Endlong into Midnight

CHAPTER THREE
The Place of Rains

They left just after dark the next evening, stopping in the City to pick up the Wolfram & Hart team. All, except for Illyria, were carrying small bags, which fit in the magically expanded boot perfectly well. A brief discussion about seating ensued, mainly because Wesley maintained that Angel and Spike could not sit next to one another. Finally, they ended up with Remus on the right front in the driver's seat, Hermione in the middle, and Ginny in the passenger seat, with Spike behind Ginny, then Wesley, Illyria, and Angel behind Remus.

After that, there was some argument about which site they should visit first, mainly between Angel and Spike. Hermione wasn't quite sure exactly what they were arguing about, as each appeared to be suggesting the same thing in a slightly different manner. From the look on Wesley's face, Hermione gathered this was fairly common.

Ginny solved the discussion by holding up the map, closing her eyes, and randomly jabbing at it with her wand. She opened her eyes and frowned.

"Wiltshire," Hermione said.

"Malfoy central," Ginny said, with great distaste.

"Who?" Wesley asked.

"Our Minister for Magic," said Hermione, "and his son."

"Great bullying snotrag and a little toadying snotrag," Ginny said.

Remus said nothing, merely turning the car south to begin the journey.

Later Hermione would decide that on her list of Least Favorite Car Trips, this one was number two, behind the one at age seven where she'd gotten sick on holiday and spent most of the trip home in the back curled up in a ball with stomach cramps. Angel and Spike spent most of the trip, once they passed the Orbital, arguing about who would win in a fight, astronauts or cavemen. Wesley had an exquisite look of unease on his face and Illyria spent the trip staring in some fascination out the window.

She and Ginny spent the trip staring at the map and trying to decide where the dot was precisely, finally deciding that it was somewhere near Bath. Remus agreed that Bath was as good a place to start as any.

"The Order's got some contacts in the area," he said. "They may know something about where Voldemort's been hiding the Horcruxes."

About halfway to Bath, Remus slowed the car, put the tip of his wand to his temple, and then waved it out the window. A silvery bear shot out of his wand and headed southwest.

"They'll be waiting for us," he said.

The second half of the trip was as arduous as the first. The constant bickering from the backseat gave Hermione a headache.

"You're so wrong," Spike was saying. "Completely wrongheaded. I don't even know how you got around to thinking that way."

"Spike. I thought we agreed that cavemen always won."

"Well, yeah, but where's the fun in that? Always more fun arguing than there is agreeing."

Angel sighed, as did Hermione, but he didn't respond to Spike.

The rest of the trip passed in silence, for which Hermione was grateful. Remus drove them through Bath to a house on the southwest side. As he pulled into the driveway, the front door opened and a tall wizard came out to greet them.

"Lupin! Can't imagine what brings you out this way. Aren't you normally up in the smoke? Aah, company! Welcome, welcome," he said, delivering this monologue as everyone peeled themselves out of the car.

"Good evening, Dirk," Lupin said pleasantly. "I'll make the introductions once we all get inside."

"Aah, no problem, no problem," Dirk said. "Come on, this way, everyone."

They trooped as a group into the house, squeezing into the lounge. Hermione took out her wand as soon as she cleared the door and started putting up wards. She noticed Remus and Ginny doing the same. Once the wards were up, Lupin turned to Dirk and shook hands. "I appreciate you helping us on such short notice," he said. "I'd like you to meet the rest of my team. This is Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, Angel, Spike, and the one in red over in the corner is Illyria."

Everyone, aside from Illyria, waved or offered some version of "Pleased to meet you."

Dirk offered his own wave. "Dirk Cresswell. Used to head the Goblin Liaison Office until they sent me to the Centaur Office in favor of some Death Eater a couple of years ago. Figured it was good enough to take my pension and go back to the old family home. Glad to be able to help you all out in any way."

"I do have one request," Lupin said. "Have you anywhere that's sunlight-proof? We've got some sensitive things we need to store."

"Aah, sure," said Cresswell. "Not a window in the cellar. Whatever you've got, it'll be safe down there. Three bedrooms upstairs, so you all can spread out however you wish. Just me rattling around here anymore."

Angel nodded slightly at that. The group spent a few minutes unloading luggage and deciding how to apportion the bedrooms, but eventually had it sorted. Angel seemed restless and said he wanted to go patrol the city, but the rest of the group repaired to the lounge to talk with Cresswell.

Once they were settled in with tea, Remus started the questioning. "Have you seen any abnormal Death Eater activity?"

"Aah, sure, sure," Cresswell said. "Town's all over Death Eaters, has been for years. Doing what Death Eaters do, of course, and the councillors are frantic. Blaming it on 'fringe elements'. Keep my head down and the only time we run into each other is when I go for a pint down the pub."

"Do you ever hear them talking about anything?"

"Sometimes they're planning what Muggle-baiting to do next. Hear some of them complaining about 'that old hole'. Sometimes they're yapping as young men do. Pub talk."

Hermione tried to dredge up her southwest England geography from her junior school education and couldn't remember any sort of caves.

"Do they say anything about where 'that old hole' might be?"

"Afraid not. Seems to be a couple miles out of town. Sorry I don't know more."

Remus subsided.

Unexpectedly, Spike spoke up. "Look, I used to be evil, and I know something about hiding things, and it sounds like Voldemort's got our trinket down in this hole. Now, when I was hiding things, I always put a guard on 'em. Of course," he added, "people usually found my things, but at least the guards gave 'em a bit of fun."

"So, Spike?" Wesley asked.

"So, I'm saying we go looking for a guard. Sounds like they're not too hard to find in town here. There's got to be something that will make them talk. And we could probably take one in a fight."

"Don't be so sure," Ginny said.

Spike looked slightly miffed. "I'm just saying."

Ginny and Spike continued to bicker, but Hermione tuned them out. She was desperately trying to remember something.

Ron and Harry had made fun of her all through Hogwarts for it, but Hermione simply loved to learn and often spent her spare time in the acquisition of knowledge. She was, after all, the child of two learned people who considered the encyclopedia proper toilet reading material. At Hogwarts, this love of learning had manifested as a desire to read the largest tomes in the school library. These days, it meant she spent her precious few free hours browsing the accumulated public knowledge that was the internet. Hermione would read almost anything if she could learn something from it.

It was true that most of what she picked up was about the Muggle world, which made some wizards a little dubious of her computer and reliance on Muggle ways. But Hermione lived in the Muggle world and was the child of Muggles, and so she gladly absorbed information about that world.

Something she had read at one time was bothering her, tickling at the edge of her memory. A big hole. Near Bath. Something, a few years ago . . .

She turned to Cresswell, who was watching Ginny and Spike fighting with an amused look on his face. "Have you got a computer?" she asked.

Cresswell's face crinkled with confusion. "Eh?"

"Or a phone book?"

"Eh? You mean a fellytone? Arthur Weasley was telling me about one of those. No. Don't truck with those Muggle gadgets. Don't work, mostly."

