Assassins

Chapter Seven

"Well, Jamison," Hermione sighed, uncrossing her arms and letting them fall limply to her sides. "I think you've finished for the day." The man frowned at her.

"But I thought ye needed me to mark seven people, lass," he puzzled. "'An I've only marked six."

"I thought we needed seven, too," she commiserated, rubbing her temple gently. "But it looks like I was mistaken."

"Well, if ye'll not be needin' me services any longer," he began. "Then again, ye might be needin' me, after all."

"What? I just told you-"

"I know, lass," he said, smiling. "But I think tha' lad might be the last one I need to mark." Hermione's head whipped around so quickly that she was surprised her neck didn't snap in the process. There, making his way slowly across the frozen grass towards her, was Draco Malfoy.

"Malfoy." Hermione gave him a short nod, and distracted herself from the butterflies that had sprung up at the sight of him by marking his name off the list she'd been keeping in the pocket of her robes. "Before you can be transported to the training facility, Jamison here will need to mark you-"

"Let's be clear about this, Mudblood, before you get all excited about being in charge, shall we?" His voice was thick and his slate eyes shifted to the large man she had indicated. Hermione knew right away that he must be drunk.

"Yes, let's." Hermione ignored the Mudblood comment in favor of establishing the pecking order. "I'm in charge, Malfoy. That's the bottom line. If you can't respect that, then you may as well go home."

"You approached me, remember? I could care less about your latest cause." He turned to leave, and Hermione realized just how difficult this undertaking was actually going to be. She sighed with impatience at his retreating back.

"Yes, under Dumbledore's orders, I recruited you. Had it been up to me, your name would never even have crossed my mind. I can think of hundreds of other qualified wizards better suited for the task at hand. Some of them actually don't drink all day, every day." She smiled knowingly when he turned back around. Doesn't like being called out, does he?

"Well then, you seem to be mistaken in your last comment, if it's Dumbledore's orders you're following, right, Muggle?"

"He picked the recruits and put me in charge of them. Oh, for Merlin's sake!" Malfoy had begun cackling at her and had fallen over. She withdrew her wand to perform a Sobering Charm. Immediately he clutched his head.

"You really piss me off when you do that, you fucking bitch," he snarled, clambering to his feet. Hermione narrowed her eyes at him.

"That's insubordination, Malfoy, and I won't stand for it. Not a bit."

"Maybe you'll sit for it, then," he hissed, drawing his wand. Hermione pursed her lips and folded her arms across her chest.

"Go on, then. If it will make you feel better, go ahead and hex me. Better yet, kill me, if you can remember the spell, you sodding drunk."

Draco's eyes narrowed, and Hermione flushed with triumph when his wand wavered slightly. "I'll not be your monkey boy, Mudblood."

"Nobody's asking you to be, you great bloody jackass!" she snapped, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Now put your wand away so Jamison can mark you and we can get the hell out of here!"

"Mark me?" Draco asked, frowning. He eyed the heavyset man cautiously. "Mark me how?"

"In the same way all of the other recruits were marked," she said, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Other recruits?" Draco echoed, glancing around. "I don't see anyone else here."

"That's because they were all sober and on time," she pointed out.

"Good for them."

"Can we get on with this? I don't have time for games."

"I'm not playing games, half-breed." He leveled his steely eyes at her, eliciting a small gasp from her lips, and for the first time, she had an inkling of perhaps why he'd been picked for the mission in the first place. "I'm here for one reason and one reason only - my home and my money."

"Are you really this stupid? First, that's two reasons-

"Oh, ever the fucking know-it all-"

"Second," she snapped, cutting him off, "I said I would get it all back, and I will. End of Story."

"I want a contract drawn up, signed by you and Dumbledore and King of the Weasels before I let even one of that fat man's fingers anywhere near me."

"I repeat: Are you really this stupid? In all of your pure-blooded wizarding glory, has the concept of a magical contract eluded you?"

"You mean that just because you said you would do it, you're bound by magic-"

"Yes! Now, can we move things along, please? I realize it's been a while since structure was a part of your life, but now you are interfering with my schedule, Malfoy. Jamison!" She called his name but jumped when she realized he was standing right next to her, having remained silent during she and Draco's tussle. "Give him the bloody tattoo already, and let's get on with it!"

