The morning of Hermione’s raids loomed dark and tense over the Aurors. Ginny and Draco waited with Hermione and Ron in the War Room, as it had been playfully dubbed once, but the name had stuck. Five maps spread across the huge table in the middle of the room, showing the five different locations the Auror squads were moving on, with glowing dots to represent the different squad member's current locations. The pink dots representing Tonk’s squad approached nearer to the disused factory. Harry's blue dots marched on a wayward cottage. Green, yellow and red dots moved on their respective maps as well. 

Other than the many comfortable chairs, designed for long waits, scattered about the room, the only other distinguishing factor was the walls, lined with Floo upon Floo. Ambushes and retreats were designed to start or end here. Additionally, as the hub of all information, Ginny and Draco found it the perfect way to keep tabs on the raids. And with the level of security that surrounded the room, only Ron and Hermione would ever know they were there. Even as close as Ginny could get to the action, she still felt useless.

Hermione frowned looking down at the map, wand out and tapping against her arm restlessly. “I warned them that since the Death Eaters knew we’d captured one of them, anything he knew would be considered compromised by them. So it’s quite possible all of the locations are now traps.”

“So they know to retreat at a moment’s notice?” Ginny said.

Hermione nodded distractedly, still staring at the map.

“What do you fear?” Draco asked. “These are your senior squads. Even going into a potentially compromised situation, it shouldn’t be bad. They’ve trained for this.”

“She fears the mole,” Ron supplied, frowning down at the map from the other end. “We’ve no bloody idea which squad their on. Harry’s with the squad that’s had the most suspicious behavior, but nothing’s been even that suspicious.”

“But what can the mole even do?” Ginny said, eyeing Tonk’s dot. “I mean, it’s already a potentially compromised situation.”

Hermione whispered, “That’s what I fear. Compromised once is bad enough."

Harry, Tonks, Hawlish, Mardling, and Williamson led the five squads. Silence reigned over the room as all four of them stared down at the steadily moving dots. Hermione pulled out five Detachable Ears, placing each on their respective maps.

She tapped the first one, Harry's, with a rap of her wand. "Report."

Harry's voice came through easily. "Nothing so far. Standard sweep, but not even a doxy. I'll let you know when it changes."

Hermione turned to the next one, Mardling, but had the same report.

Williamson's gruff voice came through next. "The air's loaded clean through with magic, though nothing dark, or even fatal, so far as my Charms Expert can tell. You'll be the first to know when we find what it is."

"Still sweeping," Hawlish reported briskly. "Nothing to report."

"There's some odd spell or two here," Tonks responded, last of the Captains, "but nothing we can't handle. We've dismantled two already, but they were just jinxes, and not strong ones at that."

"Macnair's work," Draco supplied the moment Hermione cut the connection. "He was pure rubbish at wards. I'd bet that's not a dead lead."

Hermione nodded tensely. Her hand reached for Tonks' map.

One moment, Williamson’s map was covered in green dots. A moment later, the dots vanished.

Hermione's wand crashed onto Williamson's ear. "Williamson! Do you read me?"

Only silence greeted her.

"Williamson, do you copy?" she tried again, to more silence. Draco, Ron, and Ginny jumped to their feet, ready to join in.

Tonks' map flashed red, indicating injury. Sound poured from the ear, activated from the other side.

Ron lunged for that ear. "Tonks! Status!"

Garbled sound came through. Faintly, a voice muttered indistinctly.

"That's a battle." Grimness stole over Ginny. "I definitely heard the Killing Curse." Her wand clenched tight in her fist.

Hermione grabbed Harry's and Hawlish's ears. "All squads converge on Tonks’ location!" she yelled at both of them. "It's an ambush!" Changing those ears for Mardling's she yelled, "Full retreat to War Room, Mardling! Situation critical!"

Without even a second glance, Hermione tossed a long, shimmery cloak at Ginny and Draco, both still standing helplessly. Grimly, they recognized it. An Invisibility Cloak. Meaning the only way they could help would be by not revealing Slytherin Squad.