Hermione checked her mobile, which she had brought out of habit, but it was showing the usual gibberish that meant there was too much magic around.

"Have you thought of something?" Remus asked. Ginny and Spike shut up, looking interested.

"I've remembered something," Hermione said, "but I've got to look it up. Can I . . ."

Lupin dug in his pocket and handed her his keychain. "Be sure to refill the petrol."

***

A combination of luck and directory assistance led Hermione to a twenty-four hour internet café, where a bored-looking university student sat behind the counter, reading a comic book. A handwritten sign on the counter read "£7 an hour cash only". Hermione managed to pry instructions out of the university student as to the location of the nearest cashpoint and trotted off to pull out some cash.

Hermione was lucky enough to be receiving a stipend from the Order of the Phoenix. Harry had, in a fit of guilt, bequeathed the entire Black fortune to the Order. She and Remus and a few other people were paid out of this. Hermione's wizarding Galleons went into her GringottsBank account (GringottsBank being the Muggle branch of Gringotts, the wizarding bank, which was run by goblins) and came out the other end as Muggle pounds. It was far easier for her than having to go to the Gringotts branch in Diagon Alley every time she wanted to get money. Bill Weasley, who was the head of GringottsBank, had told her once that there were Muggles who had accounts at GringottsBank, totally unaware of its wizarding origins.

Money safely in purse, Hermione returned to the internet café and started work. Fourteen pounds later, Hermione had found what she was thinking of, complete with map. She printed a few pages, at 50p a page, logged off the computer, and paid the attendant (who had to be woken from an impromptu nap.)

Stopping at a petrol station along the way, Hermione returned to Cresswell's house.

***

Angel still hadn't come back when Hermione arrived, but rather than make the group hold to his schedule, she elected to tell them what she had found out and fill him in later.

"I've found it," she said, greeting the assembled group.

"Really," said Wesley, looking impressed.

Brandishing her papers, Hermione started to tell them about where she thought the Horcrux was hidden. During the Second World War, with the war raging only the English Channel away, the threat of an invasion by the Germans had been very real. In response, the British government built a series of bunkers, shelters, and ammunition depots, all aimed at protecting the island if the Germans ever came ashore. One of these was a massive, sprawling underground complex called the Monkton Farleigh Underground Ammunition Depot. Today a security firm was using a small part of it as a storage vault, but for the most part it was silent, dark, and untouched by teenage vandals.

"It goes on and on for miles," Hermione said. "Still in its postwar condition. There's segments people haven't set foot in for fifty or sixty years. I'd bet, I'd just bet that Voldemort has the Horcrux in there somewhere."

"Interesting," Lupin said. "Yes, I'd say you're probably right. Good work, Hermione."

Wesley looked a little skeptical. "And how do you propose we get in there?"

"There's several entrances to the tunnels," Hermione said. "Locked, but --" She made a swishing motion like she would with Alohomora. "Muggle locks are susceptible to the Unlocking Charm."

"And how are we going to find the thing?" Spike asked. "I mean, if this thing goes on for miles we could be down there for days."

Hermione exchanged a look with Remus. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," he said. "We can check the site tomorrow."

Shortly after that, the wizarding contingent decided to retire for the night. The room allotted to Hermione and Ginny had only a daybed, so Hermione conjured a camp bed for herself. Hermione was just starting to drift off to sleep when Ginny said, "Do you really think this will work?"

It took Hermione a moment to restart her brain. "This?"

"You know. The finding the Horcruxes. These Muggles. Do you really think we can beat Voldemort?"

"I don't think we can beat Voldemort, but I think we can weaken him enough for Harry to beat him."

"Harry? Beat Voldemort?" Ginny laughed skeptically. "Have you visited Harry recently? I stopped going because I couldn't stand to see him that broken. Oh, that's right," she said, as if she had suddenly remembered, "you're trying to fix him. Because now it's convenient and you need him. Have you ever considered that he might be past fixing?"

In truth, Hermione had, but had dismissed the thought as paranoid. "Yes," she said, "but I really think he can be fixed. You don't know Muggles, Ginny, you don't know how good they are at fixing people like Harry. He was strong before he got like this, you know that. The Muggle medicine will at least help him get back to the way he was. He should be better by the time we finish getting these Horcruxes. And then we can finish this thing."

"Do you really think getting rid of Voldemort is going to end this?"

"I have to. But more than that, I know what's going to end this. We're going to have to rebuild the world so that this can't happen again, or that the chances of it happening again are less."

"Rebuild one thousand years of wizarding history. Well, if that's all it's going to take."

"I didn't say it was going to be easy," Hermione protested, and even in the dark she could feel herself blushing. "The right thing isn't always the easy thing. I'd say the right thing usually isn't the easy thing."

Ginny sighed. "You sound like Professor Dumbledore."

Hermione felt herself turn a deeper pink. "I'm not nearly as clever as he was."

"I wish he were here. Somehow, I think we wouldn't be in this mess if we had him."

"No," said Hermione, glum, "we probably wouldn't be. Good night, Ginny." And she rolled over and fell asleep.

***

Hermione awoke early the next morning, too nervous to really sleep well, and went downstairs to find Angel and Remus chatting at the kitchen table while Cresswell made toast. The shades were pulled on all the windows. Angel had a mug of something dark and thick in front of him; Hermione politely avoided saying anything about it.

". . . didn't find much," Angel was saying. "In Los Angeles there's always someone on the streets willing to talk with a little persuasion. But I hardly saw anyone when I was out patrolling. No vampires either." He frowned.

"Aah," Cresswell said, piling toast onto a plate. "Not wise to be out after dark here. Never know when a Death Eater might be looking for a bit of fun. This end of town's a little safer, but not by much."

Lupin looked up over his cup of tea and gave Hermione a small smile. "Good morning, Hermione. Sleep well?"

"As well as can be expected, thanks." She took a seat at the table.

"Have some toast," Cresswell said, putting the plate on the table. "Got plenty."

Hermione took a slice and started spreading strawberry jam on it. "So you were out patrolling last night?"

Angel grunted. "Thought I'd get the lay of the land. It's been years since I've been to Bath. And I hoped I might hear something about this Horcrux we're looking for."

"Well, I did some research last night," Hermione said, and briefed Angel on what she'd discovered last night. Angel listened, staring fixedly at his mug.

"Makes sense," he said finally.

"We were planning to check the site today," Remus said. "See if we could confirm Hermione's suspicions."

"What, and leave us behind?" asked Spike, popping into the kitchen. "Well, that hardly seems fair, having all the fun without us."

Remus exchanged a glance with Hermione. "We have ways of transporting you both in there."

Hermione nodded. She, Lupin, and Ginny were all rated for Side-Along Apparition, although she didn't like it much. Ginny was probably the best at it.

"We'll go later this morning," he continued. "Give Ginny some time to sleep."

Hermione snorted. "Ginny will sleep all day if you let her."

