Assassins

Chapter Nine

"All right," Hermione said, holding her hands up. "Enough of this. Let's all go and get something to eat, and then we can begin the training."

"I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not hungry," Ginny said, folding her arms across her chest and ignoring the angry look she was getting from Harry.

"Coffee," Draco said calmly, mirroring Ginny's stance. "I want coffee before we do anything."

"Well then, help yourself," Hermione said, gesturing towards the door that led outside to the walkway. Draco shrugged and exited the room, intent on getting what he wanted. Harry frowned at Hermione as he pushed his glasses up on his nose.

"Is this what it's going to be like every morning?" he asked, annoyed. "Because I don't particularly fancy a fight to start my day off."

Hermione gave him a stern look. "You're only fighting because you're both participating," she said. "It's not all his fault."

"He started it," Harry began. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Actually, Harry, I started it. You wouldn't get up, remember?"

"Yes, well..." Harry deflated, his argument stopped. "I suppose."

"So as soon as his royal highness gets back, we're going to start training, right?" Angelina asked. Hermione smiled at her.

"Yes, we are. And I hope we're all ready for it."

"I'm sure we are," Harry sniffled, flopping back down on the couch. Neville shot him an amused look.

"Speak for yourself," he said. "Unlike the rest of you, I haven't had much exercise in the last few years. I'm what you'd call soft."

"You'll acclimate soon enough, I expect," Hermione reassured him. "We're going to start off slow before we get too intense."

"Slow? As in, exactly how slow?" Ginny asked cautiously. Before Hermione could answer, though, Angelina wrinkled her nose.

"Does anyone else smell that? It smells like something's burning." Hermione and Ginny exchanged worried looks before rushing out across the walkway and heading towards the staircase. Harry and Neville jumped up and sprinted behind them, with Angelina nipping at their heels.

Hermione flew down the stairs, taking two at a time. She passed Ginny and ran ahead, reaching the kitchen first. As soon as she pushed the door open, a cloud of black smoke surrounded her. She coughed as she accidentally inhaled the smoke.

"Evanesco!" she shouted, pointing her wand at the smoke. Immediately the air cleared, and the sight of Draco lying unconscious on the floor greeted her. She felt as though the air had been sucked out of her lungs along with the smoke.

"What's going on?" Ginny asked, appearing at the doorway. She bent over and put her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath. Hermione didn't answer; she was sitting next to Draco with her fingers pressed to his wrist.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, panting. Hermione didn't look up.

"I'm checking his pulse to make sure he's still alive," she snapped distractedly.

"Why?" Harry muttered under his breath. Neville sighed.

"Is he all right?" Ginny asked breathlessly, causing Harry to turn and shoot a dark look at her.

"His pulse is accelerated," she said, deep frown lines creasing her forehead. "But the most important thing is that he's still got a pulse. Can anyone see what caused the smoke?"

"Looks like the coffee pot," Angelina said, nodding towards the offending appliance. Hermione turned and glanced at it, wincing at the blackened counter beneath it.

"It looks like there was a fire," Ginny said, confusion heavy in her voice. "Can making coffee the Muggle way cause a fire?"

"Making anything the Muggle way can cause a fire," Harry said, clearly amused. Hermione arched an eyebrow at him but remained silent. She stood and pointed her wand at Draco's motionless body.

"Mobilicorpus," she murmured. Draco's body lifted into the air, and the recruits followed her as she levitated him all the way back to the common area.

"The four of you wait here for me," she said quietly. "I'm going to take him back to his room, and then I'll be right back. There are some things we should probably discuss."

When she was gone from sight, Harry turned to Neville. "I don't think I like the sound of that. Do you?"

"She hasn't made eye contact with me all morning, so I'm not certain - but if I had to answer based on the tone of her voice and her facial expression, then no, it didn't sound good."

She was silent when she returned and barely looked at anyone as she motioned for them to follow her. She gestured to the couch and chairs and waited for them to sit down before she spoke.

"I was really hoping that we were all mature enough that this conversation wouldn't be necessary, but after last night's events-" Her eyes flashed in Harry's direction, who immediately turned red- "I see that obviously, it is."

"Hermione-" Neville started to speak, but Hermione raised her hand to quiet him. He clamped his mouth shut.

