Just a Wizard

Chapter Fourteen

Lavender took both wands from Daphne and Hermione and motioned for the women to move. Daphne reluctantly unlocked the door and let them in, Roman shoving her and Hermione along until they stood facing each other in the hallway.

Lavender closed the door behind them and smiled.

"This is the plan... you two are going to call Ron and Remus, and you are going to say exactly what we tell you to say, understand? Then, if you're really good, you may not come out of this too badly maimed."

"You bitch," Daphne spat, her voice quiet as she stared at the woman she had once tried to befriend.

Lavender nodded and moved towards her. "Maybe so, but you won't say that again," she said, using the back of her hand to strike the other woman hard across the face.

"No!" Hermione shouted, surprised that her voice was working.

Lavender turned to her in surprise and laughed. "Seems our little mouse here wants us to stop. Shall we stop, Roman?"

Roman grabbed hold of Hermione's throat and laughed, bending until he was right in front of her, his breath wafting across her face, paralysing her with fear once again.

"No, we're just getting started."

"You can't make us say anything we don't want to," Daphne said, her breath coming hard as she wiped the trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth.

"Don't be naive Daphne, do you really think I won't use this gun?" Lavender asked her, and shook her head. "It goes like this, if you don't say what we want you to say, we kill Hermione over there...and vice versa. Of course, it's up to you, but I know what I'd do in this situation."

"Yeah, I know what I'd do too," Roman said, slowly pulling a dagger out of his pocket and holding it in front of Hermione's face. "You'd be surprised how much I can change someone's appearance with this blade. I'd be happy to demonstrate later. I've learned a lot on the run this past year. Just so you know, Hermione... if you try that wandless apparition again, I will not hesitate in killing her."

"You can have your fun soon, Roman," Lavender said, looking at Hermione with an unholy light in her eyes. "We'll begin with her. Here's what you both have to say, and I want it to be word perfect."

Hermione was trapped with no way to escape this time, and she knew it.

Lavender began her twisted explanation and Hermione heard the words through a fog of disbelief. If she said those things... if she said them to Ron and Remus, they would hate her. She felt her chest clench with a combination of fear and pain, knowing she wouldn't be given a choice in this. Lavender moved closer to her and lifted the gun, seeing the fear in the Hermione's eyes and relishing it.

"You see, it's not only you that you have to worry about. If you don't do as we say, then there really isn't any point in letting anyone else live, is there? Ron will not want me, so I'll just let Roman take care of him," she said shrugging.

"I thought you wanted him back?" Daphne asked, glaring at Lavender and then looking at Hermione with concern.

"Oh I do, but I want him on my terms. Basically Daffy, if I can't have him, then no one else will either. Now let's stop wasting time. We'll use Hermione's shell phone," she said, digging into the girl's pocket and fishing out the phone she had seen Hermione put there as the two of them watched the girls from their hiding place in the shrubbery earlier, "so we'll know if you give them any clues as to what's really going on." She held the gun out and let Roman take it from her and watched emotionlessly as he instantly put it to good use. Lavender waved her wand and invisible ropes shot out of the end to tie Daphne's hands behind her back, gripping her like a vice and making moans escape her throat at the pain it caused. The sadistic witch smiled and turned her around, using the wand again to silence Daphne with a charm, her face a picture of spite as the girl broke down and started crying mutely.

Hermione watched all this happen, paralysed as she felt the cold steel of the gun press under her chin and she swallowed convulsively in fear.

"Now, you pick that phone up and call him. You tell him what she told you to say, and maybe... just maybe... I'll let him live," Roman said in her ear, his foul breath wafting across her face.

She shakily picked the small oyster shaped phone out of Lavender's hand and flipped it open dialling Ron's number, hating what she was about to do and hoping with all her heart that Roman would leave him alone. Hermione knew that Roman would do to her whatever he wished but she tried to banish the thought, as she became aware of the other two women watching from the corner of the hallway. Lavender's eyes gleamed with satisfaction, but Daphne was crying, her voice silenced by the spell making any sound impossible, save the soft sniffles that could barely be heard. Lavender elbowed her and hissed at her to shut up.

The phone signalled twice and then Ron's voice came over the line.

"Hello?"

"Ron, it's...it's me," Hermione said, wondering if her voice sounded as odd to him as it did to her.

She heard him take a shocked breath at her voice, and wondered if it was because he hadn't expected her to call him, or he hadn't wanted her to. His next words, however, were soft and caring and she knew he would probably have apologized for the day before, had he had a chance before now.

"Hermione? Love, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I only called you to say...to tell you that it's over. I don't...I don't want to see you again," she said quietly, trying desperately not to let her tears be heard by him.