***

It took some work to rouse Ginny, but around eleven, Remus, Ginny, Hermione, Wesley, and Illyria set off for Monkton Farleigh in the Nova. After a certain amount of driving around in circles and arguing over which landmarks were which on the map, they finally managed to find one of the entrances into the districts. It wasn't much, just a dilapidated old barn with a bright red roof.

"This is it, you say, Hermione?" Lupin asked.

She nodded. "I'm sure."

They filed in through a doorframe that was missing its door and looked around for the entrance. Looking up, Hermione saw that the roof was more sky than roof.

"Here," Ginny said, turning towards the left end of the building. The barn butted up against a wide, arched tunnel that had been bricked in a few feet in. A steel door set in the wall had been pried open and had trash piled in front of it so it couldn't be opened.

Wesley looked at the graffiti covering the gray bricks, a mix of adventurers and teenagers announcing their presence. "I thought you said the vandals hadn't gotten to this."

"The deep level areas," she said. "Of course they've done all the stuff that's easy to get to. But Voldemort wouldn't hide the Horcrux up this way because of that."

"Shall we get in already?" said Ginny irritably. "There's no telling who or what saw us come out here."

Remus led the way down the tunnel, followed by Hermione, with Ginny taking up the rear. Carefully, they picked their way down the stairs, avoiding what debris they could. The tunnel gave almost immediately to darkness, causing Hermione, Remus, and Ginny to hold up their wands and whisper, "Lumos!" nearly in sync. The ends of their wands lit and Wesley raised his eyebrows.

"Useful," he said.

"We should get Angel and Spike," Hermione said, looking around.

"Ginny and I will do it," Lupin said. "Wait here, Hermione."

The two of them Disapparated with an echoing crack, leaving Hermione, Wesley, and Illyria in a small circle of light from Hermione's wand. Wesley, who hadn't seen anyone Disapparate before, was looking a little poleaxed. Illyria was as hard to read as always.

"They'll be back shortly," Hermione said. "Apparition is terribly useful."

"I'm sure," said Wesley. "There have been times when I could have used the ability to pop out of a fight."

"So what do you think of all this?" Hermione asked.

Wesley looked around. "I think you're right, that this is an excellent place to hide things. You say it's guarded?"

"Most likely. They'll probably be further in, though. They wouldn't want to be seen by the few visitors this place gets."

Looking thoughtful, Wesley asked, "How do your kind -- wizards -- fight? It can't be all throwing punches. Have you got magical weapons?"

Hermione waved her wand. "Our most powerful magical weapon is this," she said. "There's a variety of --"

She was interrupted by the loud, simultaneous cracks that were Ginny and Remus returning with Angel and Spike, respectively. Angel looked stoic as always, but Spike was shaking his head. "That's quite a trip," he said. "Let's try and not do that again, shall we?"

"It's how we get around and it won't hurt you," Ginny said tartly.

Spike started to retort, but Hermione began speaking again. "Well, it won't hurt for those two to know this, Wesley. Wizards fight with wands and curses," she informed the Muggles. "Physical combat is rare -- the Death Eaters don't like getting their hands dirty. Wesley, the curses will affect you the same as they do us, but I don't know how they'll affect you, Angel and Spike."

"Easy way to find out," said Ginny. "Spinosus!" With a flick of her wand, she sent a Stinging Hex at Spike.

"Ow!" he said, waving his hand, which had a raised red welt.

"It'll go down in a couple minutes," Ginny said. "I didn't hit you that hard."

"Well, all right," Hermione said. "So we know they can be affected by some curses. Death Eaters play dirty," she warned. "There are three curses we call the Unforgivable Curses. They'll use all of these and more. One of them is the Cruciatus Curse. Crucio is the incantation. It causes intolerable pain in the victim."

Hermione shuddered. She had been put under the Cruciatus Curse in one of her battles against Death Eaters. The depth of pain was hard to describe. She had felt like she was burning inside and out with no way to stop the flames while her every bone broke and grated within her. It was like being put through a meat grinder while on the rack. The Cruciatus still gave her screaming, sweating nightmares that made it hard to go to sleep again after she'd had one.

"Another is the Imperius Curse," she continued. "Imperio is the incantation for that. It lets the caster control the victim. The last is the worst, the Killing Curse. Avada Kedavra."

"From the same root as abracadabra," Wesley said, frowning.

"Not quite that benign. Avada Kedavra kills on contact," Hermione said. "It can't be blocked. Watch out for that one. They will try to use it."

There was a moment of silence while the Wolfram & Hart team processed that. Finally, Remus asked, "Is everyone ready to go? In we go, then."

The group proceeded down the entry tunnel, Hermione checking her map and using Point Me a few times to figure out where in the complex they were. At the bottom of the shaft they picked their way through the debris, old tires and scrap metal, that had been hurled down the tunnel. They regrouped near a small booth still bearing some of its wartime paint underneath a layer of graffitied arrows and slogans. Hermione gestured them into a huddle to examine her map.

"We're here," she said, pointing to a small section a ways off from the rest of the complex. "I doubt the Horcrux is in here. Judging from the material online, people have explored this section fairly thoroughly. They've also explored down this entrance, this entrance, and this one," she said, pointing to entrances at the north, east, and south. "Some of these sections have been sealed off."

Remus studied the map thoughtfully. "You're sure we can get into the main section from here?"

"Mostly."

"I think this is our best bet," he said, indicating a section to the south.

"It's as good a start as any," Wesley said. "Let's go."

Hermione took the lead, the group sorting itself out behind her, with Remus at the rear of the group.

The journey through the ammunition depot was one of the stranger walks Hermione had experienced. They walked in a bubble of light created by the wizards' wands, with the light falling off into shadow when they passed side tunnels. Ventilation ducts and electrical wiring ran across the ceiling, sometimes twisting off to follow tunnels or jutting out to rejoin the main duct. Debris littered the floor in sections, and in some spots light rail tracks were left behind. As they walked, the colorful graffiti of the higher sections gave way to wartime signs prohibiting smoking and spitting and offering directions to the nearest shelter. Every now and then a fluorescent arrow painted by a previous explorer would guide the way.

Mostly they were silent. Ginny breathed, "This is weird," once, and there was a muffled curse from Wesley once as he stubbed his toe on some debris. The sounds of dripping water echoed through the complex, competing with the sounds of their footsteps. The air was heavy and dusty and smelled of wet and mold. At one point they passed a small office, still painted cream and green on the inside.

Hermione led them through the district, finally coming upon the long tunnel that led down to the rest of the facility. The concrete and carved rock of the district gave way to a rough bored tunnel, shored up in spots with corrugated iron, making their footsteps echo oddly in spots. The slightest rustle caused shivers and jumps.

Hermione had totally lost track of time as they crept along the passage, although she was able to catch them up on the map as they had to squeeze through a hole torn in a wall to pass to the next district. She considered suggesting that they explore this district, since it was here, but discarded that idea. Remus was probably right about the location of the Horcrux, and there was no need to waste time down a side passage.

Finally, somewhere between the side district and their destination, Ginny stopped. "I've had enough of this," she said. "Let's make sure we're heading the right direction." She brought up her wand. "Accio Horcrux!"

