From Wiltshire, With Love

Chapter 29

Hermione stared down at the table. "We won't be able to get any more Portkeys if we don't have any funds, will we?"

The modus operandi of Death Eater raids, wherever they were, was to first install anti-Apparition wards. They caught you by surprise with the raid, trapped you in while you were outnumbered and then picked you off one by one. That's how they managed to kill off Order members in the First Wizarding War. That's how all of the raids had been performed the summer and autumn after the Ministry fell. They were sitting ducks if one of their safe houses were compromised. It was only a matter of time before it happened, and Portkeys had been Hermione's evacuation plan.

The Order couldn't stay hidden forever. It was a nerve-racking game of cat and mouse.

Remus spoke. "Minerva and I have been working on an alternative. Portkeys are the ideal solution, but the time and cost needed to acquire enough for a solid evacuation plan for everyone are prohibitive. We're only at 35%-"

"45%," Tonks corrected. Tonks was in charge of Portkey distribution after Hermione made or repurposed them.

Remus continued. "We're only at 45% right now unless more than one Order member uses the same Portkey at the same time." He eyed Kingsley. "Are you leaving for the States?"

Kingsley nodded once and spoke. "I fear it's too late to warn them, but I'll leave immediately. When I get back, we need to discuss what the Malfoys are doing with the Wizengamot." He shifted his gaze to Hermione, and she felt chastened, like she should have already known what the Malfoys were up to. Maybe she should have. "Thank you, Hermione." He stood up and shared a knowing look with Tonks and Remus before he left.

Hermione didn't like that look. Kingsley could convey entire volumes of literature with mere glances.

Tonks turned back to her and spoke first. "Hermione, we haven't really talked about how you're handling the spy since the beginning when I walked you through it. Mostly we discussed protecting yourself, protecting the Order and retaining the upper hand."

"Right," Hermione agreed.

"He has been helpful," Tonks stated. "The estate plans have been coming in as promised."

"He has," she insisted, wondering where Tonks was leading the conversation.

Once again, even though she had just screamed at him earlier today, she felt the sudden need to defend Malfoy whenever he came up during meetings. Like the Portkeys, he was her project. Her not insignificant contribution to the success of the Order because she had taken the responsibility upon herself. The success or failure of both efforts hinged on her and her alone.

Remus sat back in his chair, eyeing her, and Hermione blushed without quite knowing why. Tonks leaned forward, catching onto her defensive tone. "You still don't understand why he's given you some information but held back on others. Like this."

She couldn't deny that. It was true.

"In some cases," Hermione explained, "he thinks the information he passes on will hurt himself, or others he wants to protect. That information he refuses to give. Usually he just denies knowing, I don't know when he's being truthful."

Remus scratched his stubble. "That's understandable. So sometimes he's honest about what he can't tell you and sometimes he's not, but you don't always know when. What about the information he has given you? What's the connection?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "It's puzzling. Although perhaps it's as you originally said. That he told us about the Veritaserum so that Dolohov would be tortured instead of having a painless death. When they were all captured, Dolohov was in the middle of casting the Cruciatus Curse on him."