"I think it's imperative that we put things into perspective. Everyone who's lost someone at the hands of Voldemort or one of his Death Eaters, raise your hand."

One by one, each person slowly raised a hand into the air. Hermione nodded grimly. "Malfoy is no different. He's lost family and friends, as well. If I had to guess, I'd say that that was probably why Dumbledore chose each of you." She paused and watched their faces soften with defeat. "Do you see now that we're all working towards a common goal? Fighting between ourselves is the worst thing we could do right now. It absolutely ensures failure."

"But I can't just sit back and ignore him if he provokes me," Harry protested desperately. Ginny frowned, but said nothing.

"You can, and you must," Hermione said firmly. "I don't think he wants to fight any more than you do, Harry, and he's only been answering the challenges you've laid down for him."

"He doesn't need a reason to fight," Angelina denied, shaking her head at Hermione. "And you know that just as well as we do."

"He thrives on his ability to cause pain to the people around him," Neville agreed, his expression clouding over.

"Are you two talking about the man who's here with us right now, or the boy you went to school with?"

"People might change over time, Hermione, but no one is capable of changing that much after only a few years," Angelina said in a strong voice, still unconvinced. Neville was nodding in agreement.

"So when Fred died, it didn't affect you that much? And when those bastards killed your parents, you didn't change, Neville?" It was a low blow, and Hermione knew it even before the words left her lips, but she had to make them see. She ignored the angry looks that she imagined Ginny and Harry were shooting at her, and focused her attention on the other two.

"That's not fair," Angelina cried, her face crumpling in grief. "I actually cared about Fred!"

"And Malfoy isn't allowed to care about his parents, is that it?"

"Hermione, don't you think this has gone on long enough?" Harry interrupted, his eyes hard and cold. "You're not going to convince any of us, no matter what you say, and there's no use in putting Angelina or Neville through the wringer for it."

"We all want the destruction of Voldemort and the Death Eaters," Ginny added, her cheeks rosy in her heightened emotional state. "But that's no reason to force everyone to relive the pain. We get it, we all have stuff in common, and we all have a common goal."

Hermione stared shrewdly at her. "Oh, but I think it is necessary. You've all convinced yourself that Malfoy is less than human, just because he's an arrogant, self-serving arse, and it isn't so."

"Look, we all know your need to have everyone treated equally-" Harry began, thinking of S.P.E.W. "But Malfoy is different. He doesn't return the equal treatment, and besides, he doesn't deserve it."

"Every human being deserves it."

"Even Voldemort?" Angelina blurted. "Are you going to ask the Ministry to give him humane treatment when this is all over?" Hermione blanched.

"He's not human, and Draco Malfoy is not Voldemort. He's never even served him."

"We don't know that for sure. At the trial, Fudge seemed certain-" Hermione's sudden and unexpected laughter filled the room and echoed eerily off of the stone walls. Ginny's eyes widened in shock.

"Fudge is your credible source, Harry? Fudge, who did everything in his power to discredit you and Dumbledore? Fudge, who denied Voldemort's return for a year, allowing him to gain more support? Fudge?"

Harry's hands went up to his sides in an "I call it like I see it" pose.

"He's not his father! No one - not you Harry, not Ron, not even me - could ever prove he had anything to do with Voldemort, and you know it!" Her eyes narrowed in anger as she swept past each of them in turn. "All of you!" Neville cleared his throat.

"I'm not trying to change the subject, or anything-" he smiled weakly when Hermione shot daggers at him for interrupting. "But I have some questions, and I think that if we're to put our differences aside, then we deserve some answers."

"If you're going to ask why Dumbledore chose him-" Hermione started, visibly exasperated.

"No, I think you're right in your estimation about why he chose all of us, Malfoy included. Merlin knows he's a determined son of a bitch," Neville replied. Harry laughed out loud, and some of the tension seemed to ease out of the room. Neville gave his friend a crooked smile before continuing. "I'm talking about why we're here in the first place. I came here, no questions asked, but now I'd like to know exactly why and what's expected of me - of all of us." The others seemed to forget Draco entirely and turned to Hermione with looks of expectation.