Ron cast his Patronus. "Find Auror Williamson!" he told it, "And get him to report in!"

Reluctantly, Ginny wrapped one edge of the cloak around her, stepping into the farthest corner of the room. Draco followed her lead, positive his grimace matched hers. While they cowered far away from the commotion, Hermione yelled frantically into a Floo. Ron grabbed the three ears for the squads in battle. He hovered over the War Room table, studying Tonks’ map with the critical eye of an experienced Auror.

Mardling and her eight Aurors Apparated in a moment later. A confident witch with a patch on one eye, she strode to Hermione. "Situation?" Mardling asked crisply.

"Williamson's squad completely vanished," Hermione gestured helplessly at the still-empty parchment. Harry and Hawlish’s dots from the other maps now congregated alongside Tonks' pink ones. Her map still flashed red, indicating more injuries. "All we have to go on is that he mentioned the house teeming with magic, nothing Dark or too dangerous, but he could have been wrong."

Explosions now could be heard through the Ears of the squads, with spells said more clearly. Most of the spells were Dark, and none from familiar Auror voices.

"That's Nott Sr," Draco whispered barely audibly, even to Ginny next to him under the cloak. "Sounds like quite a few."

Mardling steeled herself. "You want us to charge in?"

But Hermione violently tossed her head. "Find the squad!"

The Captain nodded, setting her team to casting Patronuses.

Everyone quieted as Ron's shining silver terrier trotted through the walls. It turned to Ron. "Williamson says--" and it let out a garbled scream.

Silence reigned complete.

An explosion of sound followed.

"I want a team of Detectors standing by--" Hermione yelled at the Floo grate, followed by, "No, I don't care what it takes--"

"Patronuses out? Will's squad names are here, go down the list--" Mardling lectured her squad.

"Statute of Secrecy be damned! If it takes a bloody battalion of Obliviators, I'll pay them myself--" Hermione streamed righteous fury as she sent orders through Floo after Floo.

Only Ron ignored the pandemonium, trying to get word from the three battling squads. Finally, a strained yell from Harry announced, "It's a Disorientation Hex!"

Muttering the counter spell on himself, Ron Disapparated with a crack.

"How's this for hiding?" Draco muttered, knowing Ginny felt worse.

"Bloody amazing," Ginny snapped sarcastically. "So glad I'm an Auror now."

A badger Patronus returned. Everyone waited with baited breath. "Mokely says, 'I'm in Albania, I think. I'm stuck and the woods look fairly dark, and I think I hear something coming--'"

Hermione strode to the Patronus caster. "Focus, write the coordinates down. Last known location."

The short wizard nodded, scrawling hurriedly. He shoved a scrap of paper at her.

Hermione tossed a handful of powder into the nearest Floo. "Auror Weasley," she demanded. Instead of looking at the fire, she tilted her gaze towards the very empty-looking corner of the room. "Take this, find what you can."

Silently, Ginny Accioed the slip of paper as Hermione pretended to feed it to the fire.

The moment the paper touched her fingers, Ginny Apparated Draco away with a crack lost amidst the clamor and confusion.

 

The Invisibility Cloak came with them, and Ginny wasn't the slightest bit sorry. The woods, if you could call them that, loomed ominously as she and Draco stood back-to-invisible-back, scanning for threats. Thick moss hung off the trees in sheets, only a faint trickle of light making it through. Growls echoed in the distance. Huge branches crunching followed after. Ginny could only unhelpfully remember that Voldemort had chosen here to rise again from. Twice.

"I don't like this," Draco muttered. "Not one bit."

She ignored him. "Expecto Patronum." Her silver horse galloped forth. "Lead me to Mokely."

The horse trotted off to the edge of their small clearing. Ginny tried to follow, struggling with the cloak. Giving up, she shoved it at Draco. Her side panged as she jogged after the horse.