"What?" he asked, his voice letting her know he hadn't expected that.

"You heard me. I've ...I've..." she broke off and turned pleading eyes on Roman, only to have the gun pressed even harder under her chin. She quickly continued. "I've had my fun, now I'm getting bored. I need more than you can give me. You were amusing for a while, but I can see why Lavender went off with another man."

She closed her eyes and let the tears seep through her lashes when she heard his sharp intake of breath. She was hurting him and he would never forgive her for it, even though she was doing it for a good reason.

"What the fuck do you mean? Is this because of yesterday?"

"No, I'm seeing someone else," she said and then hesitated again, not knowing if she could say the words Roman was forcing her to utter. He pulled her hair hard and she had to stop herself from crying out as he urged her to go on. "He's better in bed than you could ever be, he knows how to please me. You never would have had the first clue. I'm...glad that we never actually went all the way. The thought of it disgusts me. We've been... we've been laughing about you, wondering if you'd... you'd ever realise what was going on, but you didn't have enough brains to figure it out. I'm sorry Ron..." she began, trying to make her voice sound sarcastic and not knowing if she was succeeding. His next words told her she was and her heart shattered inside her chest at the pain she was inflicting.

"Save your fucking pity. You trollop, you really had me fooled..." she heard him curse softly and his breathing got heavier. "I hope you fucking rot in hell!"

The connection went dead and she dropped the phone on the stairs, her shoulders sagging as she let the tears fall more freely.

"Well done, pretty. That should get rid of him for good, at least from your life. Just one more call to make," he said, walking over to Daphne, and releasing her from the silencing spell when he bent down in front of her. "Now you call Remus and don't deviate from what I told you, or I'll shoot you in the head, you got me?"

Daphne nodded and did as he commanded, waiting for her stepfather to answer the phone.

"Remus, can you come home, please?"

"Daphne? Are you okay, what's wrong?"

"Remus, there's a man here and he's going to kill me," she said, her voice hitching on a sob as she looked at Hermione apologetically. "He and Hermione are lovers and they've been planning this...Remus you have to help me..."

Roman smiled and nodded, snatching the phone away from her.

"You better get here Lupin, and you better do it quick," he snarled into the phone, smiling with satisfaction as Lavender replaced the silencing spell.

"Who the fuck is this?" Remus yelled.

"You'll find out soon enough. And bring the big daft bastard that Hermione's been fucking on the side. She wants to see his face when I torture him."

"You bastard, Hermione would never..!" Remus shouted.

"Oh wouldn't she?" Roman asked, handing the phone to Hermione and nodding, cautioning her to behave with one wave of the gun.

"Remus, bring Ron with you. We've got Lavender too," she said dully.

"Hermione what are you doing?"

"I'm having fun, for once. Do as you're told or we'll kill them," she said, repeating what she'd been told to say, her voice a lifeless monotone.

"You... you can't be..." Remus stammered, not able to believe what he was hearing.

"Just do it, and if you involve the Aurors or any other agents, she dies," Roman yelled, taking the phone back and listening for a few seconds. He snapped it shut and grinned. "They're on their way. Now we can have some fun, eh?"

Roman dragged Hermione down the last few steps and threw her across the floor, making her smash her shoulder painfully on the cold marble. She struggled as soon as he tried to lie on top of her, determined that she would not give in to this loathsome man. He hit her so hard on her cheekbone that she thought she was going to pass out, but her senses soon swam back into focus and she tried pushing away from him.

"Don't bother fighting me, you little slag," he panted, trying to grab her wrists, "it'll only make it harder on you! I'm going to shag your brains out, and you're going to enjoy it!"

"You'll have to kill me first!" she shouted at him, bringing her knee up sharply and trying to get him between his legs, but she just kneed his thigh, enraging him further.

"Right, you want to do this the hard way? That's fucking fine with me," he growled, punching her once more and then getting up. Hermione was confused at his move, until she saw him go towards Daphne, the older girl's eyes getting wide when he raised the gun up. "If you don't open those legs and let me have you, then I'll make sure that this bitch won't ever have a man look at her again. You got that?" he asked, staring at Hermione as he pressed the gun against Daphne's cheek.

Daphne looked at her and shook her head, indicating that she shouldn't give in but Hermione couldn't allow anything to happen to the woman who was rapidly becoming like a sister to her.

"Please, no, please don't hurt her," she said quietly, sitting up from her prone position as fast as her aching body would allow. "She doesn't deserve any of this, please let her go!"