A jet of orange light went rocketing along the corridor in front of them.

"I daresay we probably are," Wesley said, with some dryness.

Remus looked at Ginny, more amused than anything. "Wanting a fight, Miss Weasley?"

"Anything's better than this," she muttered, relighting her wand. "I've had enough of this."

The group continued in the direction Ginny's spell had taken, still finding the passage deserted and dark. Finally, Hermione wasn't sure how much time later, the passage stopped at a brick wall.

Remus looked politely confused in the light of his wand. "I thought you said we could get through to the main section."

Hermione was confused herself. "They did." Then it hit her and she groaned. "In 1988, which is when the team did their big exploration."

Eyeing the wall suspiciously, Spike asked, "So are we thinking this is Voldyface's handiwork?"

"Most likely," Remus confirmed.

Ginny aimed her wand at the wall. "Reducto!" she said, and then had to duck as the Reductor Curse ricocheted back at her. The curse blasted a hole in the wall behind her. "Oops," she said, turning to look at the damage.

"Reparo," Hermione said, waving her wand at the hole. The rubble flew back into the hole and it sealed over as if no damage were ever done.

"No, brute force won't do it," said Lupin. "Not with Voldemort. I wonder . . ." He walked up to the wall and laid a hand on it. Hermione saw him concentrating immensely and knew he was trying to sense what enchantments might lie on the partition. Harry had told her once of how Dumbledore was able to sense magic just by looking at objects. Remus was not up to that level but had been working at detecting spells.

After a few minutes of standing there with his eyes closed, Remus opened his eyes and blinked. "I've got it," he said. "It's not a wall. It's a door. Hermione, this was always one of your specialties."

Hermione pointed her wand at the door and as an experiment, said, "Finite Incantatem!" Nothing happened, but then she hadn't really been expecting anything to happen. After a moment of rummaging through the spells she knew, she came up with one that might work, the Un-Transfiguring Spell, which forced a Transfigured object to revert to its original form.

Focusing herself, she made the wiggly wand movement that was part of the Un-Transfiguring Spell and called, "Discommutatus!"

The wall shimmered and waved briefly, but otherwise remained a wall.

"Maybe if we all try it together?" suggested Ginny.

"Certainly worth a try," said Lupin. He and Ginny lined up on either side of Hermione, and in concert they cried, "Discommutatus!"

The wall warped and its original form, a rusty blast door, was visible for several seconds, but ultimately the wall remained a wall.

"Now what?" Ginny asked.

Spike said, with some relish, "There's always brute force."

"This is done by the one who dares to walk in my power?" Illyria asked, startling at least Ginny.

"I believe so," answered Remus.

"His power cannot stand before mine. I will not see his power defeat my own." Illyria walked to the door and waved a hand. It shimmered, as it had when Hermione cast her spell, but then it changed into a blast door -- and remained that way.

"One of these days you're going to have to tell me just what Illyria is and how it does that," Hermione said under her breath to Wesley.

He inclined his head. "I'll tell you when I know myself."

Cautiously, the group stepped through the blast doors. Hermione indicated with a jerk of her wand that they should head right, to the south, and they crept along a long, straight tunnel. The concrete supports for something -- possibly a conveyor belt, Hermione decided -- stuck up at regular intervals. Signs painted on the way every now and then informed them of how to cut the power if necessary.

Hermione realized that their lit wands made them far too visible to patrolling Death Eaters. She had just whispered, "Nox," to put out her own wand, when a Death Eater shot out of a side passage and started firing spells at the group.

The group scattered, diving for cover. Hermione hunched behind a conveyor support. Ginny was first to recover, trying to get off a Bat-Bogey Hex. Remus was on the floor, firing curses and jinxes down the hall as fast as he could snap them off. Peeking over the top of the support, making as small of a target as possible, Hermione noticed that none of the spells were making contact with the Death Eater. It couldn't be that they were all that lousy of an aim. Testing a hypothesis, she seized a piece of metal debris and threw it at the Death Eater.

He danced away from it so that her throw missed by a mile, but she kept it up, pelting the Death Eater with debris to see what he would do. One piece finally made contact with him with a dull thump, and in return Hermione had to scramble away from her makeshift cover as he blasted it with a Reductor Curse.

So he wasn't Imperturbed. He was too far away for her to see precisely what he was doing, besides keeping up a barrage of spells. She crawled to the conveyor support behind Remus, who was still shooting off curses as fast as he thought of them. Thinking a moment, Hermione started making the large looping circles with her wand that were required for the Revealing Spell she had in mind.

One . . . two . . . three . . . When Hermione had completed four of the wide circles, she abruptly jabbed her wand at the Death Eater and cried, "Adapertio Magia!"

The area around the Death Eater suddenly lit up with a flickering green light, casting eerie shadows throughout the shaft. The Revealing Spell Hermione had used made the magical forces around an individual visible. She knew what that green meant.

"Do you see that?" she called to Ginny and Lupin. "He's keeping up a Shield Spell. We can't hit him unless we manage to break the spell."

"I'm damn well going to try to get something through anyway," Ginny said, and started firing faster.

The Death Eater had fallen back under Hermione's barrage of junk, but now he was advancing on them, firing curses the entire way. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and realized it was Angel, withdrawing from cover. "Enough of this," he said. "If you can't hit him, I will."

Angel ran up the corridor, charging the Death Eater. The wizards held their fire to avoid hitting him. At the last minute, the Death Eater started firing spells at Angel, but by then Angel was there. With a right hook, he sent the Death Eater reeling. Angel then grabbed him by his shirtfront and slammed him against the wall.

Relighting her wand, Hermione sprinted up the hall, followed by the rest of the group, clustering in a loose group around Angel. As she caught up, she saw that he was in full vampire face. She took a moment to appreciate the effect it seemed to be having on the Death Eater.

"I like to be polite," he said, "even if you don't, so I'll start by introducing myself. I'm Angel. What's your name?"

"I have no name."

Angel thumped him against the wall, hard. Hermione heard the Death Eater wheeze as the air was knocked out of him and noticed that his feet weren't touching the ground.

"We'll try again. I'm Angel. What's your name?"

"Montague," the Death Eater gasped, still winded. "Dominic Montague."

"Now we're getting somewhere. What are you down here for, Dominic?"

He tried to sneer but was obviously in an advanced stage of fright. "I am in my Master's service."

Angel thumped him again and hoisted him a little higher. "That kind of crap isn't going to fly, Dominic. We know you're down here for a reason, because -- guess what -- we're down here for a reason. You tell us what your reason is."

Montague gasped and wheezed. Hermione was, with horror, vaguely recalling him as a student at Hogwarts, a Slytherin. She moved next to Lupin and whispered, "Wasn't he a --"

"Student at Hogwarts?" Remus finished her sentence for her. "Yes. He's a few years older than you. I taught him myself."

