The Dark & the Middle

Chapter 9

Hermione left the forest with the knowledge of three new wards she'd be placing on every Order base she knew of and a handy spell for checking for wards without setting any off. Malfoy had begrudgingly sworn to give her more regular updates and they'd parted ways after a very tense, rather uncomfortable session of him showing her how to do dark magic.

Not to her surprise, almost everyone was sleeping when she returned to the Order's new camp. She took the time to set up all three of the wards Malfoy had shown her and practically dragged herself back to her tent. Wards as powerful as the three she'd just set took a lot of energy and magic; to have practiced several times in the forest earlier and then do them once more over a larger camp had her swaying slightly as she walked. No one was awake to notice, though, and she made it all the way to her bed before she collapsed.

"Hermione?"

She groaned and rolled onto her back, blinking into the darkness as a voice called her name. She was still in her regular clothing, but she'd made it to her bed.

"Hermione?" the voice asked again. She blinked again and Harry and Ron were standing beside her bed.

"I'm okay," she grumbled, scrubbing her face with her hands and wondering when her arms had gotten so heavy. "Out for Kingsley," she explained dumbly.

"You've been gone all day," Ron told her with a frown. "It's past midnight."

"It took a long time," she said. Ron and Harry looked skeptical, but when they realised she wasn't in danger or hurt, they seemed to accept it. "I'm okay," she repeated for them.

"You shouldn't go out alone," Harry told her. He glanced to where Ginny was sleeping and she could see how worried he was. "It's dangerous; even with the Order, it's dangerous."

Hermione just nodded and after a few seconds, he and Ron returned to their beds. As much as she wanted to tell them both she'd gone to keep an eye on a Death Eater base, she knew it would only worry them. The last thing they wanted to hear is that she'd been within sight of a Death Eater base alone and well past dark. She'd just have to keep up the ruse that she'd been setting up a new safe house, though it wasn't a very unbelievable lie at this point.

It didn't seem like Hermione had fallen asleep, but when she blinked again, the darkness was gone and the sun was lighting up the tent. Ron was snoring across the room, but Harry was nowhere in sight. She leaned down to see the bunk below her and found both Harry and Ginny curled up and fast asleep.

Rather than lay back down in her bed, she quietly got up, showered, and got dressed before leaving the tent to find food. She'd never been one to sleep in and typically, after she woke up the first time in the morning, she had trouble going back to sleep. It was an advantage when living through a war, she supposed, but there were always days when she wished she could get a little extra sleep.

The camp was just waking up as she walked through the tents to find breakfast. Not many others were awake, but the medical wing was bustling. If Hermione wasn't in a bit of a rush to talk to Kingsley, she would have stopped to help for a while. She turned away instead, telling herself she would stop in after finding Kingsley.

Hermione didn't eat breakfast in the tent they were serving it. She got her bowl of oats and walked through the maze of tents instead, searching for Kingsley as she ate. He wasn't in his tent, so she wandered through any of the areas she thought he might be in. It wasn't until she'd finished her breakfast and sent the bowl back to the kitchens that she found him speaking with Harry outside of their tent. With a frown, she walked up behind him and waited for Harry to finish speaking.

"—and good," Harry said, nodding briefly at Hermione. Kingsley twisted around and glanced at her before turning back to Harry.

"I'll be by later to check again," Kingsley told him. Hermione saw Harry's jaw tighten and she narrowed her eyes at Kingsley, wondering what they'd been talking about. She didn't have much time to muse before Kingsley turned away from Harry and looked back at her. "How can I help you, Miss Granger?" he asked, grabbing hold of her arm and steering her away from where Harry was standing.