The Internal Devices

Chapter 24

"Oh my gods, Draco! This is not a holiday!"

"Apfelstrudel!"

"No!"

"Apfelstrudel!"

"No."

They went through France, much to Draco's dismay.

From the very edge of France, Hermione had them apparate through Austria and Hungary (to which Draco muttered he was very 'hung-ary' and Hermione pretended she had lost all hearing), and finally, they landed in Romania. Hermione checked the time. Half-past three in the morning, exactly one hour before she had agreed to meet with Charlie. She sank to the ground in exhaustion.

They decided to rest for as much time as they could, and toward the end of the hour, they each downed a pepperup potion. She didn't expect any trouble tonight, but it was best to have their wits about them. She quickly stood and stretched before looking at Draco, who was much more subdued than he had been the rest of the night.

"Ready?" He nodded and reached for her arm. Hermione had been to visit Charlie once before, so she planned to apparate them right to the edge of the facility. Charlie would meet them in the shadows and quietly lead them to the correct sector before scampering off to make sure no one bothered them. He assured them that the dragons should be asleep, or at the very least docile under tranquilizers, so they should be able to obtain the samples and apparate away directly. With a steadying breath, she apparated them into the dark.

They appeared with a small crack, and after taking a moment to become oriented in the dim lighting, they pressed themselves back into a large stone wall. This was the south wing of the facility, far from sleeping quarters. Draco rapped her curls with his wand, and she felt a disillusionment charm slide over her; she nodded a quick thanks. Before Draco did the same for himself, she saw him gazing at the space she had disappeared into with an odd expression; she didn't have any time to overanalyze it though. Just as the last sight of his shoes faded from view, Charlie slipped around the corner.

"Hermione?" He whispered.

"Here. Me and Dra–my partner–are here." She responded quietly. Charlie flipped her a thumbs-up and beckoned for them to follow. The three of them trudged through a long, muddy trail for at least a kilometer. Every few minutes, she could hear Draco sniffing in distaste and it took all of her restraint not to throw her own soiled shoe at him. Unfortunately, she probably would have missed when he was disillusioned, and then she would be down a shoe, which really wouldn't help anyone. She settled for splashing in every puddle, hoping it would douse him. If the hiss that just left his mouth was any indication, she had just been successful. She beamed at the darkness in front of her.

They reached a tall, barbed-wire fence, sizzling with magic. Charlie warned them never to touch it–the spell they used was magnifica electrum, holding more than enough energy to stun a dragon and fry a witch or wizard. He instructed them to silently levitate themselves over the tall fencing and drop onto the ground on the other side. Hermione assured him they would be fine, and planned to disapparate immediately after collecting the samples. Charlie bid them good luck, and hurried back down the long pathway they had recently taken. Once gone, Draco lifted their disillusionment charm and raised his eyebrows, waiting for instructions.

Hermione dug into her newly charmed trouser pockets. Over the years, she had grown rather fond of the undetectable extension charm and applied it to almost everything. She carefully pulled out ten straight-stick needles, a bundle of gauze, antiseptic, and ten collecting tubes for the blood draw. After a moment of consideration, she put the gauze and antiseptic back in her pockets. They needed to work quickly, and cleaning charms would be more efficient than muggle sterilization methods.