She almost missed Montague's response to Angel. "I am in -- he does not tell --" he choked out. "He does not tell us everything!" Angel pulled him away from the wall again and he hastily said, "There is a thing -- a thing -- I am a guard! He has set us to guard --"

"Great." Angel put Montague down. "You're going to lead us to this thing you're guarding."

"And if you try any funny business, I'll eat you," Spike said, obviously trying to be helpful.

Angel favored him with a look. "Spike."

"All right," Spike grumbled, "I've got a lot of friends that'll hex your knees off if you act up."

With Ginny holding him at wandpoint, Montague led the group through the twisting corridors of the district. Hermione noticed something and edged her way up beside Montague. "How come we haven't seen anyone else down here?" she demanded. "You can't be the only guard. Where are the other guards?"

"They're guarding their own corridors," Montague said. "There are several objects that we guard."

That caused the wizards to exchange looks. "We'll be needing to see the other objects, then, Mr. Montague," Lupin said. He bobbed his head at Hermione, and she, recognizing the gesture, fell back alongside him.

"Multiple objects?" she asked, under her breath.

He answered equally quietly. "Can't be multiple Horcruxes."

"Decoys," she breathed. "I thought this was too easy."

"Too easy?" Lupin looked amused.

Hermione gave him a chiding look. "You have to admit, aside from the door, this has been awfully easy. No traps, no obstacles, and one Death Eater."

"The whole thing's a trap, Hermione."

Of that, she was certain. The entire time they had been underground, Hermione had been waiting for the other shoe to drop, the axe to fall. Harry had told her in thorough and chilling detail of what he and Professor Dumbledore had gone through to find the false horcrux. They hadn't encountered anything near as terrible as Inferi or charmed potions, but knowing Voldemort, they would.

Montague led them nearly to the end of the conveyor belt corridor, finally turning to the left into one of the side passages. His pace slowed and Angel poked him in the small of the back. "Keep moving," Angel growled.

"Sorry," Montague said, and lurched forward again. With only Hermione's wand lit, it was exponentially darker. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw Ginny shudder, but her wand remained steady. Montague led them up along what remained of a light rail track, passing side bays and avoiding piles of debris. Hermione noted that the marks of previous explorers were almost nonexistent here and wondered how many years it had been since anyone but Death Eaters traveled these corridors.

Upon reaching the end of the corridor, Montague led them to the right, down another thruway, pillars occasionally shoring up the ceiling. Bays were carved into the side and Hermione watched the numbers increase as they walked by. The group was silent, apprehensive, as if waiting to see what Montague had in mind for them.

The passage forked at the end of the tunnel and Montague led them right again, moving into a twisting maze where Hermione soon lost her sense of direction. This all appeared to be original to the site and Hermione pondered how many stacks and crates of ammunition could have been squirreled away in here, waiting for use on the front.

Finally, Montague stopped, standing in front of a short corridor that appeared to end in a dead end. "The object is down this way," he said. "This is as far as I go. It's protected from here."

"How so?" Ginny demanded.

"I do not know." Angel leaned in and Montague seemed to crouch into himself. "I don't -- I do not know! The Dark Lord has only told me that there is an object to be guarded, and that it has protections on it so that none can steal it."

Protections. Hermione wasn't fond of the sound of that.

"This is as far as you go?" Angel asked.

Montague nodded vigorously. Hermione noted his obvious fright at proceeding down the hall and was further suspicious.

"Then stay here," Angel said. He grabbed Montague by the collar and pulled back a fist, but Ginny's voice rang out.

"Stupefy!" Ginny said. Montague drooped in Angel's grip and Angel released him, leaving him in a disorganized heap on the ground.

Angel looked at her, slightly petulant. "Way to -- I was going to do that."

"And he'd stay out for six hours? This way doesn't leave marks."

Angel grumbled and readjusted the collar on his jacket as they moved further down the hall. Spike looked gleeful, but for once, didn't say anything. Illyria trailed behind the group, stopping to stare at a fixed point.

It turned out the corridor wasn't a dead end, but hooked abruptly and invisibly to the right at the end of the hall. They turned, and then saw, there on a pedestal, a small object glinting in the light of Hermione's wand. They were halfway down this second hall when the corridor behind them filled with a crimson-colored mist.

"That's never a good sign," said Spike.

"Shut up," said Ginny, striding forward to study the pedestal. Hermione hurried forward after her, holding her wand high and casting wobbly shadows along the corridor. She caught up with Ginny to find her staring bemusedly at a small bronze brooch, oval, with a raised carving of an eagle.

"Ravenclaw's brooch," she breathed. So this was the Ravenclaw Horcrux.

"There's something written on the pedestal," Ginny pointed out. Indeed, two-inch tall letters wound around the edge of the pedestal. Hermione changed the angle of her wand, but couldn't get the letters out of shadow.

"Something written?" Remus asked. "Lumos." He came up beside Hermione, and the combined light illuminated the pedestal enough for them to read the words carved there: Nemo sed decertator contrecto mihi.

Hermione read the words aloud to the rest of the group, and started puzzling out what it meant. She'd joined the Latin Club, which was comprised mostly of Ravenclaws, for one term, but had to drop out.

"Latin," Spike groaned. "Utterly unimaginative, your Voldemort. Everyone uses Latin when they're trying to hide something."

"Except for you, I suppose," said Ginny, giving Spike a sharp look.

"Well, yeah," he said. "If I'm hiding it, obviously I know how to use it, but no point making sure anyone else can. If you've got to leave a tip, might as well be creative and leave it in Bulgarian or something like that."

"Let me see it," said Angel, from the rear of the group. He edged up between Hermione and Lupin and scowled down at the pedestal. After a few minutes, he said, "It means, 'None but a champion may touch me.' At least, I think that's what it's supposed to mean, but the conjugation's a little --" He looked up to find Hermione and Ginny giving him impressed looks and said, sheepishly, "Well, two hundred years in Europe, you tend to pick up some languages."

"So, a champion, eh," said Spike, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. "Well, who do we know here that's a champion?"

Angel turned to give him a disgusted look. "One little fight and suddenly --"

"I am," said Ginny. Hermione turned to her questioningly and Ginny said, "We won the Quidditch Cup three years in a row, I think that makes me champion enough."

From the very back of the group, Wesley said, alarm clear in his voice, "I don't think that's --" but it was too late. Ginny reached for the brooch, but the moment she touched the brooch she screamed, piercingly, and then fell to the ground in a heap.

"Ginny!" Hermione yelped. She dropped to her knees beside her and checked for a pulse; luckily, Ginny still had one, although it wasn't strong. Thinking back on the books of medical magic she'd read, she pointed her wand at Ginny and said, "Ennervate!" When Ginny didn't stir, she tried again. "Rennervate! Episkey!" Nothing.

"Is she --" Remus asked, also kneeling beside Ginny.

"She's alive, but this is something . . ."

Lupin took Ginny's hand and again had that frowning, probing look. After a minute, he said, "She's all right, but she won't wake until we can take her to Poppy Pomfrey. She'll have to be carried."