Roman gave a sneering smile. "Oh, I like the sound of that, you begging. Maybe I can get you to beg a bit more?" He dragged the gun down Daphne's face and pressed it to her shoulder, facing it away from her body. "Let's hear some more then, bitch," he said then pulled the trigger.

The report of the gun was ear-splittingly loud in the large hallway and Hermione screamed at the splatter of blood, and began to sob as Daphne fell sideways, her eyes flickering shut when her head struck violently against the cold marble floor. Lavender sneered and moved away from the unconscious body, trying to wipe the spots of blood from her immaculate robes.

"Be careful, I don't want to look too bad when Ron rescues me," she grumbled, glaring at the man. "Which reminds me, you'd better do what we discussed."

Hermione watched in horror as Daphne lay on the floor, a small pool of blood starting to form beneath her. Her eyes darted to Roman when he stood up next to Lavender then drew his fist back, punching her on the side of the face and knocking her out. He turned and studied Hermione's shocked face.

"Now her ex will think she was a victim, and he'll want to make her all better. Such a shame for you, but don't worry, you'll have me, won't you?" He sauntered over to her and gave her a hefty kick in the ribs, making her lose her breath and lay there winded. "Does it hurt?" he crooned, putting the gun away and fumbling in his pocket until he found the wicked looking dagger again and held it in front of her face.

Hermione had enough time to widen her eyes in fear, then the soft rasping of material from across the hall made her look at where Daphne was laying. She was fighting her way back to consciousness and was now clearly feeling pain from the wound, her face pale as shock started to affect her. Her glazed eyes looked over toward Hermione but she was still silenced so she couldn't speak. All she could do was watch in confusion as Roman flipped the dagger over and over in his hand, walking around Hermione as if she were a tuft of clay he was about to sculpt.

"They'll be here soon, pretty, and I'm going to make sure I'm not. Oh don't get too hopeful," he said, laughing at her expression, "I won't be far away. They'll discover you three and then they'll blame you for it all. So when they throw you out... and they will throw you out... I'll be waiting for you," he grinned at her.

"I'll never come to you," she muttered, glaring at him with all the hurt and hatred she had inside her. Whatever happened now, he had ruined her life. He had made her turn everyone she cared about against her, and she knew that she would never be able to explain what had really happened. They wouldn't want to listen.

"Oh you will, you'll come to me and you'll beg me to kill you. And after I've had my fun, I just might grant your wish, but for now... a little something to make sure you don't forget me," he said, moving swiftly down onto one knee and pressing the dagger against her side. "Tell me if this hurts at all," he told her, grinning maniacally as he pushed the blade slowly through her thick coat and between her ribs.

She jerked and screamed as the pain transmitted itself to her brain, burning along her nerve endings as the blade sliced through her flesh. He twisted it a quarter turn and then withdrew it, ignoring the way she thrashed about trying to escape the pain. "There...it won't kill you...at least, not yet, but it will hurt like a son of a bitch. Farewell, pretty, see you in a little while," he said, stroking the hair off her face and walking out of the house.

Hermione lay there gasping for breath, fighting to remain conscious. As the first wave of shock and dizziness passed, she managed to pull herself over to the stairs and slumped against the wall, her breathing jerking out of her as she tried to get used to the pain. She looked down and was surprised when she couldn't see any blood. Of course, her cloak was black and thick, so even when the blood did spill through, it probably wouldn't show. But she could feel the stickiness of it creeping out of the wound and wetting her shirt.

Time passed slowly, she had no way of knowing how long, but eventually she heard the sounds of someone apparating outside and closed her eyes, knowing it was them, knowing they would now look at her with hate in their eyes. What she hadn't counted on was how much hate she would see there.

When Remus came rushing in the door he took in the scene in a split second, his eyes finding Daphne and rushing over to her. Ron stood dumbfounded as he surveyed the three women, his eyes fixing on Lavender for a short while in confusion and then swinging to Hermione. They were an intense blue and sparkled with hatred and anger, making Hermione flinch. She watched as he marched over to her in three long strides and grabbed her upper arms, pulling her up in front of him and giving her a shake.

"You cow, you unbelievable cow, how could you do this?" he yelled at her and she almost bit through her lip to stop from screaming as the jarring shakes made her wound throb in excruciating agony.

"Look at Daphne, look at Lavender, look at them you bint, look what you did! Where's your latest shag anyway? Did he abandon you?" he asked, dropping her onto the steps and sneering at her. "It's no more than you deserve, you worthless tramp! We're going to make sure you get put away for the rest of your life! And this," he said, spotting the pendant he had bought her peeking out from the collar of her cloak, "is something you never deserved!" He grabbed the fragile chain and yanked it hard, making it cut into the back of her neck briefly before it broke and he flung it across the hall. He gave her one last hateful glare before he spat on the floor near her and walked over to Lavender, his hands gentle as he stroked her hair back from her bruised face.

