Insomnia

War Child

Who will save the war child baby? Who controls the key?

The web we weave is thick and sordid, fine by me

At times of war, we're all the losers; there's no victory

We'll shoot to kill and kill your lover, fine by me

War child, victim of political pride

Plant the seed, territorial greed

Mind the war child, we should mind the war child

I spent last winter in New York, and came upon a man

He was sleeping on the streets and homeless,

He said, "I fought in Vietnam"

Beneath his shirt he wore the mark, he bore the bark with pride

A two-inch deep incision carved, into his side

Who's the loser now, eh?

Who's the loser now, eh?

We're all losers now

We're all losers now

July, four years ago. Six weeks into the war.

Hermione sat in peace of the warm German evening, enjoying her task of creating portkeys. Nearby, as the three of them packed up all the equipment, Liam was regaling Amy and Clementine with a story of the time he'd accidentally picked up a portkey and ended up in Egypt.

"So there I am, poking around looking for the Quaffle, and I see this brilliant old hat sitting on the ground, and I think, well, finders keepers, so I bend down to pick it up, and next thing I know, I'm flying through the air and I'm standing next to the Pyramids, with a bunch of wizards looking at me and shouting. And I hadn't got my Apparating test yet, so they had to make another portkey to get me home. My ma was furious with me for weeks."

Amy and Clementine were laughing and hanging on his every word, although Hermione suspected that that was more to do with his Irish brogue and twinkling blue eyes than the merits of his storytelling.

It had been a really beautiful day. Their team had been lucky so far, and hadn't had a single encounter with the Death Eaters. Many other teams had suffered severe losses, and Gryphon team had been totally wiped out only a week ago.

Draco wandered over from the church, where he had been translating for Sirius. As the only one of them with a good working knowledge of German, Draco had been appointed translator and liaison for the group. He'd just been explaining the procedures of tonight's evacuation to the anxious villagers, as well as reassuring them of the wonderful safety of the refugee camp in Yorkshire.

He approached Hermione.

"Hello, Granger. How're the portkeys coming?"

Hermione sighed. "They're getting there. I wish we didn't have to make so many."

'Ah, now, you know the procedure. One family per portkey, so they all end up together, and so the Death Eaters can't detect them."

Hermione nodded. "I know. And it's kind of nice to be able to sit down an have a break."

Draco sat down next to her, stretching out his long legs. He picked up one of the rocks they were using as portkeys, pointed his wand at it and idly said "Transportus!", then added it to the large pile next to Hermione.

Sirius hurried over to them, looking worried.

"Hermione, have Ron and Harry come back yet?"

She looked at the older man quizzically.

"No, I think they're still patrolling. What's the matter?"

"I've just received an owl from Greta. Her Apparition sensor spell detected a group of about 15 Death Eaters Apparating near a farmhouse just west of the village about half an hour ago. I tried reaching Harry and Ron with a Communicatus spell, and there was no reply."

Hermione's breath caught in her chest. She stood up. "Sirius, you have to let me look for them."

Her old friend shook his head. "No, I need you to stay her and evacuate the villagers. Draco, you need to go into the church and tell them that we're moving out ahead of schedule. I've sent an owl to the refugee camp, and they're expecting them within the hour. Amy, come with me, we're going to find Ron and Harry. Liam and Clementine, help Hermione finish the portkeys. We can worry about ourselves later."

With that, he and Amy departed, leaving Hermione in shock.

Draco saw her shoulders slump and her face go blank. Not an unusual reaction from someone who's just been told her lover and her best friend may have been captured by Death Eaters. He placed one hand on her arm, to steady her. She shook it away.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine." She flashed a forced smile at him. "We need to evacuate the village. They'll be okay."

Draco stared at his partner in unabashed admiration, before hurrying into the church to inform the people there of the new plans.

Hermione worked quickly and silently, making portkey after portkey, deaf to the polite attempts at conversation from Liam and Clementine. Her ability to focus on the task in hand had gotten her though every exam at Hogwarts, and now it was the only thing stopping her from falling to pieces. When the portkeys were all done, Liam helped her carry them into the church, where Draco was trying to calm the worried villagers. They laid the portkeys out, and Draco asked the villagers to line up. As each new family stepped up to the front of the line, one of the four British wizards cast the activation spell and one more family was taken to the safety of the Yorkshire camps.

Little children clung to their parents' robes, old people muttered words of thanks to them as they were given the portkeys, and one woman, holding a battered suitcase and a tiny baby, grasped Draco's hand and thanked him profusely. Liam sent Communicatus spells back and forth to Sirius, constantly asking for news of their missing colleagues, and always getting the same answer; negative.

When the last family had been evacuated, Hermione finally allowed herself to collapse into a sobbing heap. Draco crouched on the hard wooded floor next to her, whispering soothing words of comfort.

"Shh, Hermione. It's all right. They'll be okay. I'm sure they'll be back here any minute."

Hermione raised her head and glared at him through her tears.