Angel looked grim. "I think I'm the kind of champion they mean. It's a long story. I'll --" He reached out quickly over Lupin and Hermione and seized the brooch. "Hey, I got --" he said, and then he vanished.

"Damn," Remus said, with feeling. "I was afraid of that."

"What was that?" Wesley asked, still looking agitated. "Is he --"

"He's probably all right," Lupin said, straightening, "but there's no telling where he is. That was probably a Portkey. A decoy, charmed to transport the holder to a predetermined location."

"Damn," Wesley echoed.

"Well, now what?" asked Spike. "We appear to be down a champion, not that I'm complaining exactly, Miss Red there is comatose, and we still don't know where the real Horcrux is. Cliched use of Latin or whatnot, your boy Voldemort appears to be one up on us."

"Spike," said Wesley, "shut up."

Hermione, still kneeling beside Ginny, noticed Illyria look thoughtful, but it didn't say anything. "We should probably wake Montague and see if he can lead us to some of the other objects," she said, rising and dusting her knees off. "There must be a way to tell if they're decoys besides grabbing them and seeing what happens."

Lupin and Wesley concurred, so after Hermione cast a quick, "Mobilicorpus!" on Ginny, the group traveled back up the hall, pausing at the crimson mist. "What do you think this is?" Wesley asked, glancing at Remus.

Lupin looked slightly apprehensive and shook his head. "I really don't know."

"Well, in we go then," said Spike, stepping into the mist, and vanishing. Hermione's heart just had time to sink -- not another one, not now -- and then Spike's voice said, "Oi! What's all this then?"

"Spike? What's going on?" Wesley asked.

"You'd better have a look," Spike said loudly.

Hermione stepped forward into the mist, towing Ginny at her side, and was immediately engulfed by -- nothing. Sensory vacuum. She felt as if she were floating weightless in absolute blackness. Experimentally, she tried stomping the ground and waving her hand in front of her face, and while she could feel herself moving, she couldn't see her hand or feel any effect of the stomping.

"Hello?" she called, or tried to -- she was fairly sure she'd actually said the word, but she couldn't hear it if she had. If the others were trying to speak, she couldn't hear them as well.

Well, she thought, lapsing into internal monologue, obviously I'm not floating weightless in some pool of blackness somewhere -- at least, the odds are against that. So let's presume that I'm simply in some sort of sensory deprivation field and I'm still in the depot. That means that even if I can't feel the floor, it's there, and if I move like I'm walking I should actually be walking.

She tried to picture the hall and count the number of steps she should take. She turned at what she thought was the appropriate point, and just as she thought that maybe she had been walking into a wall this entire time and she should try again, she popped out of the field, Ginny still by her side. Illyria, looking bored, and Remus, looking concerned, were there waiting for her.

"Oh, good," Lupin said, and just as he said that, Wesley stepped out of the mist, trying hard not to look disconcerted. Hermione looked down and saw Montague, still slumped in the pile Angel had left him in.

After a minute, Spike came flying out of the field, waving his arms wildly and nearly tripping over Ginny. "Oh, sorry," he said, righting himself, and then he looked at Lupin. "What was that?"

"Some sort of sensory-deprivation field," he said, and Hermione noted that he had come to the same conclusion she had. "Voldemort knows more about the Dark Arts than any other living wizard. Good to see we've all made it out." Lupin looked down at Montague, who was beginning to drool. "And now we see what else Mr. Montague knows."

He knelt in front of Montague and pressed his wand to his chest. "Rennervate," Remus said quietly, and Montague's entire body convulsed as he jerked back to awareness, blinking wildly. His eyes fixed on Lupin's and Hermione saw him start to work up a sneer.

Keeping his wand pressed to Montague's chest, Lupin reached out and grabbed the front of Montague's robes, knotting them around his fist. "Good afternoon, Mr. Montague," Lupin said, deceptively pleasant. "I'm Remus Lupin. You may remember me. I was your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor during your fourth year -- then again, you may not, as your marks generally indicated you were only physically present for my classes."

The sneer developed fully on Montague's face. "The werewolf," he said.

"Ah, yes," Lupin said, "I am that."

"Snape told us you were a werewolf. He said you were weak."

"Severus would say that about me," Remus said, musingly. "I suppose he's entitled to his opinion. All pleasantries aside, Mr. Montague, I'm sure you can guess why you've been awoken. The object you were guarding was not the object we were looking for, and we need to know where the others are."

Surly, Montague said, "I don't know."

"And that's where we differ, Mr. Montague -- I think you do."

"I told you, the Dark Lord does not tell us where the objects are. Only the ones we are supposed to guard."

Remus shifted his weight, a politely disbelieving expression on his face, and Montague added, slightly hurried, "I am not afraid of you!"

"Because I don't have fangs? Or because of what Severus has told you?" Remus shifted position again, still wearing that same placid expression, and Montague suddenly shifted and went white. "You see, Mr. Montague, I may not practice the Dark Arts, but certainly I had to know about them to teach you how to defend against them. And, well, when one is a werewolf, one sometimes has to seek . . . unusual methods of employment. I learned this trick during a job in Lithuania."

Lupin's hand dropped from Montague's shirtfront. In the dim wandlight, Hermione thought she saw him take Montague's hand and start pushing one finger back, but it was hard to tell.

"I found this very effective for getting people to tell me what I wanted to know," Lupin said, pushing farther. "Or pay me what they owed me, more usually. Relatively quick and painless -- for me, anyway."

Beads of sweat were glinting on Montague's forehead, but he kept his mouth clamped shut. Remus pried back another of Montague's fingers and kept pushing. Worriedly, Hermione bit her lip -- Remus couldn't mean to --

With a crunching sound, Montague's fingers snapped. He let out an involuntary howl and shuddered. Lupin surveyed his work and asked, "Do you know where the other objects are now, Mr. Montague?"

Montague gasped, shaking, but managed to force out, "No."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Mr. Montague," Lupin said, pushing another of Montague's fingers back. Hermione looked back over her shoulder at Wesley, who looked concerned yet grim, and Illyria, who was again staring at the walls. Wesley returned her look and one side of his mouth tightened.

Despite knowing what it would sound like this time, she still wasn't ready for the sound of Montague's finger breaking, and it made her flinch. He howled and swore, choking back sobs. Again, Remus asked, "Do you know where the other objects are now, Mr. Montague?"

And this time, swearing and sobbing, Montague said, "Yes."

"Good." Remus stood up, hauling Montague to his feet with him and brushing himself off. Montague winced and cradled his broken fingers.

"Lead on," Lupin said, and moaning and cursing, Montague started walking back up the hall. Hermione stood, knees cracking, and Spike came to stand by her for a moment.

"Well, that was entertaining," he said. "Didn't think your boy had that in him."

Hermione gave Spike what she knew was a tired, sour expression. "Spike," she said, "shut up."