"You're the Death Eater target, Weasley," he growled, invisibly following her. "Take the cloak, I'll be fine--"

"No, you're the Captain of Slytherin Squad," she shot back. "Who very definitely shouldn't be here. And who can't be seen by Mokely without endangering everything."

"If he can't keep his bloody mouth shut, why the hell are we bothering to rescue him?" Draco snarled, but didn't protest further.

The growls sounded closer. It might've been darker, but she couldn't tell if that was just in comparison to the Patronus.

Ginny glanced over her shoulder, unnerved to see nothing but a faint shimmer.

"Still here," Draco drawled from behind her shoulder. "I have your back, keep going."

Her Patronus stopped. She sped up, ignoring the pain in her side.

"Stop!" a voice whispered fiercely. Ginny instantly complied. Mokely sat on the ground amidst the undergrowth that nearly hid him. His legs sprawled at unnerving angles. "I seem to have landed in a Permanent Sticking Charm. Not sure how far it goes."

On second look, Ginny realized that his arms, as he leaned back on them to stay upright, were just as glued as his legs. The hand holding his wand was submerged at the elbow, leaving him very little fighting ability. Her Patronus vanished after finding the target.

But Ginny seized upon the important word. "Landed?"

Mokely nodded. "Tugging behind my belly, and I spun all the way here. International, too. Been here before to root out Dark wizards."

Twigs snapped restlessly behind her as Draco paced.

To Ginny's complete surprise, Hermione ran up from the other side of Mokely, hidden before by the massive trees. "Mokely! It took ages to find you! Report in!"

“Hermione?” Confusion spread across Ginny’s face. “Is there some emergency here?”

Hermione stopped on hearing Ginny’s voice. “I hope not,” she replied after a moment. “But hopefully this will help us solve the others. Ginny, do you have any idea what’s going on? How we can solve this?” She sounded as stressed as she looked, with a deep frown line etched between her brows.

“I think it’s Portkeys, if that helps any,” Ginny replied.

Hermione looked deep in thought as she walked toward Ginny. They surveyed Mokely together, shoulder-to-shoulder. “Portkeys, that makes sense. Does this fit with anything else that you know? Some retaliation that could have caused it?”

Mokely remained silent, letting the friends and superior officers do the talking.

Ginny shrugged. “Well, they knew we were coming, obviously. It’s a good ambush tactic.”

Draco, still hidden under his cloak, listened with a sense of detachment. Something was strange about this whole thing, and it was more than just Mokely stuck in mud. Why Albania? Why bother wasting an ambush to Portkey an Auror to a perfectly safe, if remote, location?

“Good ambush, yes.” If Hermione frowned any harder, her face would stay that way. “But what do they want with it? You haven’t learned anything?”

Ginny shook her head. “Hostages? Scaring us? Whatever it is, it’s working so far. I think we should just let Headquarters know it’s Portkeys and focus on Mokely.”

Mokely nodded with enthusiasm. “I like the sound of that.”

Ginny gestured to Hermione. “You want to Patronus it in?”

But Hermione shook her head. “I’m not a fan of long distances.”

Ginny shrugged, summoning her Patronus with an eloquent, “Tell Auror Mardling it’s Portkeys.”

Behind her, Draco couldn’t breathe. After Malfoy Manor fell, Hermione hadn’t even hesitated when Draco asked for her Patronus. A Patronus which had traveled worldwide, to his mother in Argentina, without even a hint of a glitch. Brightest witch of her age, indeed.

And why was Hermione even here? She couldn’t be so paranoid that she’d follow up on her Aurors only scant minutes after sending them out. The strangeness grew even stronger. A single phrase whispered into Draco’s mind, and once it started, he couldn’t make it stop.

This isn’t Hermione.

He felt idiotically paranoid. But as Draco watched, he realized that Hermione had still not lowered her wand -- nor pointed it away from Ginny. Ginny, who stood at ease chatting with her best friend.

Sweat broke out. He could take down the-Hermione-whatever-it-was, but…

Homenum Revelio,” he whispered, casting it into the trees.