"Tattoo?" Draco asked, taking a step back when Jamison approached him with the quill. Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.

"Yes, a tattoo. It's going to hurt like bloody hell, but only for a few moments. Then I'll be able to use it to transport you to the training location, and you'll be able to use it to communicate with the other recruits. Enough explanation - my patience is quickly reaching its breaking point!"

Jamison stepped closer to Draco, but the blonde took another wary step backwards. Hermione let out a growl and held her hand out. "Just give me the damned quill, already!" Jamison shot her a warning look, but handed the quill to her. When she approached Draco, he didn't move.

"Hold your hand out," she commanded. Draco stood perfectly still, ignoring her. "I swear to Merlin, Draco Malfoy, if you don't hold your hand out of your own volition, I will take it myself."

Draco stuck his hand out.

Hermione touched the quill to the back of his hand, then released it as it lifted into the air and circled him once. It stopped in front of the zipper on his jeans, and Hermione exhaled in frustration. "You've got to be kidding me," she muttered. Draco was staring at the quill.

"What's it doing?"

"Drop your pants." Draco's eyes flew up to stare at Hermione.

"What in the bloody hell-"

"The quill chooses the spot on your body that it deems most appropriate for the tattoo. Drop your pants so we can get on with it." Draco stared at her for another moment before a smirk tugged at his mouth. He began to unbutton his jeans, and Hermione turned away in embarrassment.

"Never thought you'd be so hard up for it," he said, nearly laughing. In the next moment, however, his breath was stolen away as the quill went to work. When the quill had finished, it returned to Jamison's hand. The burly man approached Draco with a moistened cloth, and Draco retreated slightly.

"What exactly does he think he's going to do?"

"He needs to clean the wound," Hermione explained, her back still to Draco.

"Like hell he will," Draco swore.

"Well I'm not going to do it!" Hermione snapped. There was a brief pause, then, "What does it look like?" Draco shot an incredulous glare at the back of her head.

"What do you mean, what does it look like? Don't we all have one?"

"Everyone has been marked, but not with the same symbols."

"Oh," he digested this bit of information with interest. Then, "What did everyone else get?"

"I don't know," she lied crossly. "Just tell me what yours looks like."

"Did you get one?"

"I-" she stuttered for a moment, and then took a steadying breath. "Yes."

"Why did you hesitate?" he asked, not bothering to refasten his pants.

"I didn't," she said defensively. He arched an eyebrow at her. "Will you just tell me what it looks like, you stupid prat?"

"Turn around and look for yourself," he drawled lazily. "If you're so fucking interested."

Hermione bit her lip and turned around slowly, hating the heat that rose into her cheeks at the sight of the tattoo marring the pale flesh of his left hip. She blinked in surprise. Apparently the quill had seen fit to mark him in the same spot in which it had marked her! He noticed her surprise and narrowed his eyes at it.

"What? Is something wrong?"

"No - nothing is wrong," she said, shaking her head.

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

"What is it?"

"It's a flail and crook. An Ancient Egyptian symbol."

"Oh," he said, peering down at it. "What did it mark you with?"

"A Sesen."

"A what?"

"A lotus flower."

"Where?"

"Same place you got yours."

"Let me see it."

"Absolutely not!" she huffed, her eyes flashing again. "It's time to go."

"Granger," he drawled, his face the very picture of calmness, "I'm not fucking well going anywhere until I've seen your mark."

"Why do you care? These tattoos are for our protection and communication. The location is hardly the most interesting thing about them." Draco stared at her, unmoving.

"You really are nothing more than a spoiled brat whose toys have been taken away!" She couldn't remember ever being this angry before in her entire life.

"Sticks and Stones, Granger - now get on with it, or we might as well settle down here for the night with the circus freak for company." He gestured to Jamison, who began charging at Draco. He stopped when Hermione said a few well-chosen words in what sounded very much like a series of grunts. After a moment, Jamison disapparated. "Was that troll that you were just speaking?"