Hermione cried quietly as she watched, not even bothering to try and defend herself. What would be the point? She had condemned herself in their eyes forever.

Daphne felt Remus release her from the silencing spell and she tried to speak through the fog, to tell him what was really going on, but her tongue felt too thick for her mouth and she couldn't seem to make any sense.

"Remus... Hermione..." she finally managed to gasp out.

"I know sweetheart, I know, I can't believe it either."

He frowned as he looked at her arm and he flipped his shell phone out and dialled St. Mungo's and the Auror Department, since the phones were magically connected to the Floo network

Daphne tried to talk again and ended up moaning.

"No, don't try and talk sweetheart, just lay still now, you'll be okay," Remus said, holding her gently, the worry in his eyes quickly replaced with disbelief when he looked over at Hermione. She was huddled against the wall of the staircase, one arm gripped tightly to her side and her face stark white. He tried not to feel any pity as he looked at the bruises on her thin neck, and face. He was confused. He thought he knew her, and now it turned out he had no idea who she was. Perhaps the Legion really had corrupted her, maybe everything she'd told him was a lie, but despite his feeling of utter disbelief, his worried mind couldn't quite ignore that something was very wrong with all this.

Hermione lifted her eyes and met Remus' gaze, flinching at the look in them before lowering her eyelids again. She heard Daphne trying to speak again and tensed when she heard her name.

"Hermione... Hermione got hurt..." Daphne managed to slur.

"Shh, Daffy," Remus said, all his attention on his stepdaughter again. "She doesn't matter, just rest. She doesn't matter anymore."

Hermione tasted blood as she bit through her lip, trying to stop herself from howling her pain out loud. It wasn't fair. She took as deep a breath as her wound allowed, coughing up blood in the process and slowly and laboriously pulled herself upright by holding onto the banister, struggling to catch her breath as she achieved her goal of standing. It took what felt like forever to move slowly over to the place where the pendant had landed, but she willed herself toward it, she couldn't bear to part with it. It would probably be the only thing she would have to remind her of Ron, and it was infinitely precious because of that. Once she had managed to bend down, pick it up and close her fingers around it, she cast a grief stricken gaze at the people who she loved the most in the world - and who she now thought hated the sight of her. She had to get out of here, had to get away from them all. No one would care anyway, she thought, so she began the slow process of staggering to the door and slipping outside. She was right, no one saw her go, no one except Daphne and she was in too much shock and pain to be able to protest.

Hermione looked blearily around the cold landscape, relieved that she couldn't see Roman lurking around out here, but her relief was short-lived. She had taken only a handful of steps when a hand came down on her shoulder.

"Hello, pretty. Told you they wouldn't want you, didn't I?" he growled in her ear and she almost collapsed at the shock of his reappearance.

Oddly she didn't feel too much fear anymore, and she realised she was on the verge of giving up. She tried to summon up a spark of fight, but could find none. What Ron and Remus had said to her had killed something fragile inside her, even though they were only reacting to what she'd been forced to say but their words had shattered something brittle and desperate deep inside her. She didn't matter anymore, she'd heard Remus say, and he was right. She'd put Daphne, Remus, Emmeline, and Ron in danger just by coming back here.

She felt Roman's arm slip around her neck and he pulled her backwards, dragging her into the shrubbery surrounding the big house. If he was surprised at her lack of resistance then he didn't show it, he simply moved her out of anyone's sight and then threw her on the ground in the snow, coming down on top of her. From a vast distance she felt his mouth on hers, his hands running up to her breasts and squeezing them through her coat, trying to initiate a reaction out of her but she had none to give. She felt dead inside even though, conversely, she was hurting more than she ever had in her entire life.

"Come on you bitch, don't just play dead! Give me something back!" Roman whined, roughly parting her legs with one of his and laying squarely down over her. When she still didn't move or react in any way he got frustrated. "Maybe this will help!" He drew back a fist and viciously punched her in the ribs, right over her wound and she gave a scream of agony as pain surged strongly through her. "That's better, let's try that again!" he said, grinning nastily as he repeated the attack. She actually heard her rib crack, but she couldn't make any more noise and suddenly found it difficult to breathe. She coughed violently, getting another mouthful of blood. Her fingers closed tighter around the pendant until her nails bit into the palm of her hand, drawing yet more blood from her body. Black dots started to appear at the edges of her vision as she tried to draw air into her lungs and from somewhere far off she heard voices shouting. She couldn't make out who it was and decided it must be Roman yelling at her, until she saw a familiar face bend down over her looking concerned.