Two blue lights popped up, indicating two wizards hiding behind them. Draco didn’t even have time to swear. It confirmed his worst fears. Of course a fake Hermione-thing would have come protected. Her bodyguard Death Eaters would have felt his Homenum Revelio and be preparing-- to strike, leave, anything. Draco couldn’t let them do that. Whatever this weirdness was, he had to stop it.

But he would have to open the Invisibility cloak to fire a spell. Which meant the Death Eaters would spot him instantly, and take him down. Hopefully, non-fatally. But he’d be lucky to even finish a single spell before being hit. How could he alert Ginny to the fake Hermione without the fake firing on them, the Death Eaters swooping in to help, or abandoning Mokely? Oh, and all without giving Slytherin Squad away by revealing himself. No pressure.

If he spoke, Fake Hermione would hear. Before Ginny could understand, the Fake would have fired on her.

He could fire on the Death Eaters, but again, the Fake would shoot Ginny. It was risky at best to hope the Fake would pull punches. There was nothing stopping her from the Killing Curse. Even less stopping her from simply grabbing an unsuspecting Ginny and Side-Along Apparating her away. And with Draco engaged with two Death Eaters, there wouldn’t be anything he could do to stop it.

Draco swore internally. If this were solvable, he wasn’t seeing it.

“Any ideas yet on how to free Mokely?” Ginny asked ‘Hermione’, her brow furrowed as she stared at the pinned Auror.

“I’m still thinking. How are things going for the team?”

Ginny shrugged, her eyes flicking to Mokely in an attempt to signal to ‘Hermione’ why she couldn't speak freely. “As well as can be expected.”

‘Hermione’ simply nodded.

Draco’s brain fired on overdrive. It wouldn’t be long now before ‘Hermione’ acted. Any signal he made to Ginny would be understood more quickly by Fake Hermione, who already knew what was going on. If instead, Draco fired, Fake Hermione would again get the drop on Ginny.

Unless...

The kernels of an idea began to form, but he didn’t like the shape it was taking.

Yes, it might work. But it would definitely get Draco shot. Getting shot was one of his least favorite things.

A devious grin stole over his invisible face. He would get shot, but the Death Eaters couldn’t risk anything serious hitting their precious Fake Hermione. So if Draco stood between them and what they were protecting...

Wondering if this was what going insane felt like, Draco crept invisibly in front of where he remembered the blue dots of the Death Eaters. With a deep, steadying breath, he lined himself up between the Death Eaters and the fake Hermione.

Ginny, talented Auror that she was, would spot which direction the shot came from. And with Draco down and out of the way, she’d have the perfect line of fire at the Death Eaters. Draco grinned. This was a signal she’d understand instantly.

Draco stuck his wand-arm out of the cloak. “Stupefy!” The bolt caught the fake Hermione squarely. She crumpled. A Stunner slammed into Draco’s back. The ground rushed up to meet him as he slipped into unconsciousness.

 

Ginny spun at the first spell. Hermione crumpled even as Ginny returned fire. “In the trees!” she yelled to Mokely. They were sitting ducks out here in the open. She wondered about Draco, but had to hope he could take care of himself. A Stunner zinged past her. Ginny barely dodged.

Mokely fought too, little that he could. Ginny wished he would just shield them, but she couldn’t waste breath to ask.

The trees gave the Death Eaters too much of an advantage. “Confringo!” Ginny poured every ounce of her power into the spell. The woods exploded into a fireball. Two Death Eaters jumped out of the way. Gotcha.

Stupefy!” Mokely dropped one. The other grabbed his fallen comrade. With a crack, they Disapparated.

Where was Draco? “Homenum Revelio!” A blue dot appeared, horrifyingly close to her explosion. She rushed to the dot, tearing back the Invisibility cloak. Soot covered him, but hopefully nothing worse. “Rennervate!”

He sputtered awake. “The Death Eaters?”

“They got away. You’re alright?”

“Stunner, I’m fine.” He jumped to his feet. Relief washed over him at seeing Hermione’s Stunned body. “Don’t let her wake up or get away. That’s not Hermione.”

