, by your own admission, guilty of causing the deaths of the team you were entrusted to lead because of your reckless behavior--while you were on a self-appointed mission. Because of reasons, make no mistake, you should have reported to your superior when you first realized them. You are hereby demoted from team leader status, and you will no longer be allowed to work on the field. Now, this means, basically, that you will be doing administrative work inside the Auror Division for the rest of your career. However, we agree that if you choose, if you want to leave the Auror Division, you may work elsewhere in the Ministry with no repercussions from your--er, misconduct inside the Auror Division. You have twenty-four hours--" he looked at his watch, "That is until one thirty-six p.m. tomorrow afternoon, to make your decision. This tribunal will now disband, and you will of course inform Violet Quisenberry before the end of the twenty-four hour period should you choose to resign." Then he said, to the other officers, "Well...that went well, I think."

Hermione was confused. She caught the twinkle in Dannon Dagmar's eye, which was more than a little reminiscent of Dumbledore. He walked alongside her in the hallway. "Professor. Well--Mr. Dagmar, that is."

He nodded. "Yes, just plain Mr. is fine now."

"Work elsewhere in the Ministry? What does that mean?" Hermione asked.

"Miss Granger, you were quite foolish. Just like a Gryffindor, I suspect some would say. There is, after all, a reason the Serpent Eaters have eluded us for so long, and you underestimated them. There was a bloodbath the last time we encountered them, and so there was this time. But the fact remains, you, when no one else could, figured out where they would be. Now, it was pure extrapolation and perhaps a bit of luck was involved, but you belong in intelligence. I don't think fieldwork--or administrative minutia--is quite your calling. I expect you will receive an offer from the Department of Mysteries soon."

There was a pause before Hermione gathered her thoughts. "You're saying you want me to be an Unspeakable, and you've arranged it. I don't deserve that. I think--"

Dagmar interrupted her. "You are indulging yourself in self-pity and guilt. Now, there is still a war to be fought, and you can best help not by filing papers but by providing intelligence and information to those on the front lines. Do not think too hard about it, just do what you know is right to do."