***

Hermione noticed Montague was taking a much more direct approach out this time, rather than leading them back and forth through the district. He led them back up the conveyor passage, retracing their steps. She watched their progress, one eye on the map, inside buzzing with worry. What had happened to Ginny, still bobbing along at her side? And where was Angel? And Remus -- breaking bones --

She stepped on a rock that broke under her foot, echoing the sound Montague's fingers had made as they snapped, and she winced.

Their trip was again silent. Spike seemed to be doing as she had told him, and Wesley appeared wrapped up in his own thoughts. Hermione wondered what he was thinking about. Was he thinking on the same thing she was, that outside it was still daylight? If she had gotten Angel killed, through her own half-formed plan, would he forgive her?

Montague led the group back through the rusting blast doors and out into the arched tunnel of the drift between districts. They picked their way along the tunnel, avoiding the debris, and following the arrows toward the exit. Hermione missed it when Montague stopped walking and actually continued along the corridor a few feet before Remus said, "Hermione, here."

She backtracked and stood with the rest of the group, although her every instinct told her that there was nothing important about this tunnel, it was a trap Montague had cooked up, and they should avoid it. "Here?" she asked. "But it's not down there. This is a trap."

Lupin tilted his head to one side and gave her a look that reminded her of Hogwarts. "Explain how you've come to that conclusion."

"Well, it's just . . ." She gestured at the tunnel. "I feel it. All over me. It's . . ."

"Yes, there is that. I feel it too. But does Mr. Montague have any reason to lie to us, Hermione?"

She looked at Montague's hunched posture and again heard that crunching sound. "No."

"Do you have any evidence, aside from your instinct, that we should not go down this tunnel?"

"No . . ." Hermione had to admit, it wasn't like her to rely on instinct. She preferred the world of facts, of research, ink on a page. She concentrated and felt some of the aversion lessening.

Looking up at Lupin, she found him watching her intently. "There's a charm on it? So we won't go in?"

Montague spat, "Repelling Charm."

Lupin looked pleased that she had figured it out. "So in we go then, do you think, Hermione?"

"Yes," she said.

Prodding Montague in the shoulder, Lupin stepped forward, the group trailing after him. Together, they stepped into the darkness of the district.

This district was much more open than the others. Montague followed the right wall into a side corridor, then turned to the right as the corridor doubled back. At the end of the hall, by the light of their combined wands, Hermione could see another pedestal and another brooch glinting.

"It's the same as the other," she said, as they walked up on it. Lupin was physically towing a cringing Montague. She looked behind them and saw that the corridor had filled with a green mist, then turned her attention back to the pedestal. Down to the engraving around the edge, it was an exact copy of the other pedestal. But Montague swore this was the real thing.

"Nemo sed decertator contrecto mihi," she read. "But without Angel, we're out of champions."

"I beg your pardon!" Spike said, looking highly affronted. "I'll have you know I'm every bit as much a champion as that old poofter. I even died to save the world, and what'd he ever do? Tried to end the world a couple times, is all, but he gets the credit and the girl."

"If you're such a champion, then, Spike, grab the Horcrux," Lupin said, struggling with Montague.

"Right, then, I think I will." Spike reached out and took the Horcrux, and -- Hermione held her breath -- nothing happened. And nothing continued to happen. Hermione sighed in relief.

Spike looked smug. "Well, how about that." He examined the brooch closely. "Well, now that we've got this trinket, I vote we pop out of here and go for drinks. I could use a pint."

"I do believe you're forgetting something," Wesley said.

"What, who pays?"

"Spike," said Wesley.

"Oh, all right," Spike said, tucking Ravenclaw's brooch in his pocket. "So has anyone got any ideas for finding Peaches? Because if you ask me, he could be anywhere."

"I had one," Hermione said, and it was true, although she'd only just realized it. She lifted her wand and said clearly, "Accio Angel's jacket!" The streak of orange light zipped through the green field and around the corner.

"There's just one thing we've got to deal with," said Lupin, "and then we can go." Hermione turned to watch as he pushed Montague, who had stopped fighting when Spike took the horcrux, up against the wall. Montague flinched as his broken hand hit the stone. Lupin surveyed Montague with a pitying, rueful expression.

"Severus was right about one thing," he said. "I am weak." He aimed his wand at Montague's fingers. "Episkey!"

With another popping sound, Montague's fingers snapped back into place, healed. Hermione cringed at the sound.

"Voldemort would have done your entire hand," Lupin said to Montague. "And left it. You may not think you have a choice, now that you've joined him. But if you decide you want out, we'll find you. Remember that. Stupefy!"

Montague dropped down the wall and hit the ground with a muffled thump. Lupin sighed and walked over to the green mist.

"What do you suppose this does?" Hermione asked.

Staring at the mist meditatively, Remus said, "I'm afraid I don't know."

"I'm not testing this one," Spike said. "I've got precious cargo."

"Fine," Hermione said, and stepped forward -- and immediately fought the urge to retch as she found herself dangling from the ceiling, the rest of the team standing below her. Closing her eyes, she stepped forward -- and couldn't control her stomach as she turned right side up again. She leaned over and vomited, leaving a bitter, acidic taste in her mouth.

"Hermione?" Remus asked, concerned.

She straightened up, shuddering and embarrassed, and Vanished the pile of sick. "It's an inversion field. I was on the ceiling -- didn't you see me?"

"No," Wesley said. "You stayed on the ground. You stepped into the mist, then you stepped back out."

Hermione tried to discreetly wipe her mouth. "I felt like I was on the ceiling. And I tried to step forward. It's probably safe, but we should be careful."

"Thank you, Hermione," said Remus, and he stepped into the mist. She watched his posture stiffen as he adjusted to the feeling of dangling from the ceiling. Wesley and Spike walked in after him, and after a moment all three started moving, albeit very slowly.

She gave her stomach a few minutes to settle down, minutes in which Lupin, Spike and Wesley managed to move halfway through the mist. Watching them, she guessed that right and left were also reversed, causing them to do odd dances as they tried to keep from bumping into each other. Illyria followed Wesley's progress for a minute, then looking disdainful, strode across before any of them could exit the mist.

That left Hermione alone on the horcrux side. Swallowing rapidly, she stepped forward and winced as her sense of direction flip-flopped. She breathed deeply, working to control the panicky little voice inside her head which screamed that she was upside-down and she should get down now and tried to think rationally. If a step forward had catapulted her out of the mist, before, then a step backward should move her forward. Slowly, she took a step backward . . . and was rewarded by moving further into the mist.

All right, she could do this. Backwards steps. Small backwards steps. Spike, Wesley and Remus were hanging there on the ceiling ahead of her, while Illyria waited, right-side-up, on the other side.

It felt to Hermione like it took her hours to make it through the mist, although it was probably only a few minutes. She watched as, one by one, Wesley, Remus and Spike made it across and flipped right-side-up. Finally, it was her turn. She braced herself before she took the last step, and then had to hunch down and have the dry heaves anyway, although she had nothing left in her system.

While she was down, she checked on Ginny, who still had the same weak pulse. Well, at least she was alive.

"Are you all right, Hermione?" Remus asked.