Mokely’s face twisted in disbelief. “Not Hermione? What are you even doing here, Slytherin?”

Ginny ignored the other Auror, looking closer at her fallen friend. Yes, something had seemed off, but… She picked up the wand Hermione had been holding, turning it over in her hands. “Huh. This isn’t hers.”

Draco arched an eyebrow, I told you so, leaking from every inch of his face. Ginny still wasn’t sure. That was an awfully big accusation--

Hermione groaned, coming to.

Stupefy!” Ginny shot her again. Big accusation or not, she’d trust Draco until proven otherwise.

Pride practically radiated from him. Merlin, it felt wonderful to be taken seriously and respected. If this was a perk of real leadership, Draco considered himself addicted. He cast ropes around the Fake Hermione, just to be sure.

Mokely turned disbelieving eyes on Ginny. "What-- You just-- She just--"

“It’s not Hermione,” Ginny repeated. “Calm down, and we’ll sort everything out.”

But he refused to be redirected. "That's our boss," Mokely managed through surprise. Then corrected, "Our boss's boss. How could you--"

This time it was Draco’s turn. "Stupefy."

Mokely slumped, dropping backwards into the Sticking Charm.

Draco sighed, scrubbing a hand through his grey, soot-stained hair. “That couldn’t have helped less. Any clever ideas, Weasley?”

Ginny nodded grimly. “Cut the ground out, take it with us, let someone else solve it.”

Draco took a moment to think, then nodded, resigned. “Let’s cut him out.”

Eventually, they cut far enough down. Draco cast the Hover Charm, keeping Mokely afloat, while Ginny prepared to Side-Along Apparate Mokely, mound and all. In a moment of foresight, Ginny conjured a sheet of parchment, scrawling a quick note on it. Folding it and adding the seal of the Aurors, she stuffed it back in her pocket. Draco noticed, but said nothing.

“I’ll meet you in the Training Room after dropping him at St. Mungo’s,” she said to Draco.

“I’ll leave the moment you’re gone,” he replied. “And I’ll take the Hermione.”

She Disapparated. The feeling of being sucked into a tube was all the worse with a pile of dirt tagging along. The dank forest zoomed by, landing her instead amid the white walls of St. Mungo’s.

The humongous pile of dirt crashed into the hospital waiting room. Every witch and wizard jumped out of their seats in shock. A Healer in lime green robes hurried over. “What is--”

“Spell accident, Auror business,” Ginny blurted out before she herself would be remembered. She shoved her sealed letter into the Healer’s hands. “Give him that once you’ve managed to free him.”

The Healer nodded sharply, used to the urgency of Auror incidents, and turned back to Mokely and his mound. Quickly, witches and wizards were coming over by the droves to investigate. And with a pop, Ginny was gone.

 

 

Daphne and Warrington jumped at Draco’s arrival in the Training Room. Ginny followed only a few moments later.

Draco brushed a bit more soot off of his robes. “What was that letter you were writing?”

His Lieutenant looked pointedly elsewhere. “Oh, just a note from Hermione, telling Mokely to keep his fat mouth shut, and report in as soon as possible.”

Draco raised an eyebrow. “That you forged.”

Ginny nodded unabashedly. “I got good at it back in Hogwarts. She’s caught me a few times, but as long as I don’t say anything she wouldn’t, she’s fine with it. Although I am guaranteed a disapproving scowl.”

Daphne giggled. “Oh, that’s wicked. Think of the things we could--”

“Uh uh,” Ginny cut her off. “If I even start to abuse this, Hermione’ll have my hide. Friendship doesn’t go past court-martial.”

“Speaking of Hermione,” Draco drawled, throwing back the Cloak the rest of the way.

Daphne gasped.

“Don’t you mean speaking of court-martial?” Warrington growled. “How the hell are you going to swing this one, Weasley?”

Draco ignored Warrington for the moment, turning to his Lieutenant. “You’ll let her know?”