"Hermione! Hermione, speak to me!"

Neville put his hand on the side of her face and waited for her to say something. When it became obvious she couldn't utter a sound, he swore and ran off into the house.

He had just apparated to the house with Harry, Carter and Tabitha when he heard her scream and had found Roman apparently beating and trying to rape her. Harry and Carter were still having fun pounding him into the ground, but Hermione wasn't aware of any of it, still struggling to breathe. Tabitha bent down next to her and stroked the hair away from her face, not knowing what to do. Her eyes caught the sheen of moisture on the dark material of Hermione's cloak and she freed the clasp around Hermione's neck, trying to move slowly. As her eyes filled with tears of panic when she opened the coat and saw the amount of blood that was pouring out of her friend's body, she called for Harry and Carter.

When Neville got inside the house he couldn't believe the sight that met his eyes, and he ran to Daphne's side, seeing if there was anything he could do.

"What the hell happened?"

Remus snorted. "The man who was supposedly following Hermione happened!"

"What do you mean, supposedly?" Neville enquired, frowning.

"He wasn't following her. They... planned all this together," Remus said, his frown getting deeper. "I still can't believe it."

"What the hell are you talking about? She wouldn't do that, you know that!" Neville said angrily.

"That's what I thought, but she told me herself on the phone."

"No, that can't be right. She's outside right now. I just got that guy off her. She's hurt real bad, Remus," Neville said, unable to conceal his worry. "I have to floo St. Mungo's."

"Don't bother, there's an emergency team on it's way for Daphne."

"Remus, you don't understand..."

Remus held a hand up to silence Neville, a deep frown appearing between his drawn eyebrows. Something wasn't right about this, something about that phone call. "Her voice wasn't right," he murmured quietly, the frown getting deeper.

"What?" Neville asked, looking confused.

"Her voice... it sounded wrong. There's something wrong about all this, something..."

He was cut off from what he was going to say when Daphne regained her senses and struggled to tell them what was happening. She managed a groan and tried some slow breathing to try and become more lucid.

"Daphne, honey, just be still," Remus said.

She shook her head slightly and her eyes looked to where Lavender had regained consciousness and was crying softly against Ron's shoulder. She couldn't let this happen, she had to say something now, before it was too late.

"No! No...it was her..."

"We know, it was Hermione," Remus said.

"No! It was Lavender... it was Lavender... and Roman..."

Lavender's head shot up at those words and she sent a venomous glare at Daphne, hoping that Ron hadn't heard. But his hearing was too sharp and he had caught every word. His arms dropped from her immediately and he shoved her away from him, standing up to glare at her. His frown turned quickly into fear as he thought about where Hermione was and what Neville had said.

"They did this... he hurt Hermione... he stabbed her, he made her say things... you have to help her..." Daphne continued, tears flowing down her face as she tried to work through the pain to make them understand.

"Daphne, calm down," Remus said, his eyes nevertheless shooting to Neville and Ron as panic bloomed within him. "Floo St. Mungo's, see what's taking them!"

Neville quickly complied and was promised that they would be there in no time.

"Where is she?" Ron asked Neville, pulling the smaller man up on his feet and almost shaking him.

"Outside, follow me," he said immediately, rushing from the house with Ron close on his heels. Tabitha was off to the side slightly, her wand trained on Castleton, who had been horribly beaten and bound by either Harry, or Cater. Ron imagined fleetingly it was probably both. When they reached the spot where Hermione had been found, they saw Carter bent down giving her mouth to mouth, Harry's palm resting on her chest and feeling for a heartbeat as he concentrated.

"Oh, Merlin, no," Ron ground out, the hot sting of tears at the back of his eyes. He couldn't believe he had condemned her so easily, even if it had been her who had made him believe it all in the first place. He should have had more faith, should have realised but all the recriminations in the world wasn't going to help now. He kneeled down next to her lifeless form and took her hand, grimacing as he saw the blood- soaked shirt she was wearing, the extent of her injury clearly seen.

He watched helplessly as Carter and Harry worked on her together, only releasing her hand when he finally saw the emergency team. He ran out to the driveway and ushered them to the dying young woman then stood back to watch as they took over where the other two men had been.

All four men stood and waited, hardly noticing the skill of the medi-wizards, their eyes on Hermione. Neville quickly apprised Harry and Carter of the situation and they discussed what would become of Roman, watching as the Aurors started swarming over the place and dragged the now screaming Lavender from the house.