She heaved, spat, and managed to force out, "Yes." Pushing herself back to her feet, she said, "Let's go. Accio Angel's jacket!"

The orange streak went rocketing around the corner and they were off, running through the mine to follow it. Hermione cast the spell at intervals to guide them. Back out into the drift, back through the steel doors . . . the spell led them to the left this time, up to the higher districts. They pelted up the corridor, Hermione in the lead, Ginny bobbing behind her, followed by Wesley and Lupin. She wasn't sure where Illyria was, anymore. The spell shot off to the right and after winding back and forth down a corridor, they found Angel, fighting with his coat, standing in a circle of downed Death Eaters.

"Is there a reason," he demanded, once the group came pelting into view, "that my coat -- my coat -- has been trying to fly off of me for the last five minutes? Is it a demon? Some sort of poltergeist? Because I really don't appreciate whatever it is."

Hermione might have giggled at Angel's total outrage if it hadn't been her fault. Instead she said, "I'm sorry -- we didn't know where you were, and the Summoning Spell only works on inanimate objects."

"Could've been worse, Peaches," Spike said. "At least she didn't go for your pants."

Angel still looked frustrated, but he adjusted his jacket collar and said, "So what now?"

"Well, I think," Hermione said, glancing at Remus for confirmation, "that we've only got to figure out how we're all going to get out of here."

"You've got the Horcrux?" Angel asked. "But it said it took a --"

Spike waved and cut him off. "Right here, mate. Seems like I'm champion enough for Voldedoodle."

Angel snorted and looked away. "Figures," he muttered.

"I suppose it's really just a question of who goes with whom," Remus said, glancing around the group. "Obviously, Hermione, your first trip is Ginny, and I suppose I should take Spike to be safe. Perhaps we should go one at a time so we can leave a light?"

"I suppose," Hermione said, although she was dreading the upcoming amount of Side-Along Apparition. Steeling herself, she said, "I'll go first."

Hermione reached out and grabbed Ginny's arm, picturing the room they were staying in at Cresswell's. Wizard courtesy be damned. She was going straight in. She focused, started the turn, and --

-- she and Ginny were in Cresswell's house. Hermione cut the Mobilicorpus spell on Ginny, and then maneuvered her onto the camp bed. Sighing, she gazed down at Ginny's unconscious form for a moment, then, pictured the cavern at Monkton Farleigh, and started the turn . . .

With a crack that echoed in the rock chamber, Hermione reappeared, solo, her stomach already turning. It took Remus only a few minutes to deposit Spike at Cresswell's, and then it was time for the next trip. Illyria proclaimed that it would "make my own way," leaving only Wesley and Angel to be transported. Grimacing, Hermione Apparated back to Cresswell's with Wesley. Leaving him in the lounge, she apologized and then dashed for the loo, kneeling beside the cistern and waiting for her stomach to stop churning.

After a few minutes, there was a tap on the door and she managed to groan, "Who is it?"

"Remus. Are you all right, Hermione?"

"Yes," she lied. "I just need a moment."

"All right." A pause. "I know the Apparition is hard on you. I'm sorry." He paused again. "I'm going to go get the car."

"Hang on," she said, and forced herself to her feet. She wrenched open the door. "I'm going with you."

Remus looked slightly surprised to see her on her feet but covered for it well. "You don't have to. I can find my way back."

"No, it's all right. I'm fine. Are you ready to go?" It was partially true, Hermione admitted; the actual dry heaves had stopped but she was still fighting waves of nausea.

"Well, if you're sure," Remus said, although he sounded dubious. "You go first and I'll follow you."

"All right." Hermione fixed the image of Remus's crumbling old car in her mind, closed her eyes, and turned -- and winced as the weak Wiltshire sunshine hit her eyes. She opened her eyes at the crack of Lupin's Apparition and found him eyeing her, not quite suspiciously.

"You're sure you're all right?" he asked.

"Yes," she said.

They were absorbed for a moment in the business of getting in the car and getting moving again. Lupin finally managed to convince the engine to turn over and the car jostled and creaked into motion.

Hermione was silent for a minute, carefully staring out the window, mulling over what she wanted to say to Remus. Finally, she said, "What are you thinking about?"

"I was actually wondering what you were thinking about."

She hesitated. "What you did . . . in the depot . . . with Montague . . . it was . . ."

"You mean, when I broke his fingers?" Remus concentrated on shifting the gearbox for a moment. "It's all right to be direct, Hermione."

"Yes, that," she said, uneasy. "I didn't think you could . . ."

"Didn't think I had it in me? You do what you have to, Hermione. This is war. And after all, isn't it what you've always done? What you had to?"

She flashed for a moment on a sixteen-year-old with bushy hair, leading Umbridge to the centaurs, and had to admit the truth in that. "Well, yes, I just . . . I hadn't really seen you do that before. Not so personally. And it . . . I don't know. It changes . . ."

Remus sighed, a tired-sounding noise. "Hermione, I've done worse things by far that you don't even know about. That I won't even tell you about, so don't ask me. I know. What I did to Montague was nasty and it was personal and I admit, it was disturbing. But would he have led us to the Horcrux if I hadn't? You have to do what gets results."

She didn't have a ready answer for that. She might have said, once, that even in times like these there was a line that should be respected. Then she thought of Umbridge, still twitchy and broken all these years later, and wondered if that was true. And her own inner voice came back to haunt her: have I hired the most evil law firm on the planet to fight the most evil wizard on the planet?

They were turning back to the main road to Bath now, and motored along in silence for a few minutes before she said, "I've been so wrapped up in my research, these past couple years, I didn't really realize what was going on outside the libraries. I only knew that things were bad and getting worse."

"No," Remus said, "no, this hasn't been a sweet and seemly war, Hermione. It's better that you found that out from me rather than from someone else. We tried being noble, but eventually, if your enemy won't come to you, you have to go to them." There was another pause of a few minutes, in which Hermione felt there was something Remus was leaving unsaid. She was opening her mouth to ask him what it was when he said casually, "Does it change what you think about me?"

Abruptly, Hermione closed her mouth, taken aback by the question. Minutes earlier, she had been about to tell him that yes, it had changed what she thought of him, but been unable to articulate that. Now, she realized that she wasn't sure. Monkton Farleigh had changed how she saw Lupin, yes. But had it changed what she thought? She was less sure.

Finally, she said, "I don't know," aware of how inadequate an answer that was. Hermione hated not knowing the answers to questions she was asked, and this was no different.

"I understand," Remus said, and the hell of it was, Hermione knew he did.

"I think," she said, voice coming out higher pitched than she intended, "that maybe we should just let it go for now. We've really got more important things to worry about, like that Horcrux."

"If that's what you want," Lupin said.

The remainder of the ride to Cresswell's was silent and strained, the things left unsaid settling into a lump in Hermione's stomach. The silence in the car meant that the thoughts racing disorganized in Hermione's head were that much louder, the crunch of Montague's fingers echoing across her brain over and over again. Somehow, she knew they'd have this conversation again, and she was not comforted.