"He's a half-breed," she explained, nodding. "And you're lucky he didn't take your head off just now."

"Yes, yes, I'm lucky. Now it's your turn to drop your pants."

"If I show you, will you shut up already?"

"Maybe," he said noncommittally. She rolled her eyes and slid her fingers beneath the waistbands of her slacks and her knickers, then tugged down slightly. She winced as the fabric brushed the still sensitive mark. Draco craned his neck to look at her mark, and he smirked as she let her garments snap quickly back into place.

"All right, you smarmy bastard, are you satisfied? It's time to go."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"This can't be the right place," Angelina said, staring at the grey stones of the building in front of her. The frigid wind whipped all around them, and the sea looked like it might up and devour the island, and them along with it. "It just can't."

"Well," Neville said, shrugging. "It is deserted, after all - and who would ever think to look for us here?"

"Neville's right," Harry agreed. "Hermione is wicked clever to have chosen this spot."

"But Azkaban?" Angelina persisted as they stepped over the threshold.

"Ang, it's been deserted for years," Ginny explained gently. "There's nothing and no one in here that could possibly harm us."

"I just can't believe that we're going to train here," Angelina sniffed, trying to look disdainful instead of apprehensive.

"What I'm wondering is who the last recruit is," Ginny commented, squinting her eyes to peer into a darkened corner. Harry turned to Neville.

"Did you catch a name, Nev?" he asked. Neville shook his head.

"I think Hermione must be catching on, because a lot of things were very vague today," he said, giving Harry a meaningful look. Ginny stopped squinting into the corner and turned her head to stare at Harry and Neville.

"The two of you are being very odd," she commented. Harry grinned and Neville turned his eyes away. "There's something that you're not telling us."

"But there's nothing that you're not telling us," Harry said cryptically. Neville laughed as Ginny frowned at Harry.

"You're being very ambiguous," Ginny remarked, still eyeing Harry. "We're all going to be together for a while, so why don't you just tell us what it is that you're hiding?"

"Hiding?" Harry asked, feigning innocence. "Why, whatever would make you think that I'm hiding something, Miss Weasley?" Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Fine, don't tell me. But I'll find out sooner or later. I'm good at that."

"Why don't we concentrate on something else?" Angelina asked, her eyes flitting to and fro in the dim light of the room they were in. Ginny frowned in concern.

"Ang, are you going to be all right?"

"I will," she said decisively, although Ginny wasn't convinced. Angelina was shaking, and Ginny doubted that it was from the chilly wind that occasionally blew through the room.

"Wait - do you hear something?" Neville asked, freezing where he stood. The other three stilled their movements and listened.

"I do," Harry said, his eyes lighting up. "I hear footsteps."

"But do you hear one set, or two?" Neville puzzled.

"Two," Harry said positively, turning his eyes back to Neville.

"Harry? Ginny? Neville? Angelina?" Everyone relaxed as Hermione's familiar voice called out their names.

"We're down the hallway," Ginny called back. A moment later, Hermione stepped through the doorway and smiled tiredly at them.

"I take it that everyone arrived in one piece," she said, brushing an errant strand of hair away from her face with the back of her hand. "And now that we're all here, I'd like to introduce everyone to the last recruit." She turned and waited for him to come through the door, and the other four turned their eyes in the same direction.

When the blonde man stepped through the doorway, all hell broke loose.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

The blue lights from the hundreds of candles set around the enormous, stone room cast an eerie glow over their faces. Those who knew him well would say that the Dark Lord had arranged them this way intentionally; he liked to instill fear, even in small doses. Yet the Death Eaters, who were watching with depraved glee as the hooded figure twisted and turned in midair, held there by the Dark Lord's wand, the candles were all but
forgotten.

"And do you know where these special people have been taken?" he asked in a high-pitched, slightly amused voice.

"No, my Lord. Weasley sent them away just this afternoon." The Death Eaters began laughing as the Dark Lord shouted the incantation that made the figure scream in agony. After a few minutes, a frown appeared on Lord Voldemort's wasted face.

"Do stop crying, I have no patience for tears or the weakness they represent."

