Only Way to Conquer It
Hermione looked from the gang of Slytherins in Gryffindor Tower to the possible Slytherin with whom she'd just been speaking.
"You," she hissed. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted you."
Before Sally-Anne could reply, Malfoy cut in first.
"As if we needed her help to find all of you. We know where you lot hang out. We've always known, and we can get into any room we want."
Hermione remained ready for a fight. This was her home, and she was going to defend it if need be. Behind her, Harry edged out of the spotlight, while Sally-Anne took center stage in front of her.
"What are you all doing here?" Sally-Anne asked.
"We've got instructions to bring them in," Parkinson said, pointing to Hermione and her friends. "Traitor, Criminal, and any Weasleys we can find are coming with us." She smirked at Sally-Anne. "If you're not careful, Mudblood, we'll have to take you with us."
Hermione heard the familiar click of Ginny readying her wand.
"If you're really going to resort to name-calling, then I've got plenty of names to call you," Sally-Anne said coolly. "Although, given that you're not that bright, I doubt you'd recognize most of them."
Parkinson shoved her way to the front of the group and leveled her wand at Sally-Anne.
Sally-Anne herself held up her hand to stop Ginny from going after Parkinson.
"Why don't I just take you down right now?" Parkinson said. "I could say you fought back."
"If I fought back, you'd lose, and Umbridge knows that. By the time you've fired your spell, I'll be protected. And that's assuming that one of my friends doesn't take you out first." Sally-Anne took a step forward. "But it's not going to come to that. Whatever it is Umbridge wants, she's not unreasonable. Take me in and I'll talk to her."
Ron replied.
Hermione let her eyes dart to her friends. Sure enough, Ginny and Ron had their wands ready but hidden, and Harry was nowhere to be seen. While she wished Neville and Luna were there to back them up, she was glad they were outside. If things went south, Neville could bring in Luna, assuming he'd found her.
Taltria and Alavel are also still out there. They'll think of something.
It wasn't that she doubted her friends; in a fair fight, or anything resembling one, she had no doubt that they'd win. Unfortunately, a fair fight wasn't likely to happen. She still wasn't sure whose side Sally-Anne was on, nor what else Malfoy would've planned. If they made a wrong move against them, they could all fall right into a trap.
"We'll go quietly," Hermione said. "Whatever it is Umbridge wants, we'll cooperate."
Ron held his hands up, his wand nowhere to be seen.
Harry stepped out of the shadows, his wand also hidden.
They were patted down, then marched to Umbridge's office as a group, including Sally-Anne. Hermione kept her cool as they walked. She couldn't afford to slip up. This was the end, she knew it. She just didn't know how it would end yet.
Umbridge faced away from them when they entered. She looked over each of them after she faced them.
"Ms. Perks," Umbridge said. "Conspiring with the enemy? I thought I could trust you."
"This is all getting out of hand," Sally-Anne said, somehow remaining dignified while being held captive. "This doesn't need to go any further. Headmistress Umbridge, I've got reason to believe that Rose Peta-Lorrum didn't kill herself. If she didn't, then the entire argument against both Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore falls apart."
"Except she did kill herself," Umbridge said. "You said so yourself."
"Neither of us were there," Sally-Anne replied.
Hermione wasn't sure what to make of the situation. Any second, Sally-Anne was going to sell them out, she was sure of it.
"I don't need to have been there. Peta-Lorrum is dead. She killed herself. That's a fact."
"Prove it."
"That's not possible."
"So you can't know for sure. If you can't prove it, then—"
"I don't need to prove it, Ms. Perks, I'm the Ministry."
"And the Ministry doesn't care, does it?" Hermione asked, seizing her opportunity.
"Hermione, that's not helping," Sally-Anne hissed, but Hermione shook her head.
"I think it is, because I know what Toad and Moon never worked out," Hermione said. "Moon and her dad saw it first, but came to the wrong conclusion. They think Minister Fudge is a vampire because no one's seen him outside in the daytime. But it's not that he's avoiding the sun, he's avoiding people. He knows there's something out there, and he's set on making sure it doesn't get him, and that no one else knows about it."
Sally-Anne looked genuinely surprised, which Hermione took as a good sign.
"Headmistress, is this true?" Sally-Anne asked, turning her attention back to Umbridge. "Has Minister Fudge really not gone out in the daytime?"
"Since last June," Hermione added.
"That's preposterous!" Umbridge scoffed. "Of course he has. This is nothing but a conspiracy by some mad children."
"No one's been able to get an interview with him or even a public statement," Hermione said. "He's the Minister of Magic, but he hasn't made any public appearances outside the Ministry offices since last June, almost a year ago."