"I'm not a child, Malfoy. You can't mollify me that easily."

Draco sighed, and steeled himself.

"Look, I'm in charge when Sirius isn't here, and I'm ordering you to get it together. Liam, contact Sirius and tell him that we got everyone out okay, and that Hermione and I are going to help look for Harry and Ron."

Nodding warily, Liam cast a Communicatus to Sirius; beginning to relay everything Draco had told him. Draco pulled Hermione to her feet.

"Come on, now. You can come with me to help me find them, or you can stay here like a baby and cry. What'll it be?"

Composing herself and wiping her face on the sleeve of her robe, Hermione nodded in determination.

Outside the church, they headed west. A Locator charm told them that Sirius and Amy were just outside the village.

"I think we should meet up with Sirius."

Hermione shook her head. "No. Two groups will find them faster. I'm going to cast a spell to see if anyone's using dark magic."

Draco frowned. "That's strong spell, Hermione. And anyone who's on the lookout for us will be able to sense it."

"I don't care. We need to find them." She raised her wand and took a breath. "Maleficum Detecto!" In the air in front of them, little points of light buzzed around, drawing a map of the village in the air. Hermione was represented by a little point of blue light, and a group of pulsing red lights, signifying dark magic users, appeared in a building about a kilometre north of them. Draco examined the map closely.

"I think that's the pub."

"Right then." Hermione looked at him as if daring him to order her to stop. "Let's go."

Draco sent a Communicatus to Sirius, and then one to Liam asking them to go to the tavern. Liam and Clementine ran out of the church and joined them

Too dangerous to Apparate, the four Aurors ran until they were right near the tavern. From around the corner of the building, they saw a cloaked figure standing guard.

Hermione pointed her wand at him and murmured "petrificus totallus". The figure stiffened and fell over backwards.

Running hunched over towards the door, they could hear screams coming from within the building. Hermione gasped.

"They're torturing them!"

Afraid she would do something to get them both killed, Draco caught Hermione by the wrist and held her firmly. Her head snaked around with an expression of angry surprise.

"What are you doing?"

"We're going to plan this, otherwise we'll all end up dead. These are Death Eaters, Hermione. We have to go into this with all our Auror training in mind."

Realising what she must be going though, his voice softened and he spoke to her gently. "You're famous for your planning and tactical skills. Don't lose your head here."

She consented, and he released her hand. "From the screams, it's likely that they're in the front room of the tavern."

Hermione frowned. "That's unusual. Either they've gotten very cocky, or it's a trap."

On that note, Sirius and Amy arrived and crouched down next to Draco and Hermione.

"Right, what's the situation?"

Draco briefly filled Amy and Sirius in on the facts. Sirius looked perturbed.

"Only one guard? And they're in the front room? You're right, that is unusual."

A scream pierced the air and turned into a sob. Inside, someone was pleading with his captors.

Hermione covered her mouth with her hand.

"That's Ron!" She gazed imploringly at Sirius. "We don't have much time. We can't sit around formulating a great huge plan while they're in pain!"

Sirius nodded grimly. "You're right. If we don't get them out of there, who knows what will happen to them?" He set his jaw. "Clementine, you and Liam go around the left side of the building, Draco, you go with Hermione around the right side, and when you hear Amy and I break open the door, jump in through a window. At most, we can expect that there will be fifteen Death Eaters in there. Petrify as many as you can."

Draco and Hermione hurried around the right side of the building until they came to a window. Hermione peered though it. Inside, she could make out the shapes of people in cloaks standing around the room. She could also see Harry and Ron suspended in mid air, their bodies twitching, racked with the Cruciatus. A loud noise came, telling them that Sirius and Amy were inside. Like lightening, they blasted apart the window and leapt though it, wands at the ready. Inside, the other Aurors were aiming curses at the cloaked figures, sending brilliant multicoloured flashes of light across the dimly lit tavern. For a brief instant, Hermione's mind was suddenly dragged back to one evening at Hogwarts when George and Fred had set off dozens of Filibuster's Fireworks in the Gryffindor common room. The memory flashed across her mind before she gathered herself to join in on the hexing free- for-all. Death Eater after Death Eater fell stiffly to the floor, knocking over bar stools and tables as the controlled Petrificus curses of the six Aurors took their toll. Clementine was hit by a curse from one of the Death Eaters and went down, collapsing like a rag doll onto the floor. Seeing this, Liam aimed his wand at the person who'd cast it; the last one standing, and he fell like a board to the ground.

Their captors indisposed, Ron and Harry had dropped out of the air to land on the wooden floor with a dull thud. Seeing them lying there, crumpled and still,

Hermione ran to them with a sob in her throat. She threw herself on the floor next to Ron, cradling his head in her lap, stoking his hair and frantically calling his name. Sirius was checking Harry to see if he was okay. Harry regained consciousness, but Ron was still lying like one dead. A worried silence fell over the group, as Hermione shook him and called to him. After what seemed like an eternity, he opened his eyes and smiled weakly.

"Hermione..."