"Before I answer anything, I want your word- all of you," she said, her eyes flicking past each of them in turn. "That you'll not provoke him, or anyone else; that each of you will remember why we're here and stop acting like five year olds."

Ginny nodded her head, as did Neville and Angelina. Harry, who hadn't made eye contact with anyone since the beginning of Hermione's speech, shrugged his shoulders noncommittally until he looked up and saw Hermione glaring daggers at him. He rolled his eyes and jutted his chin in response; a gesture that only Ron or Hermione would have interpreted as acquiescence.

"Are you satisfied that we'll all be on our best behavior?" Neville asked.

"Yes." Hermione's shoulders dropped and the hard lines that had been drawn on her face moments before were suddenly erased; her whole body seemed to relax as she swiped her hand past the spot on her hip where she'd been marked. Ginny noticed her movement and started to ask about it, but at that moment Hermione leapt to her feet.

"All right. I'm going to go get Draco." Her effort at setting a good example, calling him by his given name instead of his surname, "And when we're all here, I'll answer some of your questions. Keep in mind that there are elements that are on a need to know basis, and at this early stage, you don't need to know all of them yet." She glanced at her watch, irritated at the late hour. My whole schedule is off now!

Hermione turned and headed down the hallway towards Malfoy's room, ignoring the furious whispers that erupted behind her as soon as her friends believed her to be out of hearing range. When she was standing in front of Malfoy's door, she squared her shoulders resolutely and tapped on the door.

"Malfoy? Are you awake yet?"

"I should think you'd know how to operate a doorknob, since you're so very smart," came the reply. She rolled her eyes and ground her teeth together before forcing a neutral expression and opening the door.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Define better," he challenged from his spot on the bed.

"You seem fine to me," she muttered, folding her arms over her chest. "I'd like you to join us in the common area - there are some things that we need to go over."

"So one mishap with a Muggle appliance earns me a talk from you?" he sneered.

"No," she denied, feeling the stirrings of her temper again. "Everyone else has questions that they'd like answered, and I thought that you might like to be present so you could hear the answers, too."

"Unless you're going to tell me that you've decided to stock the kitchen with hard liquor, don't bother." Hermione sighed. She sat down in a chair opposite the bed and stared at Draco.

"What?" She was just a few feet away from him, her head in her hands, and he practically recoiled from her nearness. She cleared her throat.

"I'm not going to pretend that we're friends. We aren't - never have been, never will be - I know that." The sincerity in her voice was something he'd never heard directed at him before, and it caught him off guard. "But dammit, I really need all of you to work together on this. The others have assured me that they'll wipe the slate clean and act appropriately. I need the same commitment from you, Draco." As surprised as he was just seconds earlier, the sound of his name falling from her lips had a new effect. He couldn't place it.

"You know why I'm here. You give me what I want, I'll give you what you want. Malfoys are a lot of things, but we aren't liars."

"Will you try to get along with Harry and everyone else?"

"No," he said simply, narrowing his eyes at her. "Why should I?"

"They've all agreed to be civil and try to get along with you," she said, as though it were the most reasonable thing in the world.

"Yes, well, I imagine they'd say just about anything to stop your nagging," he remarked coolly. "But turn your eyes away for any amount of time, and you can forget their promise."

"They wouldn't do that."

He shrugged. "Believe what you want to."

"You're forgetting their Gryffindor sense of loyalty," she pointed out.

"Apparently you're forgetting that I'm not a Gryffindor, and I'm the one whose head is on the proverbial chopping block."

"They're not going to do anything with me around."

"You won't always be around."

"Fine, don't be friends with them!" she spat, exasperated. "Can you at least ignore them?"

"I promise nothing."

It was all she could ask for.

Draco rose and followed her wordlessly to the common area, where the whispers hushed as soon as he appeared behind her. Hermione sighed and watched him walk to the back wall and lounge against it, and the rest of the recruits remained silent. She cleared her throat.

"Okay," she sighed again. "Neville, you asked what was expected of all of you. I'm not sure that I can tell you exactly what you want to hear, but I'll tell you as much as I can. You've all been hand-selected for this project. Again, I don't know specifically why, but I can tell you that our main objective is to clear a path to Voldemort. The way Ron and I saw it, Voldemort is only as strong as his followers. We take them out, we have a clear shot at him." Angelina flinched slightly.