"That's enough!"
"He's not even sending out a doppelganger, so it can't just be about saving his own skin! If he goes out, and Death Eaters attack him, it'll prove he's been hiding something!"
"Silence!" Umbridge bellowed.
"I won't be silent anymore!" Hermione shouted. "I'm not afraid of you! You've already turned my home into a gromphun prison camp! You've taken my friends prisoner at wand-point! All because you think I really know something? Because Professor Dumbledore's some evil mastermind? Really?"
"No one's saying that," Sally-Anne said.
"Why else would she send her goon squad to Gryffindor Tower like that?" Hermione asked. "Why else would they bring you in, apart from Parkinson's grudge against you? Everyone else likes you, enough that they can look past your blood status, and that's saying a lot. But no, she asked that we all be taken in."
"I didn't ask that Ms. Perks be taken captive," Umbridge said. "Only that any co-conspirators be taken as well."
"But you're not surprised."
Sally-Anne continued to look between Umbridge and Hermione, evidently not sure who to trust.
"I know how easily you turn students against me," Umbridge said. "I'm terribly sorry for what's happened to you, Traitor, but this isn't my fault. If Dumbledore hadn't put those lies into your head, then you'd be fine."
"The only person putting lies into my head is High Emperor Gau Halak!"
Umbridge frowned and looked to Sally-Anne for an explanation.
"It's what Rose always called Minister Fudge," Sally-Anne explained. "Gau halak is some sort of insult."
"It means blank page," Hermione said. "Illumian. Because they value knowledge, and an empty page is considered useless. Just… like… Fudge."
Umbridge didn't seem phased by any of this. She simply smiled to show she was still in control.
"If you won't be cooperative, then I'll need to employ other methods of… encouragement."
Sally-Anne found herself torn. With a wand pointed at her, she had no choice but to cooperate. There was no telling what Parkinson would do to her. Hermione was right, the girl hated Sally-Anne. She was certain Parkinson would hex her for fun if she got the chance.
"Gonna use veritaserum on me?" Hermione asked with a smirk.
On cue, Professor Snape opened the door to Umbridge's office.
"You wanted to see me, Headmistress?" he asked, taking a quick look at the scene in front of him.
"Yes, I did!" Umbridge snapped. "Veritaserum. I need it."
"We're out."
Sally-Anne didn't let her relief show on her face. The task was made easier by her realizing that without veritaserum, Umbridge would have to do something else.
"What was that?"
"I said we're out. You've used it all to dose students' tea while you interrogated them."
Sally-Anne had never been so grateful to her mum than she was at that moment.
"Well, what are you standing there for? Go down to your dungeon and make some more!"
��I can't," Snape said. "It takes a full moon-cycle for the batch to mature. Unless you're planning to poison this lot — although knowing their kind, it won't work — I can't help you."
"Of course you can!" Umbridge shrieked. "If you won't, then I hereby place you on probation, Severus! Such a shame, too. Lucius speaks highly of you."
"I'm sure."
Snape looked over the scene again before leaving.
"I'll remind you all that killing students involves a lot of paperwork that none of us wants to do, so do try to avoid that. Although, if you want poison, I've always got wicker eye plants. Their nectar tastes like your morning tea and cause any human that ingests it a fatal heart attack."
"Fascinating, but you can leave."
Sally-Anne caught Snape's gaze as he left. It was odd. If she didn't know him better, she would've thought he had just threatened Umbridge. In fact, the more she thought about it, she was quite sure that was exactly what he'd done. It wasn't a stretch to get "kill those students and I'll kill you" out of his words.
"Unfortunately, there seems to be a shortage," Umbridge said after Snape left. "I can still use… other methods."
The most terrifying part about it was that Sally-Anne didn't know what Umbridge planned to do. Umbridge had gone mad. If Hermione was right — and Sally-Anne was becoming increasingly convinced that she was — Fudge did believe Harry and Dumbledore, he just didn't want anyone to know about it. He was happy keeping himself safe, so long as it didn't ruin his reputation. He was putting his reputation above the safety of the entirety of Wizarding Britain.
"It's important," Umbridge said, although to whom, Sally-Anne couldn't tell. It worried her that the answer was likely Umbridge herself.
"Too important to risk it… no, no, I've got to… this is a matter of Ministry security, it must be done."
"Headmistress, you're not well," Sally-Anne said. "I think everything that's happened is starting to take its toll on you. Perhaps you should hold us until tomorrow morning, after you've gotten some rest."