"I'm- I'm sorry, my Lord. I will try to find out where they've gone, but my d-"

"Silence!" he hissed and the room grew instantly quiet.

"I see from your feeble mind where your information comes from, and it would serve you well to be more aggressive in your quest for information. Pretend that your life depends on it." His high, cold laughter filled the room, the cue for the Death Eaters to join in.

The figure suddenly stopped spinning and fell with a loud thud onto the floor as Voldemort flicked his wand.

"Not just your life, either. I'll have the heads of your precious family mounted on that wall." He used his wand to point at the decaying wall behind him and the hooded figure began to whimper uncontrollably.

"Crucio!"

The death eaters laughed as Voldemort continued to torture the informant. When it appeared that the hooded figure had passed out from the pain, Voldemort turned to one of the loyal servants at his side.

"Do tell me that our other spy is having more luck in finding them?"

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"You can't be serious," Angelina squealed.

"Malfoy?" Ginny gasped, the color draining from her face. She snuck a glance at Harry, who was wearing a stony expression. His lips were so tightly pressed together that they formed a white line. Neville, for the most part, looked surprised but bored. Ginny wondered how any person could manage such a combination of expressions.

"You've gone round the twist, Hermione Granger!" Angelina declared.

"Stop," Hermione said fiercely, holding her hand up to reinforce her command. "I know that you don't get along with him, any of you, but now you're going to have to look past your differences. He's an important part of this team, and we need him to succeed."

Draco lounged back against the crumbling stone wall and looked totally disinterested at the conflict he was causing.

"Look past our differences?" Ginny echoed, her eyebrows shooting up in disbelief. "I think it's a little bit more complicated than just differences, Hermione."

"You will all work together as the team you were meant to be, and that's final," Hermione said, raising her voice slightly. "Dumbledore chose him for a reason, and even if no one is sure why, he knows what he's doing!"

"Sometimes I wonder," Neville muttered under his breath. Hermione shot him a severe look, and he averted his eyes.

"Fine. Now that we're all here, we can begin the training. We have a lot of work ahead of us."

"What?" Harry asked, finally turning his attention away from Malfoy. "We just got here, Hermione!"

"Why don't you let us rest for tonight, and we'll work tomorrow?" Ginny begged, her large cinnamon eyes pleading. "I don't know about everyone else, but the spell that brought us here really took a lot out of me."

"I think it's a good idea, too," Angelina offered.

"I don't know," Hermione said uncertainly. "We have so much to cover, and I wanted to get an early start."

"Please, Hermione?" Neville joined in. He knew that they had won when Hermione's shoulders sagged.

"All right, tonight you can have free time. But after tonight, don't expect to have it again anytime soon. We have too much to get done. Follow me, and I'll show you where you'll be staying."

Harry and Neville paired off and began following Hermione, and just behind them, Angelina and Ginny linked arms and began walking. Draco, alone and apparently ostracized by the other four recruits, followed much farther behind at a leisurely pace. Hermione led them outside across an open pathway secured by a parapet, and into another part of the prison. Once inside, she turned to face them.

"To the left are the men's sleeping quarters. You'll find that three rooms have been secured, and in the interest of fairness, your names are all posted on small, non-removable plaques outside the doors. Same with the women - we're off to the right."

"Where's the loo?" Ginny asked.

"Go back the way we just came, but at the fork you'll turn left instead of right, and they'll be directly in front of you."

"You mean we have to walk outside to get to the loos?" Angelina asked, surprised.

"You'll manage, I'm sure," Hermione said warmly, sensing Angelina's unease. "The loo is rather large, but since it's the only one in this wing, everyone will have to share it." She ignored the groans of protest and continued. "I've charmed it to be a bit bigger, but I couldn't make any other modifications due to the wards I had to use, so there's only one shower. We'll come up with a schedule later so everyone knows when they can use it and there aren't any conflicts. Questions?"

"Is there anything like a common room nearby?" Angelina asked tentatively.

"Of course," Hermione said, smiling weakly. "It's a dining area, as well as the room we'll be using for meetings and such. You're to report there every morning at six o'clock precisely."

"Six?" Ginny asked, sighing. "No more sleeping in for me." Harry nudged her gently with his elbow.