"And how are we to perform this miraculous feat?" Neville asked curiously. "Because you understand that it will take a miracle to find the scattered followers, right?"

"It won't take a miracle," Hermione denied, saying nothing more on that topic. "But you have to be ready when you face them, so you've been brought here to be trained in a number of areas."

"What areas?" Ginny asked.

"Spells, Potions, Flying, and-" she hesitated for a moment, and her eyes flickered towards Malfoy, who was examining his nails intently. "Muggle defensive strategies." Malfoy didn't move.

"What?" Neville asked, surprised. "What Muggle training could help us against Voldemort?"

"Martial Arts," she said quietly. "And firearms." Harry's jaw dropped and he stared at her, utter disbelief etched across his features.

"Firearms? You mean guns? Against Wizards?"

"Yes, Harry," she said patiently. "You know as well as I do that it will be unexpected, to say the least. Spells and potions they'll know how to counter against, but guns? We have an element of surprise there. And besides that, how many pure-blooded Wizards do you know who bother to meddle in the Muggle world to examine its weaponry, especially when they think Muggles are inferior to them in every way imaginable?"

"She has a point," Angelina murmured.

"Fine, so we know basically what methods you're training us in," Ginny said, gesturing impatiently with her hands. "Now I have a question. Why did you mark all of us, and why with the symbols we got?"

"I had nothing to do with the choice of symbols," Hermione explained. "The quill was enchanted to mark each of you, and it chose the symbols and the location of each of your marks, based on the personality characteristics it sensed in each of you."

"So that thing was able to look inside of us somehow?"

"Basically, yes," Hermione affirmed, nodding. "The marks were a joint decision by Ron and myself. They aren't just regular Wizarding tattoos, and they're definitely not just Muggle tattoos." Harry turned and glanced at Ginny, whose cheeks turned pink. "They're very special. Not only can we use them for undetectable transportation, we can also use them to communicate with each other, if need be."

"Whoa," Harry said, holding a hand up to quiet Hermione. "Undetectable transportation? What do you mean by that?"

"She means exactly what she says," Draco spoke up, his eyes still on his nails. Every pair of eyes in the room focused on him. "The marks serve as a permanent portkey." Hermione fought down the surprise that wanted to manifest itself in her expression, and simply nodded instead.

"He's exactly right. The marks are permanent portkeys, and if they're magically examined, will appear as nothing more than a common magical tattoo."

"And how do we communicate with them?" Ginny asked.

"We're going to have several training sessions on the use of the marks, so I won't answer that now. Any other questions?"

"Why are we trying to clear a path to Voldemort, instead of just going after the bastard straight away?" Angelina asked when everyone remained silent.

Hermione locked eyes with Harry. She raised her eyebrows - a silent question that she knew his Legilimency would uncover. He looked around the room at all of them, his eyes stopping on Draco. He shook his head 'no'. While Neville appeared to know what was going on, Angelina and Ginny both had expressions of deep confusion etched on their faces as they looked back and forth between Harry and Hermione.

Hermione sighed loudly, shaking her head at Harry. Finally after a few tense seconds, he cleared his throat.

"Because of me."

"Because of you?" Angelina echoed. "Why in the world would they hold up an attack on him because of you?"

"I suppose since no one else knows about this and we're supposed to be such a close group, I may as well tell you," Harry said, his voice wavering slightly. "There's a prophecy that speaks about Voldemort and myself."

"What does it say?" Ginny asked cautiously. She wasn't sure she wanted to know, judging by the looks that Harry and Hermione were wearing.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies." Harry recited it from memory, and Hermione's heart twisted inside of her chest. Everyone was staring at him now, except for Hermione and Neville.

"So, what?" Ginny asked, her voice taking on an edge of hysteria. "That means that either he dies, or-"

"Or I do," Harry finished for her. She paled.

"Longbottom was born at the end of July, too," a cool voice drawled. Harry, Hermione, and Neville all looked up in surprise at the blond, who was now obviously keenly interested in the conversation. "And his parents were goody two-shoes as well. How do we know the prophecy wasn't referring to him?"

