Hermione's heart stalled. “What have you done, Harry? Have you — have you tortured someone?”
Harry's head jerked up, and he stared at her, horrified. “What? No. Why would you think that?”
Hermione gave a faint gasp of relief and closed her eyes briefly. “Someone broke into my potion closet and stole almost our entire veritaserum supply for the month. I don't know what other things you might be doing.”
Harry eyed her and shoved his hands into his pockets. “We just went and got a few snatchers. None of them know occlumency. Veritaserum works.”
“What do you need me for then?”
“I'll tell you once we get there,” Harry caught her by the wrist and pulled his invisibility cloak over their heads. He led her out of Grimmauld Place and apparated.
They reappeared at an empty lot. Harry reached out and grabbed something invisible in midair. There was the screech of an old gate and Harry stepped forward, still holding Hermione by the wrist. As she followed him, a small cottage started appearing, surrounded by a large garden and a pond which she and Harry were standing beside.
“Where are we?” Hermione glanced around.
“It was the Tonks' house,” Harry said. “Remus and Tonks re-warded it so Remus would have a safe place to transform.”
Hermione stared in disbelief. “Tonks comes back to the house her parents were murdered in?”
Harry looked up at the building and his eyes grew wistful. “It's her childhood home. She got married in the living room. She says she had to come back. It's all that's left of her parents. If my parents' house in Godric's Hollow were still standing, I'd go back there too.”
He stood staring at the cottage for a minute before rousing himself. “Come on.”
Harry led the way along a winding gravel path up to the front door. The entry opened into the sitting room with a dining room beyond. Charlie, Fred, Remus and Tonks were all standing around a table. They looked up when Harry entered. Hermione followed him into the room.
“I got a healer,” Harry announced as he walked in.
Everyone stared back in disbelief.
“Hermione?” Fred said in an incredulous tone. “I thought you were getting a field healer.”
“They don't know enough,” Harry said flatly as he walked up to the table. Hermione hung back. “It's been three days; we don't know what kind of injuries he might have. Hermione can heal anything.”
“And the last time she was on a mission was when?” Charlie said, arching an eyebrow as he stared at her.
Harry looked over to Hermione.
“Three and a half years,” Hermione said, avoiding everyone's eyes.
“We can't take her,” Fred said, folding his arms. “The Order needs her. There's no replacing her as a healer, and she has no experience in the field.”
“What the Order needs is to stop losing people, or there won't be anyone left for her to heal.” Harry said in a furious voice.
“Padma. Padma's good with healing, and she's used to being on a battlefield.” Remus said, studying Harry rather than Hermione.
Harry shook his head. “Padma's only got one foot. She might be ready for missions with a prosthetic in a few months, but she isn't now. Pomfrey is in her sixties and gets winded on the stairs. I need someone who can move fast. Hermione doesn't need to be used to fighting. We can cover her.” Harry's jaw jutted out obstinately.
“What are you planning? The five of you can't possibly think you can break into Hogwarts for a rescue,” Hermione said, clutching her wand.
“Ron's not at Hogwarts,” Harry said matter-of-factly, tapping a scroll of parchment. “We went out and got some snatchers. The word is that they moved him closer to London for interrogation. There's a smaller prison near Cambridge.”
“Near Cambridge?” Hermione echoed. There were no known prisons in Cambridge. Draco would have mentioned it. “And you got this from snatchers?”
“We get a lot of information from snatchers. Most of the prison blueprints we use for our rescues come from snatchers, you know,” Harry said with a nod, looking down at a rough outline of a building.
Hermione twitched and felt cold. Moody had attributed most of Draco's intelligence on prison blueprints as being from snatchers. She stepped closer and stared at the blueprint for a minute before looking back up.
“Harry — this could be a trap,” she said as gently as she could.
“Yeah. Any of our intelligence could be a trap. But it's been pretty good until now. I'm not going to doubt it the time it could mean getting Ron back. We have to go today. Tomorrow is the full moon,” Harry said in a tight voice.
Hermione looked at Charlie, Fred, Remus, and Tonks.
“It's as good as anything else we've gotten,” Remus said, giving her a small smile. “The Order needs Ron back. The Death Eaters will probably expect us to delay and then use a large force, if we get in and out before they expect us, there will be fewer casualties.”
Hermione stood, wavering. If she exposed Draco to everyone in the room, there was no guarantee it would even stop them. It could just shatter the Order.
“Will you come, Hermione, to help me get Ron back?” Harry turned from the table and was studying her seriously.
“Harry—,” she started in a pleading voice.
“I don't know what they might have done to him after so many days,” Harry interrupted her, his voice thick. There was a tremor underlying it. “He could be — really, really hurt. That's why I need you to come. You're the best. You're the best Healer. If he's too hurt, we might not be able to get him out without you. But I'm going to go — I have to go get him.”
“Until we get Ron back, Harry's useless. There are no solutions that won't be a risk for the Order. Losing Ron could easily be a critical blow for us.”
Hermione swallowed. “Of course. Of course I'll come.”
Harry gave a relieved sigh and grinned at her. “Good. Come see the plan.”
The plan wasn't the Order's best. Strategy had always been Ron's strength and everyone could feel his absence and the need for him as they looked down at the blueprint before them.
Hermione's job was to stay down and let everyone else deal with any guards or fighting. She was supposed to heal Ron as rapidly as possible once they found him in case they had to fight their way out. If there was a firefight, she was to get Ron out. Once she had gotten him clear, everyone else would retreat.
Hermione stared down at the blueprint. It was a trap. The layout was too obvious, too detailed for a snatcher to know. She gnawed her lip as she considered what to do.
“Alright. Everyone get ready. We'll head out in fifteen minutes,” Harry said.
Hermione fidgeted nervously. “I need to get my kit. You didn't give me a chance to bring my supplies.”
Harry turned to stare at her, his green eyes narrowed. “Are you trying to sneak back and contact Kingsley so he can stop us?”
The corner of Hermione's mouth twitched. “No. I won't.”
“Promise?”
“I promise, I'll just get my kit from Grimmauld Place and leave. I won't tell anyone in the Order or the Resistance.”
Harry gave a slow nod. “Alright. Go fast. If you aren't back in fifteen minutes we're going to leave without you.”
Hermione rushed out of the cottage and apparated to the shack.
She waited for a few minutes. She felt cold with terror.
Moody was in Scotland. Kingsley was out gathering reconnaissance reports. There was no one to contact quick enough. No one who could or would stop Harry.
If she sent a patronus, she had nothing to say but that Harry was walking into a trap somewhere near Cambridge. It wasn't enough information for Kingsley to act on in time.
If Draco knew something, if he could tell her something concrete, she might be able to use it to dissuade Harry.