"Time to toughen up, Weasley," he teased, his eyes sparkling. "Playing for Holyhead has made you go soft." She rolled her eyes playfully.

"Yes, and owning the Tornadoes made you a badass," she retorted. Harry's jaw dropped momentarily, and then he was guffawing.

"All right, you two," Hermione interjected. "One last thing - meals. For security reasons, we couldn't afford to have any house elves or any other sort of servants. Food is stored in the kitchen, which is in the basement of the building, and you'll have to go down there and serve yourselves."

"What?" Harry asked, his eyes wide behind his round-rimmed glasses. "We have to make our own food?"

"If anyone needs help," Hermione said, ignoring Harry. "Then Harry and I would be more than happy to show you how to work the stove, oven, and microwave."

"What about domestic spells?" Angelina asked hopefully. Hermione shook her head.

"No. No unnecessary magic. And not in the halls, either. You will not use magic at all unless instructed to do so by me."

"Won't the electricity being used here raise some suspicions?" Harry queried, arching an eyebrow.

"I've already thought of that," Hermione said simply. "No, it won't. Certain precautions have been taken to prevent that from happening. Now that you've all been debriefed, welcome to Azkaban." With that, Hermione shot them a weak smile and headed to her room.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Draco eyed the room he'd been assigned, and almost breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't big, but it was cleaner than his own flat. He reclined on the small bed and closed his eyes. It would be nice to get some sleep in such a quiet place; he was used to his neighbors having music and the telly turned up at all hours of the day and night.

Lying there with the waning light streaming in through the small window, he began to wonder who had occupied his cell before him. Perhaps it was that insane relative of his mother's that he'd heard vaguely about. Or maybe it was one of his father's fellow Death Eaters - or perhaps Lucius himself. In any case, he suddenly found that the skin of his arms had broken out into gooseflesh.

"Malfoy?" a steady voice called from the other side of the door. He sighed. He'd been here less than thirty minutes, and already the idiots were beginning to plague him. He stayed silent, hoping that the voice and the person it belonged to would get the hint and go away.

"I know you're in there, you great bloody pillock. Just let me in already." Draco opened his eyes in annoyance. Obviously the person wasn't going to get the hint - he'd known that Weasleys were thick-headed, but really, this was ridiculous. He sat up and crossed his legs at the ankles.

"If you're so fucking smart, then you know how to open the damned door yourself, Weasel."

The door opened, and Ginny glared at him as she stepped into his room. "I thought that in the interest of being polite, I would knock before I just barged in. Then again, I don't suppose that you know what polite means. You never did."

"Really," he drawled, already bored with the conversation. "If you wanted to try your hand at insulting me, you could have just waited and done it tomorrow in front of everyone else. That way when I completely embarrassed you with my own comebacks, I could at least get some gratification from knowing that other people heard me."

"I didn't come here to insult you," she snapped, frowning. "I came here to say that I hope you'll put our differences aside for now and help the team do what we need to get done."

"So it's to be a pep talk, then, is it?" he asked, arching an eyebrow. "You can tell Granger it didn't work."

"Hermione didn't send me in here," she replied, shaking her head. "She's actually busy talking to Harry right now, so she doesn't even know I'm gone."

"Come for a quick shag with the bad boy while the good boy's back is turned, eh?" he asked, his voice laced with amusement. She pulled a face at him.

"In your wet dreams, maybe," she replied hotly.

"And what makes you think I'd have wet dreams about you?" he snarled, his lip curled. Her cheeks flushed pink.

"I can see now that this was the stupidest idea I've ever had," she said, her chest heaving with angry breaths.

"You know, I think that that's the most intelligent thing that's ever come out of your Muggle-loving mouth," he observed coldly. "So now that you realize the error of your ways, why don't you leave?"

"Why don't you make me?" Ginny snapped, her hands flying to her hips. Draco felt the irritation welling up inside of him, making him feel as though he might implode from it. This was the last thing he needed.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Hermione had barely slipped into her old flannel pyjamas when the door to her room burst open.