Ginny nodded, conjuring another parchment.

            Hermione,

            Mokely’s fine, but in St. Mungo’s. Come to my room at your earliest convenience. You’ll want to see this.

            Ginny

With a tap from her wand, it folded itself into an airplane and darted off.

“I don’t think this is actually Hermione,” Draco softly answered Warrington’s question. “But we’re about to find out. Rennervate!

Daphne and Warrington gathered closely behind Ginny and Draco around the bound Hermione. Her eyes flew open. Shocked, she struggled against her bonds. “What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded. “Untie me this instant! Ginny!” she cried, noticing her friend. “Why am I here? Did something go wrong?”

“That sounds scarily like Hermione,” Daphne whispered.

Ginny, however, didn’t flinch. Instead, her gaze bored into the person bound on the floor beneath her. “Where’s your wand, Hermione?”

“My wand?” Hermione frowned in puzzlement. Then her face cleared. “Oh yes, I had to lend it, so they could track down the others.”

Ginny remained unmoved at the shoddy answer, arms crossed across her chest. “What's it made of?”

“What?” Hermione frowned again.

“Your wand,” Ginny insisted.

“They’re made of wood, kind of stick shaped,” Draco added unhelpfully. “You may have seen one before.”

Hermione paled, sitting bound on the floor. “Oh Merlin, I can’t remember. Have I been Obliviated?”

Ginny crouched down to her level, not the slightest bit of friendliness in the gesture. “What’s my favorite Quidditch team?”

“Holyhead Harpies,” Hermione replied quickly. “Good, not everything’s gone…”

“Who have you dated?”

“Viktor Krum and Fred Weasley,” she replied again.

Ginny’s voice turned deadly. “And Cormac McLaggen?”

Hermione laughed awkwardly, “I don’t count him, really. You should know that.”

“Harry’s owl? What was it named?”

“Ginny, this is ridiculous!” Hermione protested. “I’ve known you for practically my whole life, will you let me off the ground now?”

“No.” Steel laced her friend’s voice. “Not until you answer my questions.”

“I...I don’t…” Hermione stuttered. Then protested, “How would I remember that?!”

Ginny shrugged far too casually. “No reason, you only knew her for seven years. What’s--”

“What’s the worst thing I ever did to you?” Draco softly interjected.

Hermione turned to look at him. “Many things, really, there were all the times you called me a Mudblood, and--”

“That term never bothered me all that much.”

All heads turned to see Hermione Granger standing in the doorway, vine-patterned wand out and tapping against her arm in a threatening manner. Hermione’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the duplicate bound on the floor. “Really, she could have picked any other answer, and you might have fallen for it.” She held Ginny’s airplane in the other hand. “Everything’s under as much control as possible now. And yes, you were right, I do want to see this.”

The bound -- whatever it was -- on the floor instantly started squirming. “No! There’s been some mistake! There’s--”

Hermione crouched down next to Ginny. It must have been weird speaking to herself, but her voice didn’t waver. “You are already documented impersonating a high-level Ministry official. As Aurors, we are authorized to use Unforgivables on you. Now, you can start telling me everything I want to know so we can start reducing your sentence, or we can play the hard way, where no one has fun.”

The bound girl shook her head vigorously.

Warrington pointed a finger back and forth between the two Hermiones. “How do we know which is--”

“Harry’s owl was named Hedwig, it was killed in the Battle of the Seven Potters, and he didn’t get another one. The worst thing Malfoy ever did was mock Hagrid for Buckbeak’s death. I didn’t hear any of the other questions, but I’ll answer whatever you like.”

“Hagrid?!” Draco exclaimed with disdain. “Oh come on, I had to have done worse than that!”

“Not to me,” Hermione replied firmly. “If you’d asked about Harry my list would’ve been quite a bit longer.”

“I would have moved on to harder questions,” Ginny supplied. “But I wanted to know how closely she, it, whatever’s studied you.”

