Semper Fidelis

Chapter 16.4

The light which drifted into the room when the door opened awoken Hermione from her fitful slumber. Heavy eyelids opened to see Demos walk towards her with a ferocious look on his face. His wand was clenched tightly in his hand and Hermione grimaced at being reminded of the Cruciatus she had endured.

"Where is the staff?" Demos whispered menacingly. From behind him Hermione spied his cronies encircling the study gallery she was being kept locked in.

She didn't say anything but averted her gaze instead. Demos growled and painfully grabbed her jaw to force her to look at him.

"Tell me!" He yelled angrily. "This whole thing goes beyond you, you little bitch! You DON'T want me telling my superiors that YOU are withholding something they've been looking for for a long time. They won't be happy and that little curse from before is NOTHING to what they would do to you. You should be thankful I'm being so patient." 

Something flashed in Hermione's eyes and the next second her right fist was colliding with Demos' jaw. There was a loud crunch followed by an animalistic howl as Demos dropped his hold on her to tend to his bruising mouth. The force knocked him onto his arse.

Her hand was stinging with pinpricks of pain but the surprised and pained look on Demos' face was worth it. "Damn you!" The wizard yelled.

The other men in the room started to approach the centre but Demos held up a hand. He tried to gracefully stand up from his position all the while clenching his jaw. When he was on his feet, he pointed his wand at Hermione.

"You're going to regret that! Cru-"

But before the Unforgivable Curse could be uttered, multiple loud bangs were heard from outside of the room. Demos' head swivelled behind him as his men drew their wands and positioned themselves between Demos and the door.

Hermione, as with all of the wizards in the room, eyed the door apprehensively. They could hear more sounds now, sounds which Hermione could identify as spells and curses. Her heart started beating faster and just about jumped out from her chest when the door burst wide open and flew off of its hinges.

The next few minutes happened as if in slow motion for Hermione. Demos and his group of wizards didn't wait for the dust to settle. They immediately started firing spells at the entryway not caring who was on the other side.

"Confringo!"

"Expulso!"

It was chaos. Hermione tried to see who was on the other side but the men blocked her vision.

"Expelliarmus!"

The spell hit one of Demos' goons so hard that he was blasted backwards behind her. He crashed into one of the glass cases lining the wall adding onto the cacophony of noises around her. Hermione looked as the man moaned amidst the rubble he created. Broken glass, ceramic, and marble laid around him.

There was a break in the wall of men in front of her now and she could see the entryway illumined in bright light. All of her captors' spells were being absorbed by the white light and Hermione realized it was multiple Protego shields cast on top of each other. She watched as halos of light moved inside the room one after the other. The one to her right moved so swiftly and quickly engaged with another one of Demos' men. The shield dropped and Hermione felt tears reaching her eyes. She watched as the female Auror in an oversized uniform gracefully dodge the Petrificus Totalus thrown at her and retaliated with her own.

Tonks.

It was Tonks.

The Aurors were here.

She looked around her trying to see how she could help them. Demos and his men had pretty much forgotten about her after the Aurors interrupted their interrogation. But her wand had been taken and she didn't know where it was. Her body was still aching from the curses she had endured. No, she couldn't help the Aurors fight, Hermione thought. But she could help them by not getting in the way. If she decided to barge into the melee even with a wand, the Aurors might accidentally hit her, or worse, she hit one of them.

So Hermione watched from her position on the floor. Another woman followed behind Tonks, her colourful and flowy dress such a stark contrast against the blacks and greys everyone else around them were wearing. She was beautiful, this female Auror, but she moved with deadly intent as she engaged with another one of Demos' men.

Then Hermione watched as another familiar figure entered the scene. Remus, though older than she had last seen him, was fast and quick. He sent a stunner which brought down a heavy set wizard Tonks was fighting against and together they made good of another one.

Demos' men were falling one by one but the man himself was standing firm. He was skilled with a wand and Hermione watched as he dodged the spells thrown at him expertly. There was still commotion outside of the door that Hermione was certain more of his men came to assist.

She tore her eyes away from the Greek and looked to the entrance.

Her breath caught in her throat. Her heart almost stopped beating.

He came in like an avenging angel, so dark and full of purpose. He moved with grace and fluidity as he fired spells left and right. His green eyes were ablaze with anger and such intensity as he engaged in the fight.

There he was, she thought. Hermione let out a breath.

There was her saviour and her best friend.

There was the man who stole her heart all those years ago.

There was the only man she had ever loved.

And there was the man she ran away from. 

Hermione couldn't make herself look away.

Even when his eyes met hers across the room, she couldn't look away from him. Even when those beautiful emerald orbs she had loved for so long looked at her with so much anger and pain, Hermione held their gaze with her own.

She felt everything as she watched him. Anxiety, fear, love, pain. Every emotion she had tried to bury over the past eleven years resurfaced at that very moment but one feeling trumped over all of the other.

It was regret.

Because one look from those cold, green eyes were telling and Hermione knew that he knew.

As she watched him, Hermione could no longer hide the fact that she had made a terrible mistake. She knew she shouldn't have left. She shouldn't have kept such a terrible secret. It was her own fear that made her leave despite the excuses she told herself and everyone else who knew. Her cowardice resulted in actions with irreversible consequences.

She felt so tired. Physically, magically, emotionally. Her throbbing headache finally forced her to look away and she cradled her head with one hand. The exhaustion from Demos' unknown spell, the Cruciatus, and lack of food while in captivity was finally taking a toll on her body. She longed for the fighting to end and wished to be led away from the place but still the duel continued. Demos was formidable, but he was wavering. His men had been cut down to only two and Hermione saw more Aurors enter the room.

The shattering of glass made her look back. The burly wizard amongst the rubble had awoken. She watched him as he tried to stand up and saw as he felt around for his wand. It was too far away though and Hermione could see it on the floor closer to her. Curiously she watched as the man reached into his robes and her eyes widened when he pulled out a gun.

It all happened too quickly. The noise of the spell fight was still too loud. The Aurors weren't looking at the wizard they had initially downed. The man pointed his gun and aimed it at the Auror ahead of the whole charge. Hermione didn't have time to yell. She didn't have time to scream for them to take cover. So instead, she did what came instinctively to her. When she saw that gun point at Harry who was engaged in a fight with Demos, Hermione did the only thing she could do to help.

Willing her aching body to move, she put herself in its way.

The yell was almost drowned out by the loud bang.

She felt pain on her side.

And then all was black.