"Oh - sorry," Harry said, pretending to avert his eyes modestly. She frowned and turned to face him, forcing a smile.

"It's all right, Harry. Did you need something?" Harry shut the door behind him and folded his arms across his chest.

"Yes, actually. I'd like to know exactly why in the hell you saw fit to put me and that arse under the same roof together."

"I didn't do it," she said, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "Why doesn't anyone understand that? I didn't choose the recruits - Dumbledore did! And don't think that you're the only one who's questioned his judgment in this case!"

"Can't we trade him for someone else?"

"No, Harry, we can't. I know I can't expect much from him in the way of behavior, but I did at least hope that you'd be an adult about this." Harry narrowed his eyes at her and studied her for a moment.

"He's being paid for this," he said flatly. She blinked, and then nodded, turning her eyes away from him.

"In not so many words, yes."

"Why was he offered compensation, when no one else was?"

"Because it was the only way we could get him to say yes, and Dumbledore wanted him, so we did it."

"You did it, you mean."

"Yes," she said, swallowing with difficulty. "I did it."

"What exactly are you giving him?"

"His home and his father's money."

"What?" Harry's arms dropped and his eyes flashed. "Hermione, those things were taken away because of his father - you can't just give them back!"

"It was the only way," she said miserably, sitting down on her bed and dropping her face into her hands. "We needed him, and I did what I had to do."

"Can you even get those things back for him?" Harry asked curiously. Hermione peered up at him, misery etched on her face.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I asked Ron to talk to his father about it, and he said he would - but Arthur isn't supposed to know anything about this project."

"Why not?" Harry asked, sitting beside her.

"Safety precaution. If we're found out or if something goes wrong, Ron and I will take full responsibility for everything. It's a way to protect Arthur."

Harry stared at her intently for several minutes. Then, "You aren't sure if Ron spoke to his Dad about it, are you?"

"I really wish you'd quit doing that," she said acidly. "No, I'm not sure. There, now you know everything."

"If Ron said he'd do it, he'll do it, Hermione," Harry reassured her. Her shoulders sagged.

"I know - I know you're right. I just can't help but wonder - he was so opposed to it, Harry."

"Try to put it out of your mind for right now, love," he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "We've got bigger things to worry about."

"You're right again," she said, smiling sheepishly. "Do you think I was too harsh on everyone out there?"

"Not at all," he said, squeezing her shoulder gently. "You're a leader now, Hermione, and you have to be tough to get the job done. I think you're doing just fine."

"Thanks, Harry."

"Now I think I'm going to go and find Ginny - I want to ask her about that Muggle tattoo," he said, a grin splitting his face. Hermione smiled back.

"Mind if I come with you? I'm rather curious about it myself."

"Not at all," he said, rising from her bed. He gestured grandiosely towards the door. "After you."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"Look, littlest Weasel-" His hands were clasped behind his head and he had closed his eyes out of frustration. "There's only one reason I allow women into my room, and if that's not the reason you're here, then just piss off already."

Ginny continued to stare at him, her hands firmly on her hips. Having six older brothers had taught her nothing if not how to get what she wanted.

"Fine." He was off the bed in a flash, and standing just inches away from her. "Is this what you want?" He was so close Ginny could feel his chest heaving next to hers.

"You don't intimidate me, Malfoy. You never did," She said harshly, taking a step backwards.

"Then why are you trying to get away?" He placed a bony hand on her shoulder just as the door to his room opened.

"What the fuck is going on here, Malfoy?" Harry's eyes moved from Ginny flattened against the wall to Malfoy's hand on her shoulder, and a noise that sounded like a growl rose up from his throat.

"Calm yourself, Scarhead. Weasel here was just leaving, weren't you?" He turned back to Ginny and arched an eyebrow at her.

"Ginny, what are you doing in here?" Hermione appeared from behind Harry and her eyes widened as she took in the scene.

"I was trying to extend an olive branch to the ferret-" Now it was Draco's turn to growl. "But he's flatly refused it." She moved away from him and stood next to Hermione and Harry.

"You call that an olive branch? Perhaps if you had removed your knickers at least..." Draco began to laugh, and didn't notice as Harry lunged at him.