"Dumbledore said that Voldemort chose me over Neville when he decided to come after me."

"Why would he choose you over Neville?" Angelina asked gently.

"Voldemort had a Muggle-born father," he explained, ignoring Malfoy's penetrating glare. "So Dumbledore thinks that he saw commonalities between us. Neville's parents are both purebloods."

"Why do you need us, then?" Malfoy spat suddenly. Hermione looked up at him in surprise.

"What?"

"Why do you need us? The prophecy is perfectly clear about Potter being the only one able to kill the bastard, so why do you need us?"

"We've been working for years to try and infiltrate his inner circle. Snape lost his life doing so." Malfoy moved suddenly, but Hermione was the only one who caught it, and she continued before anyone else noticed. "Dumbledore thinks that war will be over soon. He says that the signs all point that way, but if we can't even get close to him, there's no hope for our side. We kill the Death Eaters, leave Voldemort alone and friendless, and it puts Harry at an advantage for the battle between them."

She cleared her throat again, and looked appraisingly at Harry. They would do it for him. Hermione felt like she had been preparing for this her whole life. The fire crackled suddenly, drawing them out of the reverie.

"Well, that's a bit of happy news, right?" Ginny asked lightly.

"Did you think it would be otherwise when your brother approached you?"

"No, but it's different hearing it from you." Everyone except Malfoy began nodding their heads in agreement. He was back against the wall, and he appeared to be as bored as ever.

"Now I need to pass these out to all of you." She poked around in the large bag she had brought with her, and removed several bits of parchment. One by one she handed them to the recruits, and then she sat back down.

"You've got to be fucking kidding, right?" The parchments had Hermione's handwriting on them, neat and precise.

5:00 - 8:00 am Calisthenics

8:00- 8:45 am Breakfast

8:45- 9:00 am BREAK

9:00- 12:00 pm Magical Defenses (Spells/Potions)

12:00- 1:00 pm Lunch

1:00- 3:00 pm Muggle Training

3:00- 3:15 pm BREAK

3:15- 5:00 pm Defensive Training

5:00- 6:30 pm Meeting

6:30- 7:15 pm Dinner

7:15- 9:00 pm Free Time

9:00 pm Lights Out

"You scheduled everything?" Angelina asked, suppressing a smile. Hermione nodded.

"Structure is important when we have so much to accomplish."

"This is a fucking joke," Draco commented, tossing his paper to the small table that was positioned at the end of the couch. "Malfoys don't operate on schedules."

"They do now. More importantly, however, do they generally speak of themselves in the third person? Because I find that very annoying, Draco," Hermione said in a breezy voice as she marched around the room, checking their schedules for any mistakes. Ginny and Angelina stifled giggles at the blond man's visible irritation; twice he opened his mouth to speak, and twice he clamped it shut. Hermione's private conversation with Malfoy must have had some impact on him. The third time he opened his mouth, it was clear from the lines on his face that he was censoring himself.

"You can't seriously expect us to be up at five o'clock every bloody morning?"

"Not every morning. You have Sundays to yourselves."

"One day? That's incredible!" He sneered.

"What's incredible is the fact that you've known me most of your life, and the fact that I drew up a schedule still surprises you."

"She's got a point," Harry remarked, grinning broadly. Hermione didn't know what surprised the blond man more - that Harry had spoken amicably to him, or that he was smiling at him. In either case, it was perfectly clear that Malfoy was caught off guard.

"Of course, if any of you would prefer a religious service of some sort," Hermione began, glancing up to see if anyone wanted one. When no one indicated otherwise, she nodded. "No religious services, then."

"It's almost eight o'clock now," Ginny pointed out, studying her schedule. "Why did you offer us breakfast earlier today?"

"Momentary lapse of reason," Harry teased, smiling flirtily at Ginny. Ginny returned his smile.

"I'd forgotten," Hermione admitted. "I suppose it was my subconscious telling me to go easy on you for the first morning. Don't expect it to happen again, especially now that I'll be expecting all of you to commit the schedule to memory. I don't want to have to come and fetch you every time you're expected to be somewhere," she commented, letting her eyes drift towards Malfoy. He blatantly ignored her.

"Now, shall we all try this breakfast thing again? Draco and I will make the coffee."