"I'm quite well, Ms. Perks!" Umbridge shrieked in a tone that suggested that she was not well at all. "I know exactly what must be done." She raised her wand at Hermione. "The Cruciatus Curse ought to do the trick."
Sally-Anne found it odd that the only one of her friends that didn't shout was Hermione.
"What?!" Harry.
"Don't you dare!" Ron.
"Headmistress, please!" Sally-Anne herself.
"I'll incinerate you, jato!" Ginny.
Umbridge's face bore a sick glee, matched by Parkinson. Sally-Anne glanced at Malfoy, who, to his credit, had a stern, almost unpleasant expression on his face.
"Headmistress, Minister Fudge wouldn't want this," Sally-Anne tried again. "Using an Unforgivable Curse is illegal, not to mention on a student."
"Time is of the essence, and if Snape isn't going to help, then I've got to go another route, If you aren't quiet, Ms. Perks, you'll be next."
Sally-Anne tensed at the threat. She couldn't fathom the pain the Cruciatus Curse caused. One hit of it had nearly driven Hermione mad. Prolonged exposure had turned Neville's parents into vegetables.
"Nothing to say to that, Traitor? No witty remark?"
Umbridge nodded to Millicent Bulstrode, who held Hermione, and the girl released her. Hermione made no effort to escape. Instead, she laughed.
"Good bluff. I almost believed you for a moment, but you're a pencil pusher. You don't have it in you to use the Unforgivable Curses. You're an Undersecretary. 'Chief' Undersecretary is just a title men give to women they're trying to f—"
"Crucio!"
Hermione's screams filled the office as she fell to the ground. Harry, Ron, and Ginny struggled against their restraints, but the Slytherins held them fast.
"Tell me what Dumbledore's planning, and I'll stop," Umbridge said firmly.
"Headmistress!"
Umbridge didn't even look up. She held her gaze on Hermione as her knuckles turned white from gripping her wand.
The scene nearly made Sally-Anne physically ill. It took everything she had to hold together. It wasn't like at the hospital with Viktor's family and friends. She couldn't show weakness, not here in Umbridge's office.
After nearly a minute of screams, Umbridge withdrew her wand.
"Are you ready to talk, Traitor?"
Hermione lay curled up in a ball, sobbing.
"It was you… wasn't it?" she sobbed. "T-that sent that… that Dementor after me and Harry. You wanted to goad him into using a Patronus Charm."
Sally-Anne looked from Hermione to Umbridge.
"It's funny how it disappeared without doing anything useful," Umbridge said.
A mad grin spread across Hermione's face, accompanied by a matching laugh.
"Sort of like the Dementors the Ministry sent two years ago. Your idea as well?"
"No one else has the courage to do what's necessary," Umbridge spat. She held up her wand. "But I do. Are you going to talk or not?"
"Grahk d'ka."
"Crucio!"
Hermione's screams were accompanied by shouting from everyone else. Sally-Anne tried to think of a way to get out, to defend Hermione, but the Shield rune needed a visible bolt to work. The only two people that might know another way to use it were in the forest or writhing in agony.
"Headmistress!"
"Alright!"
The screams stopped, replaced by more whimpers from Hermione.
"But… but I need you to come closer. I… I can't speak louder."
"I'll stay right here, thank you."
"The World Cup… those people attacked…"
"Get to the point, Traitor," Umbridge said, leveling her wand again. "I've got a busy day ahead of me, and I'd like some sleep before it."
"A man there… he… he hit me with… with the…" Hermione squeezed her eyes shut and forced the words out. "The Cruciatus Curse."
"And your point is?"
Hermione suddenly stopped sobbing. Her eyes snapped open.
"Having gone through the curse once, it's really easy to fake it."
Hermione rolled onto her back, flung her hand into the air, and shouted "GLITTERDUST!"
A burst of sparkling glitter erupted in the air, covering the room. Sally-Anne shut her eyes on instinct, recognizing the spell from Rose's arsenal. Fortunately, all her friends did the same, having gone through similar training and conditioning.
Even more fortunate was that none of the Slytherins had ever heard of the spell, and thus didn't think to close their eyes. Blinded by the dust, they recoiled to get the dust out of their eyes.
Each of her friends bolted for the door. Sally-Anne hesitated, wanting to regroup first, but ran when she saw her friends weren't going to wait. The dust wouldn't keep the squad for long, and they all knew it.
When she reached the gargoyle, she bolted after the only person she could still see: Hermione.
��What just happened?" she asked.
"Talk later!" Hermione shouted, sprinting ahead.
