Kingsley shook his head sharply. “You will not go near that house again. Severus is on shift in the labs. He'll be here in an hour for an Order meeting.”
“Alright. Do you need anything else?”
Kingsley looked back down at the table. “No. You can give a full report to Alastor later.”
Hermione turned to leave. She was halfway through the door when Kingsley spoke.
“Granger.”
She turned and found Kingsley staring at her.
“You're alright?”
She shrugged. “I'm alright.”
“I'm glad to hear it. I would never have forgiven Harry if he'd gotten you killed to save Ron.”
Hermione gave a bitter smile, and her hold on the doorknob tightened. “Draco is vital, I know. I'll be more careful.”
Kingsley's expression flickered. “That's not what I mean. When Remus reported that they thought you'd been captured—” Kingsley drew a deep breath and looked away from her. “I would have mourned your loss; more than I would have mourned anyone else in the Order.”
Hermione tilted her head to the side and didn't believe him. The corner of her mouth quirked slightly, and she raised an eyebrow. “Would you now?” She snorted, shaking her head. “Is that why you call me Granger then? Because I'm
Kingsley gave her a sad smile. “I call you Granger to remind myself that I am responsible for more people than simply the ones that I like.” He sighed and stared down at the table for a moment before looking back up at her. “It would have been a privilege to have been friends with you in another life, Hermione Granger.”
Hermione studied him for several seconds. “Maybe — in another life we could have been friends. But — I don't think I'll ever forgive you in this one.”
Kingsley nodded slowly and looked away from her. “In case the opportunity never comes to say it later, I am sorry — for everything I've asked of you.”
Hermione was silent for several seconds before she gave a low sigh. “If you hadn't asked, I would have offered.” She shrugged. “You never forced me. I am culpable for my choices.”
She stepped through the door and headed down the hall.
Severus brought a report on the shackle a few hours later. It was a new prototype. It required a Dark Mark to remove. There were more complex designs being developed.
There was a long silence at the revelation.
“Well, that's not — it could be worse,” Charlie said after a minute. “Snape can get it off then. Or one of our prisoners. A few of them are marked, right?”
“I can remove Ron Weasley's, but when I do, Sussex will know, and the next shackle they release may require a more elaborate mechanism.” Severus sneered contemptuously at Charlie.
“Got a better idea?” Charlie jutted his chin up and glared at Severus.
“We'll remove the trace on Ron.” Kingsley said, resting his fingers on the edge and tapping thoughtfully. “However, until we have better information on the shackles, there will be no further rescues. We can't afford to lose more safe houses.”
“Well, shouldn't Snape know? Since he works there? I thought that was the whole reason we kept him.”
“I do not run the entire lab.” Severus' tone was vicious. “I operate within the potion and curse divisions. I'm not the one running experiments on dark creatures or developing traced shackles. There are limitations to how much information I can provide without warning.” His dark eyes rested briefly on Hermione. “I may have better intelligence next week.”
“We'll take a team to the Tonks cottage and get the shackle off Ron.” Kingsley rolled up the scroll of information Severus had brought and handed it to Hermione and Fleur to look over. “According to Alastor, the Death Eaters only have a vague idea of where the cottage is at this point. We'll take a group of twenty and split into smaller teams. Fred and Charlie will escort Severus and I through the Fidelius to remove the trace. Everyone else will act as decoys. We'll likely have to fight our way out. We'll go polyjuiced. That will cause confusion over who to target. I'll send word to Potter and Moody to expect us. Granger, get the Polyjuice doses ready.”
“I'll need identities and a time limit,” Hermione said as she stood up.
“Two hour dose.” Kingsley paused in thought for a moment before adding “Use Harry's hair. They'll expect him there. They won't expect there to be twenty-four of him. The confusion will buy us time. We'll have to isolate both Remus and Ron once they get back to Grimmauld Place. Fleur, get two rooms warded in the basement.”
Hermione gave a short nod and headed to her potion cabinet, leaving the rest of the Order to strategise and debate the remaining logistics for the mission.
Hermione readied the potions and watched a roomful of people transform into her best friend before disillusioning themselves and departing Grimmauld Place.
The waiting was the worst. Hermione stood in the foyer and watched the hands on the clock journey slowly across its face.
She hated waiting.