Strange Attractors

Chapter 40 - Hogsmeade Crisis II

The shorter witch stood up, still rather shaken. Hermione kept her within her line of sight as she walked a few steps back and then turning around to see the other two. It was only then that she offered the witch her wand back.

"Is there anyone else that wants to try?" Her composure and voice were cool.

The princess lookalike wasn't going to try, she knew. That was why she stared down the tall witch next, waiting for her to move. The other witch didn't say anything.

"Great! Now, everyone can move on and leave this to Tom and I." Hermione stated.

"You're not waiting for the Aurors?" The tall witch asked.

"We don't know when they're going to come, if at all. Someone needs to bring him down." She said.

"And that someone is you?" The Slytherin was sceptical.

"To be honest, she did bring down the shooter outside," Tom answered with a studied casualness. "Hermione did it with a single physical attack—which, now that I think about it, sort-of mirrored what she did just now, doesn't it? I'm sure she's quite capable of bringing another one down."

Hermione could see fear growing in the blonde Slytherin, hemmed by her two henchwomen. Other than making her sound like some sort of skilled martial artist instead of someone who simply clocked a man when he was down, she appreciated Tom's defence. It certainly shut them up.

'-

"What are you looking for?" Tom asked her when he saw her lying down at the lowest steps of the stairs and gazing up from the carpet. With most people out of the way, the task of searching the shops fell to the two of them once again.

"Tripwires. They're not exactly magical traps that you can detect with a spell." She answered.

"Hermione, does the man we brought down look as if he's part of a disciplined, organised outfit?"

She paused. Well, he was definitely not from any army, unlike the ones Grindelwald brought against the Ministry. "No?"

"Then which do you think is more plausible, that he'd just arrived today or yesterday and it was his first visit, or that he'd actually visited Hogsmeade at least a week before to scout and prepare? And possibly even trap the place he was staying at?"

The brunette witch pushed herself up and saw the humour in his eyes.

"You just have to use common sense, don't you?" She grumbled.

"I do try." He said, with none of the humility that one usually expects to hear when someone gave that sort of reply. "How are you even sure that he's in the second floor of this place?"

"Well, based on the angle of your wound, and my memory of our position, it was either this store, or the ones to its left or right. Since we're already here, I thought we might as well check out the place."

She was about to step up when Tom went off ahead.

"Tom!"

"In case there is a trap, it's better if only one of us gets hit, isn't it?" He replied.

"Yes, but why you?"

"I'm already hurt. It's better if further damage happened to me while you stay unharmed. You're the one who can apparate and get us out. It would be more inconvenient if you were the one to get hurt first, even for me."

His answer was a dispassionate, logical one. Some part of her still couldn't help but see it from the lens of selflessness and the way she and her friends would sacrifice their lives for each other. It did not seem to matter to her mind that she knew selfless was the last thing that he could be, and the ensuing dissonance was headache-inducing. The easiest solution, she had concluded, was to just accept what he'd said and stop thinking about it.