Ron wanted to throw himself off the nearest building as he remembered what he had said to Hermione, what Remus had said, and how he had acted. She had hurt him and he had wanted to hurt back but he hadn't known she had been stabbed when he shook her, and she had given no indication, made no noise, even though it must have been viciously painful. He tried to stop the moisture from creeping into his eyes and failed, having to turn and walk away before the other two saw it.

He listened to the noises behind him as he composed himself, swinging around when the medi-wizard said the words he had been waiting for.

"We've got her," he said, and they quickly levitated her towards the waiting portkey that would take her directly to St. Mungo's.

"Aren't you going with her, mate?" Carter asked Ron, frowning in confusion when he backed away from the healer.

"I should have been here for her. I shouldn't have just taken her words at face value... I should have..." he broke off and shook his head in self-disgust. "I may as well have done this myself."

"Don't be an idiot, Ron, she needs you!" Harry snapped.

"She won't want me when she wakes up... if she wakes up. I can't face that," he said, struggling with his emotions and then dissapparating quickly away, leaving the other three men staring at him in shock.

"I can't believe he did that," Neville said, shaking his head.

"Me neither," Harry agreed, before turning back to the healer. "I'll go with her, you two go and be with Daphne and Remus."

Carter nodded and watched as Harry grabbed hold of the portkey and was gone in the blink of an eye while Neville lead medi-wizard team inside and they dealt with Daphne.

Harry paced around the waiting room at St. Mungo's and wished he smoked. Tabitha had stayed behind to wait for Emmeline and let her know what had happened. They hadn't been able to contact the older woman immediately, and not one of them could wait around doing nothing, so Tabitha had offered to stay. Harry was waiting for Carter's arrival and for Remus to come back from wherever he had disappeared to once they had brought Daphne in.

As for Ron, no one knew where he had gone. Harry had used his shell phone and called virtually everyone he could think of, but had come up with no leads. He would wait only as long as it took to find out how the two girls were and then he would go and find Ron himself and slap him upside the head for abandoning Hermione like that, he thought grimly.

He turned as the waiting room door burst open and Tabitha came rushing in, closely followed by Isaac Rawlson, Carter, and lastly, Yvgeny Makarov, all of them looking shocked.

"What's going on, Harry? Are they okay?" Yvgeny asked while Tabitha rushed over to hug Harry. He truly looked like he needed it

"Daphne was brought in a short while ago, so I'm not sure about her. Hermione," he shook his head and grimaced, "she stopped breathing and me and Carter did muggle CPR. The healers took over and managed to get her back, but other than that I don't know. It doesn't look good if you want the truth."

"You think she'll die?" Isaac asked him, looking sick.

"Let's just say I wouldn't be overly shocked if she did. That scumbag stabbed her, he actually stabbed her and he was beating on her too... I wanted to kill him!" Harry growled, looking furious.

"But you and Carter saved her didn't you?" Tabitha asked him softly.

"I guess so, but it doesn't feel that way right now. Daphne's been shot in the shoulder...Merlin what a mess!"

"What about Ron? Emmeline...and Remus? Where are they?" Yvgeny asked, frowning at the emptiness of the waiting room.

"Remus and Emmeline are around somewhere, probably talking to the healers. Ron went AWOL at the scene. No one has any idea where he is."

"I'll find him," Neville said, hearing the conversation as he entered the room and quickly moving back towards the door. "I have a fairly good idea of where he might be."

Carter grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Wait a while. We need to know how Hermione is before we find him, in case he asks."

"He doesn't deserve to know!" Harry said fiercely and glared at Carter, shaking his hand off.

Carter raised his eyebrows and grimaced. Harry Potter in a bad mood was not something anyone needed right now. He was well known amongst the agents for the bad temper he'd developed during the war, and he was an equal to Ron when he got angry enough. A smile briefly touched Carter's mouth. Maybe he should just let him go and find Ron and knock him about for a while, teach him a lesson. He stared at Harry silently for so long that the older man became slightly uncomfortable and ran a hand through his hair.

"Sorry mate, I shouldn't have yelled at you, it isn't your fault," Harry said, sitting down suddenly on a chair and leaning his arms on his knees.

"It's okay, we're all a bit tense at the moment but I still think we should wait a while, okay?" Carter said, taking a seat himself and beginning the long wait for news.

Remus eventually joined them, looking worn and every year of his age, Emmeline trailing in behind him. Harry was the first to jump up.

"How are they?"

Remus remained standing whilst everyone else sat down. "Daphne will be fine, eventually. The bullet went straight through her shoulder and just grazed the artery but luckily there was no nerve damage. She'll have a hell of a scar because the healing spells can't do a perfect job with gunshot wounds. She's lost a lot of blood, and she has a serious concussion but she'll be fine." He took a deep breath and shook his head.

