The Fallout by EveryThursday (reposted)

Twenty-Seven

"I mean they are on their way if they aren't here already!" Harry snaps.

"So we take the exits? Windows, doors, we--" Hermione cuts herself off when someone brushes against her arm. Footsteps, quick and decisive.

"No, they will set the whole thing on fire. We're going to have to round the house-- Who is that?" Harry's voice became closer, and that is how she knows it's him that bangs shoulders with her as he runs by.

Hermione can see a flash of red in the moonlight as Ginny opens the front door, and then the orange of Harry's Phoenix band as he grabs her. A blue ball of magic tears across the darkness outside the window, lighting up Harry and Ginny as he kicks the door shut and slams both of them to the ground. The curse shatters the entire door, chunks and splinters of wood blowing into and over the couple on the floor.

"Shit!" someone screams behind her, but her adrenaline has already clogged her ears too much for her to distinguish the voice. She sprints toward the door, but Harry has already rolled the two of them out of the doorway before she's halfway there. The Killing Curse colors them all green before tearing a hole through the wall.

"Everyone out!" Harry screams, jumping to his feet. "Fitz, take the back, Seamus and Angelina, West. Hermione, Simon, East. Find the closest exit there, circle the house!"

Hermione turns for the right of the house as Harry pulls the coin out of his pocket. She can feel the heat roar to life in her packet as she throws open a window in the living room. She pushes herself up, Simon's hands slamming into the back of her thighs hard enough for her knees to hit the wall as he shoves her out the window. She hits the ground, her breath leaving with a grunt as a curse flies over her and shatters the glass. It rains down on top of her as she rolls to her feet, shards slicing her palm, unaware if Simon is alive until he drops down next to her.

They are completely exposed. The Death Eaters blend into the woods around them, having a clear sight to them while remaining hidden. There is no cover, no protection, and Hermione feels like she might have just started running through a land mine - she might be okay for a couple of seconds, but something is going to blow her to pieces any moment now.

Disillusionment charms were useless, considering that the Death Eaters already knew where they were and would see them through it. She wishes she still had a Safe Kit. A small pack that contained some choice potions, including one that created invisibility for one minute and twenty-two seconds. But then the war started costing too much money, and Safe Kits were phased out after two months to compensate for the scarcity of hospital beds, potions, food, or even parchment. Aurors were also paid. Phoenixes died pro bono.

Hermione throws a blocking spell up as a yellow stream of light darts at them. The force of it hitting the shield sends her and Simon smashing back into the side of the house. "I thought Lupin said they would cast to kill?"

"They know they have us trapped. They want to play with us," Hermione rushes out. Simon stands stunned as she yells the Killing Curse, her wand aimed in the direction the spell had come from. "We're the trapped ones - we're casting to kill."

Simon still only yells out stunning and binding spells, and his wand shakes the entire time. Hermione does not blame him, despite that it is both their lives, because she remembers and she remembers too well. She would do it for the both of them, because Simon didn't have to remember. He didn't have to know what it felt like at all.

A ball of purple hits the house behind her almost an arms length from her shoulder. She mutters her thanks on her breath, because judging by the shot at least one of the Death Eaters is inexperienced. "Simon, I need you to Lumos them--"

She catches a flash of light from the corner of her eye just as Simon screams out. He hits his knees, but she doesn't have time to look over, throwing up another block as two ink-black spells come toward them. She almost misses them in the night, and if she still thought about such things in a duel, she would know that they would have hit had she moved a second later.