Time and Tide

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Hermione caught an eastward current and let it hurry her to Edinburgh. She breached at the familiar Newhaven Lighthouse. Night and the temperature had fallen sufficiently to send people into their homes, so Hermione heaved herself onto the dock in the harbor and shed her skin.

She folded the sealskin over her arm and Disillusioned herself with a sharp rap to the top of her head. She made her way over the docks and into the city proper at a careful half-jog. Disillusionments weren't foolproof, but they were more effective at night, when the light didn't refract and glimmer.

The streets were empty, the sidewalks bare, and she navigated through the district without issue. She turned down a side street and used her wand to tap a precise pattern of knocks on the door.

It unlatched, swinging forward on silent hinges and granting her entry into a dark storage space. She mounted the stairs to the living level, wand drawn. It was near midnight, so quiet was to be expected. It was also George and Lee, so this brand of quiet—total, weighty, and tense—felt wrong. She paused at the top of the stairs.

"Homenum Revelio."

Nothing.

Her stomach fell, dread creeping over her like an unwelcome fog. After locking the door behind her with a quick charm, Hermione sent a Lumos into the living level. She took a breath, braced herself, rounded the corner, and immediately sagged against the wall.

George and Lee lay sprawled upon the floor, necks slit like bloody smiles. Arterial sprays arced across the threadbare sofa, the papered walls, and the white ceiling. Their wands lay beside them, spellfire evidenced by singed holes punched through the walls and a dining table blown to pieces. They'd fought and fought hard.

Hermione sheathed her wand and shuffled forward on numb legs. She sank to the floor between them, closing their empty eyes with a touch.

Time blurred as she mourned them, hours passing as minutes, or perhaps minutes as seconds. What was the point of it all? What did their deaths mean, in the grand scheme? The Edinburgh connection was lost, but only for now. It would be relocated, re-staffed. They were replaceable.

Only one person wasn't. Only Harry.

He had to end this.

It had to end.

Knees sore and creaking, Hermione got to her feet and drew her wand. There was not enough happiness in the world to summon a corporeal Patronus, but the Order needed to know. She closed her eyes.

"Expecto Patronum." A faint, white wisp appeared. She whispered to it. "Edinburgh has been compromised. George Weasley and Lee Jordan deceased. Safe house cleared by Hermione Granger."

She paused. Patronuses were not often sent; too easily intercepted, too easily adulterated. She couldn't risk telling too much of her plans. Or of Draco.

"Heading south over land. I suffered a serpent's bite, but the path ahead remains green."

Vague, but hopefully it was enough.

She swept the house next, moving room by room, her exploration methodical and thorough. George and Lee were experienced enough not to store Order intelligence, but there were other things worth keeping. She found a bag hanging on the door to George's room. She Extended and waterproofed it, gathering what she could not bear to lose: a photo of Fred, George, and Lee, framed and set bedside; a cache of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes products; George and Lee's wands.