"Hermione... she's not doing well. She's in charm surgery right now. It seems the knife wound was the worst of it, because it caused major blood loss. The beating she took did a fair amount of damage as well."

Tabitha started crying against Carter's shoulder and all the men in the room became silent as they waited for Remus to continue. Harry stood up and started pacing around, unable to keep still any longer.

"He busted one of her ribs and it is lodged in her lung, that's why she stopped breathing. If you two hadn't kept working on her she would be dead now, or severely brain damaged," Remus said as he shot a grateful smile at both of the men.

"Why are they operating on her? What are they doing?" Harry asked quickly.

"They can't re-inflate the lung externally for some reason. The charm won't work and she's still bleeding profusely, so they have to find out why. They said she has a fifty-fifty chance of surviving." Remus ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes, his pain showing for a moment.

"You don't think she's going to make it do you?" Harry asked, slumping back down in his chair in shock.

"I really don't know what to think," Remus replied, going over and sitting next to his best friend's son and clasping his shoulder, before pulling his wife into his arms as he comforted and was given comfort in turn.

It was nearly two hours later when a surgical wizard finally walked into the room, looking around at the assembled agents with surprise. He turned to Remus, the one person he had seen before and smiled, making the older man's legs almost go out from under him with relief.

"She's doing fine. We had to remove a portion of her lung I'm afraid, but she won't even know it's gone. She's had a transfusion charm and we've sorted out the blood loss. The man responsible used a cursed blade, which caused all of this trouble. Now all we have to do is wait for her to wake up. Muggleborns tend to take a little longer to heal in the first place, and given the magnitude of the situation and use of such a knife, she will have a long road to full recovery, but she will recover," the surgical-wizard said, happy that this one had worked out so well. Internally he was thinking of a similar case where the victim had died whilst they were desperately trying to save their life.

"Can we see her?" Remus asked, managing to get his shaky legs to stand up.

"Well, just you and maybe your wife...she's only just come out of the recovery room. Give me a while and I'll arrange for you to see her in ICU."

"Merlin, thank you so much, but I need to take Mr. Potter with me as well. They've been friends since Hogwarts," Remus said, grabbing the man's hand and shaking it enthusiastically. The healer nodded in recognition of Harry and Remus continued. "If there's ever anything you need, anything at all..."

"Mr. Lupin, you've contributed so much to this hospital over the past few years that it's just nice to pay you back for some of it," the surgical-wizard said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, but this is different, this is personal. Thank you," Remus said again, letting a smile touch his mouth as the panic left him.

"It was my pleasure. Give me ten minutes and I'll send a medi-witch for you, okay?"

Remus nodded and watched as the man left the room, closing his eyes with heartfelt relief and then turning to the others. "Where's Ron?"

Carter grimaced and relayed the story, seeing fury written in Remus' eyes, and then sudden understanding. The last emotion confused him and Remus could see it.

"I know how he feels," Remus explained. "I believed what that bastard made her say, and so did Ron. Neither of us should have listened to one word. We should have known."

No one contradicted him and eventually they all settled down and talked about everyday things, trying to keep their minds off the awful events of the day. A nurse came and got Remus, Harry, and Emmeline while the others waited impatiently until they got back, their heads bursting with hundreds of questions they wanted to ask.

"She's okay, she's already shown signs of waking up, but they think she'll probably remain out of it until tomorrow at least. She looks a damn mess though." Remus said, looking angry again. "I've never seen so many spells and charms surrounding one person!"

He looked at Carter and then at Harry, pursing his lips. "Do either of you two know where Ron might be?"

"I have a good idea," Harry said as he nodded.

"Good, let's go and find him then, shall we?" Remus asked and then turned to his wife, kissing her on the forehead. "I'll be back soon okay?"

"I'm staying here until I know both of them are settled properly," she said nodding, with worry still evident in her face. "Neville will stay with me."

"Okay, honey. Take good care of my girls?" Remus asked, smiling sadly then leaving the room, motioning for Carter and Harry to follow.

"Hey what about us?" Isaac Rawlson asked, standing up and dwarfing everyone else.

"Yeah," Yvgeny seconded, standing next to him.

"You two can all go home," Remus told them, his voice and his expression brooking no arguments. "We don't need you to help us right now but you're welcome to come back and see the girls tomorrow."

This seemed to satisfy them and they all nodded and started to move. Carter grabbed Tabitha to him and gave her a kiss, cupping her face in one big hand.

"I hate to leave you like this, but I have to go beat some sense into Ron. You just stay here with Emma and I'll come and get you later okay?"

"It's okay," Tabitha murmured, running one hand up to smooth his hair. "I want to be here in case there's any more news anyway. I'll see you soon."