Sally-Anne sped alongside her, hoping Hermione knew where she was going. She tried to keep her mouth shut, but her mind raced with questions. One moment, she'd been watching her friend writhing in pain, then that friend recovered as if it were nothing.
"What… how?"
"Favor of the Martyr!" she said. "Immune to spells that specifically function by causing pain!"
"How'd you know it was her that sent that Dementor?"
"The Ministry might be corrupt, but I don't think Fudge is that clever," Hermione replied, bolting down another corridor. "She had means and motive, and clearly doesn't mind working outside the law."
"Where are we going?"
"Out! If we can get to the forest, we're safe!"
"Are you sure?"
"It shouldn't be hard to lose them, especially if we find Toad and Moon!"
"Did you have to swear at Umbridge?"
"Yes. It made her angry! If she stopped and thought, she might've tried it on one of you. She hated me, so she went straight after me."
"What about that spell? That was one of Rose's!"
"I've been working out her magic during Ancient Runes. It was the only time I could guarantee the eyes wouldn't see it, and Professor Babbling doesn't mind. Any more questions?"
Corridor after corridor flew by. Sally-Anne could hardly see where she was going, but she could see Hermione, and that was the important part. Hermione seemed to know exactly where she was going. Come to think of it, knowing Hermione's resourcefulness, she could see perfectly well in the dark.
"Where are they?"
"Find them!"
"Where'd they go?"
The corridors carried the voices of the Inquisitorial Squad to her ears, and her heart sped up. Footsteps filled the corridor, and she knew they were on their way.
"The eyes will be opening soon," Sally-Anne told Hermione. "It won't be long before Umbridge removes the privacy effect from me."
"Is that attuned to you specifically, or is there some central control?"
"What?"
Sally-Anne didn't need to see Hermione rolling her eyes to know she'd mimicked Rose's impatient mannerism.
"Did she cast a spell on you when she put them up?"
"Yes, that's when she told us about them and told us to round up the students."
"Then she can't take it down without you being present. So the two of us can go through the castle without being seen."
"What about the others?"
"They'll have to cope. I'm not worried about Harry and Ron. Harry's good at stealth, even without his cloak, and they didn't think we'd hidden our wands up our sleeves the way Muggles hide knives."
Sally-Anne frowned.
"What?"
"All of us have got small pockets inside our sleeves where we hide our wands. It was Ron's idea."
Sally-Anne smiled, a small sense of pride for Ron coming over her.
"Good for him," she said softly.
Hermione darted around another corner, and Sally-Anne remembered that they were running for their lives.
"I'm really sorry it got this far. I honestly didn't expect her to—"
Sally-Anne clapped her hands over her mouth when Hermione grabbed her and pulled her through a wall. The wall, as it turned out, was fake, and lead to a staircase going down.
"I doubt they know about this."
"They weren't—" Sally-Anne started, but Hermione covered her mouth and held a finger to her lips.
"Whisper. They can still hear us."
The more she realized how ready her friends were for the inevitable attack, the worse she felt. It'd been obvious to them that Umbridge was mad, but Sally-Anne had fallen for every lie.
"I'm sorry."
"Stop trying to apologize, it's just a waste of energy. We're only stopping here for a break, then—"
Malfoy stuck his head into the passage, his wand lit.
Sally-Anne's own thoughts drowned out Hermione's voice. She froze and looked directly at Malfoy. Her mind raced, trying to think of something to say to him. She didn't take her eyes off him to check on Hermione, or warn her against attacking him.
Malfoy looked from Hermione to Sally-Anne, holding on Sally-Anne for a moment before returning to the corridor.
"They're not here!" he called.
Sally-Anne slowly let out the breath she'd been holding. The girls tiptoed down the staircase.
"What was that?" Hermione asked when they got to the bottom. "What'd you do to him?"
"It's this new form of magic I'm trying," Sally-Anne replied. "It's called 'being nice'."
Hermione rolled her eyes again, and Sally-Anne nearly did the same.
"Seriously, what did you do?"
"Draco and I are sort of friends now. He's not all bad, he just wants someone to care. Actually, he and Ron aren't all that different. They'd make awful friends, but I think they could come to understand one another if they gave it a chance."
They reached the end of the staircase, and Hermione poked her head out. After giving the all-clear, the pair ran down the corridor to another staircase.
"So he let us go because you understand him?" Hermione scoffed.
Her scepticism agitated Sally-Anne just a little, but she pushed it aside. It wasn't the time to be impatient with Hermione, not after she'd just saved them all.
"No, he let us go because I care about what he wants. No one else does, apart from his house-elf Dobby."
"And he's surprised by this?"
