White Linen Lies | Dramione

Chapter 3: Accomplices and Allies

"I think I've almost got it- it's another Thurisaz. Base is gone; remind me, what's the gesture for a side right angle?" Hermione asked. They had navigated their way through the vast majority of the wards, with only about seven layers remaining.

While she had done her more than fair share of protective enchantments over the course of that dreadful nine month stint, she had never seen any forms of protection so convoluted and dark. The combination of the repugnant aura and weaponised magic made for some of the most extraordinary and terrifying displays of defensive spellwork she had ever seen.

The Death Eaters had locked them in an unbreakable prison.

The curses used in the spellbinding dampened the potency of spellwork around it, with the design to attack anyone who attempted to use magic directly on the wards. They were both defensive and offensive. It was impossible to touch the wall, but it would still kill you for trying.

"Like this," Blaise answered, demonstrating the motion with his own wand, "Basically an upside-down Immobulus." He watched her carefully as she mimicked his demonstration on the floating rune. As soon as she completed the gesture with no immediate repercussions, the remainder of the rune disappeared, and a new one took its place. Blaise let out a nervous breath and said, "Remember the Arithmancy; that was the seventh rune from the start so you have to repeat it six more times. Don't begin on––"

"––The next rune until it's done. I know," Hermione said flatly. Her concentration never deviated from her wandwork as she continued to deactivate the rune with as much haste as possible. After a few moments and twelve more precise wand movements, she watched as the section of the ward she was working on rippled, washing away another layer, just barely lightening the grey hue of the wards.

Only six more to go.

She let out a sigh of contentment; the only visible sign of emotion as she hid behind her Occlumency. She turned to look back at Blaise, who was carefully studying the diagnostic that Hermione had left on Draco. "How is he?"

"The same, I think. His blood pressure is a little higher which is good, but he can't stay here much longer without treatment," he responded, his gaze not once leaving his friend. They had planned to Rennervate him, but decided that the wards required undivided attention and the inevitable wake of Malfoy's trauma was not something they could afford here.

Hermione nodded in agreement. While it might have been considerably more dangerous to keep Malfoy stunned, it was going to be exponentially easier to get him out of here without having to explain the absolutely implausible circumstances he would find himself in; that, alongside the fact that Hermione and Blaise hadn't the faintest clue as to how he would react, or how well he would manage the pain.

Her attention drifted back to the next rune layer, watching as the visible magic taunted her with its alluring puzzles, as if it were daring her to try her hand and risk retribution. She grimaced back at the challenge in front of her. It may have been impossibly impenetrable, but she was even more so impossibly angry, and impossibly desperate.

Game on.

As time slipped away and what little they could see of a sunrise began to form in the distance, Hermione worked tirelessly on the last six runes. One after the other, she undid their demise, slowly and skillfully. Her magic was cunning and determined, not making a single mistake as she repeated countercurses over and over again, with each rune requiring less attention than the last.

"I believe I'm on the last layer," Hermione said to Blaise, whom she still was not sure her feelings of. They clearly shared a common goal: saving their friends. But in that moment, that was all she knew of him. She knew him to be a person that had never spoken to her, and that it was likely intentional. She knew him to be a man of prejudice, similar to those of his housemates. She knew him to be a wizard who had aimed his wand at her skull merely hours ago, yet here they were, sitting in unexpectedly comfortable silence with one another. "Any last minute information I should be aware of?"