Promise to the Past | 🐾 ᴍᴀʀᴀᴜᴅᴇʀs ✓

21 | Catching the Rat

~ Inner-Circle Order Meeting: Headquarters 

"You can't honestly mean to send Hermione out with him alone?" Sirius growled. 

"For once, Dumbledore," Snape drawled in his usual disinterest, "I have to agree with him. The Dark Lord has his eyes set on Granger, she needs more protection than that." 

It had been a few days since that tension filled night in the Burrow. The Marauders had formed a tentative truce with Snape, which mostly consisted of staying out of his way. This was fairly easy most of the time, except in times like these when Dumbledore called the inner circle together. They had just received intel from Moody about the possible whereabouts of the one and only Peter Pettigrew. Everyone was a bit antsy that Snape had been pulled into the inner circle, except Hermione who'd grown up with him in that role. But Dumbledore insisted that he knew everything anyway, and his experience with the Death Eaters could provide valuable insight into strategizing.   

"Why does Hermione have to go at all," Fabian finally spoke up. "We can send others to go after Pettigrew, Hermione is vital for dealing with Horcruxes." 

"And all the Horcruxes are gone! I will not sit here and watch the rest of you fight this war without me when I've been dealing with this since I was eleven!" Hermione snapped. 

"But you still can't mean to send her alone with Snape," James reiterated, sending a suspicious glance his way to which Severus merely rolled his eyes. 

Dumbledore finally interrupted their squabbling, his tone as patient as ever. "I said we needed both Hermione and Severus to go. Hermione is the most informed about the overall workings of this war, as she herself has indicated. And Severus knows how the other side works. But I never said they were the only ones who could go."  

"Ye're forgetting that she could probably best every single one of you in a duel," Moody grumbled. Hermione smiled at her mentor. She knew she was growing on him. 

"I'll go," Sirius immediately volunteered. "I don't trust him," he shot Snape a dirty look. "Besides, if we're about to catch Peter, I intend to be a part of it." 

"You can count us in," Gideon called out, smirking at his twin. "Can't leave the kids to go get themselves in trouble, now can we?" 

As much as James itched to volunteer as well, he knew they would never allow him to put himself in such a vulnerable position. Lily's nails nervously digging into his arm told him as much. And it was much too close to the full moon for Remus to be of any use on an active mission.     

"That should be plenty," Dumbledore said positively. "This is probably just going to be a reconnaissance mission, this place hasn't been visited by anyone in the week we've kept an eye on it." 

~o~o~o~ 

The team apparated to the destination, landing directly into the premises. It was an old, torn down cottage on the edges of a small muggle village. And immediately, Hermione felt an odd chill run up her spine. It was too similar to the eerie feeling she got at Godric's Hollow for her liking. 

"Did you already disarm the wards around this place?" She asked the Prewetts. 

"No, Moody's told us not to get near it until this point." 

"Why is there no protection on this place then? Pettigrew couldn't have been that stupid!" 

"He always was shit at magic," Snape sneered. "I could only assume he'd be an equally inept soldier."