Sally-Anne took a breath and ended it there. She didn't blame Hermione. The Draco Malfoy she knew had left them for dead against a troll and mocked them every chance he'd gotten. The Draco Malfoy Sally-Anne knew wanted desperately for his father to tell him he was proud of him.
It didn't take them much longer to get to the ground floor and out of the castle. When they reached it, they rendezvoused with the others near the Whomping Willow, which, as Sally-Anne would eventually learn, they'd been discussing the entire time.
"Any trouble getting out?" Hermione asked.
"We kept to the shadows the whole way down," Harry said. "It's a lot harder to do that while moving fast and not having the map."
"We'll get our things back another time," Ron said. "They didn't take our wands or anything Rose gave us, so at least there's that. For now, we've got to keep moving. They'll be out here soon. I say we lose them in the forest, camp there for the night, and figure things out in the morning."
"Agreed," Harry said.
"First," Ron said, turning to Hermione, "how long does it take to draw that rune?"
He tapped the back of his neck.
"Why?" Hermione asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Because Sally-Anne's with us in this. I know you don't trust her, but she's part of our team, and I trust her. How long will it take? We can just remove it tomorrow."
"We can just leave her here," Harry said. "Let her fend for herself like she did to us."
It stung to hear Harry talk about her like that. The pain in her chest only became worse when she realized she deserved it.
"That's not the way we do things," Ron said. "Unless you want to explain what you did to Alavel next time you talk to him."
Harry narrowed his eyes at Ron.
Sally-Anne was in shock. For Ron to have come up with that argument was nothing short of surprising.
"Fine," Harry said through gritted teeth. "Hermione?"
"Give me two minutes," she said. "Sally-Anne, turn around and hold still. It's hard if you keep moving."
Sally-Anne did as she was told. She felt the familiar tingling sensation of a rune being imprinted on her. She looked at Ron and tried to smile without moving her mouth too much.
"Done," Hermione said. "Let's go."
Sally-Anne drew a sharp breath when she heard Ron's voice in her head. Ginny snickered at her.
"Sure."
Sally-Anne concentrated on Ron and thought the words
Sally-Anne had just enough time to spare him a proud glance before Hermione and Harry headed for the forest. The two of them lead the way through the dark, which frustrated Ginny to no end.
"You can't just light your wand, they could see us," Ron hissed. "We don't need to go far, we just need to get deep enough in that they give up for the night."
"And stay out of centaur territory," Hermione added. "Toad said they nearly killed him for trespassing."
"And Dumbledore put one in charge of a class," Sally-Anne said.
"Firenze is one of the nice ones," Hermione said. "Even he admits centaurs are too paranoid about humans, but in fairness, humans have given them every reason to be paranoid."
"Like what?" Sally-Anne asked, half irritated, half curious.
"The Ministry has been cutting back their land slowly for years. They want it in their hands, the centaurs have a claim to it."
"Umbridge said she's tried weeding out the centaurs here, but something keeps stopping her."
When Hermione spoke, Sally-Anne could hear her smirk.
"That's Luna. She's been protecting the forest."
Harry stopped for a moment. One by one, they stopped behind him.
While Sally-Anne had a lot more sympathy for her friends (at least, she hoped they were friends again), she couldn't help but wonder if Hermione was still in her right mind. It was as if she were obsessed with Rose. It wasn't uncommon with grief, but it still troubled her.
Sally-Anne glanced at Harry, hoping for more clarification. She still couldn't see far in front of her through the dark. If the entire Department of Magical Law Enforcement had surrounded them quietly, she wouldn't have known.
It was impossible to miss the bolt fly out of the darkness. A green flash, heading straight for her. She raised her hand and started to recite one of the incantations for the Shield Rune. But she was too slow for the precision she needed.
"Scotoro!"
Ron didn't need precision for his spell.
His hex knocked them all off their feet. The green bolt shot past her head, narrowly missing her.
"Everyone up!" Ron shouted, leaping to his feet.
He held his wand at the ready while they all got up and scanned the darkness. But apart from Harry and Hermione, they were all blind. They stood back to back, covering all possible points of an attack.
With her hand already up and her mind active, Sally-Anne caught the next flash, thanks to Harry's warning. Another one flew out of the darkness towards Ron, but he sent himself flying out of its path.
Then Ginny decided she'd had enough of that, and lit up the area with a floating orb of fire. It didn't generate heat, but gave them the light they needed to see their full situation.
Sally-Anne couldn't count all the figures in the dark. But she didn't need to; they were in trouble with just one of them.
Each one wore a skull mask and black cloak.
They were surrounded by Death Eaters.