Satisfied that everything was sorted out, the three men left the room and made their way outside to search for Ron.

They found him some time later, sitting in muggle bar drinking one whisky after another. He looked up as the three men surrounded him, his mouth drawn down in a scowl.

"What the fuck do you want?" Ron asked blearily, glaring at Remus like he was responsible for all his troubles. The werewolf stared blankly back at the pitiful young man as Harry answered for him.

"We want to tear your head off, but I guess we'll have to wait, because in this condition you wouldn't even feel it...and I want you to feel it, you son of a bitch! What the hell is the matter with you?" Harry growled.

"Me? What are you talking about?"

There was a long pause, and Remus held his hand up silencing Harry as he opened his mouth to retort again. "I thought you loved her, but I guess I must have been mistaken." Remus told Ron, "No one who loved her would up and leave her when she needed them the most," the werewolf snarled, settling himself next to Ron and snatching the bottle of triple malt whisky away from him.

They expected Ron to argue or shout, but he said nothing, losing his angry demeanour and starting to look how he really felt, depressed. "How is she?"

"How the fuck do you think she is? And why do you care?" Harry bit out.

"Will she be okay?" Ron continued, feeling guilty again.

Remus stared at him for some time, reading his expression correctly, and he relented. "She will be, eventually. But she needs you, Ron, more now than ever."

"She needs me?" Ron asked, surprised.

"Of course she needs you, you big dope. Merlin, Zeus, and Achilles, you're daft sometimes," Carter interrupted, motioning for the bartender and ordering a pot of coffee, then casting a sobering charm on Ron. Charms never worked quite as well as potions, and coffee was always required to avoid the headache. "Get sober and get to St. Mungo's. She'll be unconscious until morning, but she'll need you when she wakes up and remembers what happened."

"She'll blame me for all of this, for not believing in her," he murmured, rubbing one big hand over his face.

"No she won't, she won't blame any of you. You know how giving she is, regardless of what life's thrown at her," Harry insisted.

Remus listened to Harry speak and then reached out and awkwardly patted Ron on the shoulder, trying to ease the deep pain he could see in the other man's eyes, the slight mist of moisture that was quickly blinked away. "She loves you so much that even if you had been the one hitting her, she'd forgive you. Don't you know that?"

"I don't bloody know anything any more," Ron mumbled, taking the coffee that was placed in front of him and gulping at it, relishing the burning on his lips and tongue. He stared blindly into his coffee cup.

Remus gave him a sympathetic look, knowing he wouldn't want anyone to see him like this. "I'll go find an alley to apparate from, but Carter and Harry are going to stay with you, to make sure you get sobered up. Listen," he said, placing a hand on Ron's shoulder, "don't be so hard on yourself. You didn't do this and you didn't let her down, so stop blaming yourself. That brilliant little witch loves you and I have to believe that she is intelligent enough to have picked someone with a brain to fall in love with. I want nothing more than to see you get to the hospital and make her happy, but don't do what you think is the right thing, do what you really want to do, okay? I'll see you."

Ron lowered his head and tried to fight his emotions as Remus walked away, but it was a losing battle. Harry gave a heavy sigh and sat next to him, grabbing him and pulling him into a quick bear hug, patting his back awkwardly. He was the only man who Ron would ever let hold him in such a way, and right now he needed as much reassurance as he could get. He smiled as Harry pulled back and stared at him, raising his eyebrow.

"Don't think this means I fancy you, because I don't," he said, grinning. "Merlin, I don't even know why Hermione fancies you, you're as ugly as a bucktoothed hippogriff."

"Yeah, well, I'm hung like one too," Ron shot back, forcing himself to lighten his mood as he downed the coffee and stood up.

"I've seen you naked, mate, I know that's a lie. A really big lie too," Carter put in as he walked out of the bar behind both men. "If anyone here is hung like a hippogriff it's me. Just ask Tabitha. Oh, wait, you can't, she hasn't had the privilege yet."

"You two haven't done the deed?" Ron asked, distracted.

"Well, hell, no. She's not the kind of witch you just shag for the sake of shagging," Carter answered, trying not to feel too embarrassed.

"Hermione's the same," Ron said, his lips twisting thoughtfully, "but I plan to rectify that, as soon as she's better."

"Maybe she won't want to, what with you being so small in that department," Harry said, laughing at Ron's outraged expression.

"When I feel more myself you'll be paying for that," Ron warned and followed them to the alley.

"I wonder how I'll cope with the fear of anticipation?" Harry mused. Laughing again as Ron finally cracked a genuine smile. "Come on, let's go see our girl."