“Try me, I can answer!” Tears leaked out the girl thing’s eyes. “I don’t know what’s going on, everything’s ridiculous!”

But the unbound Hermione turned to her instead. “What was my boggart?”

“Failing all your classes!” she replied in a rush.

Why?” Hermione pressed, eyes narrowing further.

“Because you’re afraid of failing!”

Hermione dug her wandtip into the girl’s throat. “Because they’d kick me out of Hogwarts and snap my wand and I'd never get magic again. Get it right.”

“She said ‘you’re afraid of failing’. Not ‘I’m afraid of failing’,” Draco noted.

"My wand!" the bound girl cried desperately. "She has my wand! She must have stolen it and Obliviated me!"

Anger rose in Hermione. Ginny and Draco cowered back. "Who else have I Obliviated?"

"I...back during the war--"

"Not when, WHO?"

The girl cried harder, disturbing for looking exactly like the girl questioning it. "I don't remember! That must've been taken from me too!"

"My parents," Hermione gritted out. Her face contorted with anger only inches away from the crying, identical face. "And I have every memory of them stored in a Pensieve, so no one could ever make me forget. What are their names?"

The bound thing's crying slowed. An eerie smile stole across its face. "Haven't the faintest idea. What are you going to do to me, Miss Granger?"

Hermione leaned back on her heels to get away from the unnerving creature. "Depends on how fast you start talking. I have Aurors missing, and--"

It chuckled happily. "Oh yes. Some Portkeyed to trunks in the bottom of the ocean. I do hope you're fast enough."

"We got those," Hermione's eyes turned deadly hard. "Where are the others?"

"Others?" the bound Hermione grinned. "You'll have to be more specific."

"The Aurors that the Patronuses can't find," the Head of the DMLE bit out. "Where are they?"

"And here I thought you were clever," the thing said triumphantly. "Let's solve a riddle, oh clever one. What's the only thing a person can be where a Patronus can't find them?"

"They're not dead," Hermione growled. "You can't kill a person with a Portkey."

"Oh, you can't? I happen to believe I just did."

"How?" Ginny jumped in. "What'd you do--send them into a volcano?"

It giggled. "You'll see."

Hermione stood, brushing dust off her robes. "That's it, I'm--"

"Veritaserum now, isn't it?" And with a sad look, the creature bit into its own shoulder. The uniform tore.

"Poison!" Ginny yelled, lunging for the creature's mouth, prying it open.

Foam dribbled out the fake Hermione's mouth as her eyes rolled up into their sockets.

Hermione shoved Ginny aside, grabbing the thing and Disapparating with a crack.

"What did she just..." Daphne stared wide eyed.

"Apparated her to St. Mungo's," Ginny said from the floor. "They're getting a lot of work from us today."

Warrington scrunched his face. "Won't that be a bit odd? Hermione bringing herself in, foaming like a dog?"

"I bet they've seen weirder." Ginny couldn't muster the effort to care. "I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

Draco raised an eyebrow, looking down at her. "I really wouldn't tempt fate like that."

Ginny nodded. "Fate can do whatever it wants. I just want a nice soft bed. And to sleep for ages and ages."

He smirked at her. "I hope by 'bed', you meant 'couch at Granger's'."

Her face fell. She'd forgotten. "Oh, right."

Daphne pointedly cleared her throat. "I could have sworn someone you know offered you a house to stay in. Just a niggling suspicion."

Draco grinned. "Are you well enough, Ginny?"

Pain flared across her side with perfect timing. "Of course," she responded easily. "And I think Hermione's got a bit too much on her plate right now to deal with our sorry homeless selves as house guests."

"Can I come too?" Warrington asked, trying to hide his eagerness.

Daphne sighed, rolling her eyes. "Yes, you can come too."

He punched the air in excitement.

"So we have a live-in Auror squad after all," Draco groaned. "At least it's not in my house."

But Ginny snorted. "It’s not a full squad unless my brother's coming as well."

Daphne instantly looked like she'd bitten into something rotten. "Four fifths of an Auror team is fine with me."

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