My Audio Books Chapter 454 Vgg

FanFiction

Just In

Community

Forum

The Winter Witch by Kneazle

Harry Potter & Game of Thrones Xover Rated: T, English, Adventure & Fantasy, [Hermione G., Robb S.] Roose B., Words: 281k+, Favs: 3k+, Follows: 4k+, Published: Oct 16, 2017 Updated: Mar 20 2,575Chapter 7: I:VII

the Winter Witch VII

Note: Hoster's one line comes from A Feast for Crows, chapter 48 (Jaime).

This chapter got away from me - it wasn't at all in my outline, but I realized that I wanted to build up Hermione's friendship with Torrhen, as well as explore Blackwood and Bracken a bit more than what we know in the show/books. For those who wanted to see more bad ass Hermione, I hope this chapter might appease you some (although I don't know why... even in the first chapter she only used two spells...!)

Lastly, I may have listened way too much to the Wonder Woman and Rogue One soundtracks while writing this. Did no one catch my Rogue One line in chapter 6?

With plans made, Hermione Apparated back to Riverrun early the next morning, without alerting anyone in the Tully castle, and gathered a few items from her tent. The inside of the green tent, looking like a small two-bedroom country cottage, was a mess of epic Ron Weasley proportions. Hermione had been taking advantage of having double the space - she lived and slept on her much comfier bed in the tent than the one in the room Robb had given her in Riverrun, but it also meant that she had twice the space to cover with her scrolls, parchment, and books.

Her living room in the tent had overflowed with her research, and was currently taking up the seating area in front of the fireplace in her Riverrun quarters. Robb had showed some foresight and kindness, as the room she was in was similar to her description of the Gryffindor common room back at Hogwarts, except the abundance of red in Gryffindor was muted to a trim colour on gold with Tully blue. However, there was a large, unused poster bed, several couches and armchairs, and a table with four wooden chairs around it by the fireplace, as well as many throw rugs under the majority of the furniture.

But what she needed was in her tent, in the bedroom Harry and Ron had shared. Some of their clothes, including Harry's Quidditch jersey, was still left laying haphazardly across his cot. The room had the air of the Gryffindor boy's dorm room: musty, old socks, sweat, and something else Hermione didn't like to think about.

Quickly, she held her breath and made her way to the four-tier dresser, pulling open the top drawer to yank out a wooden box. She clutched it to her chest and then spun on her heel, the crack muted as she travelled from Riverrun to Stone Mill in an instant.

She took in a deep gulp of air as she appeared next to Torrhen just outside the low stone wall that surrounded the tall mill. The sun was just peeking over the edge of the horizon, bathing the riverlands and nearby farms in a soft, orange glow.

Torrhen jumped but did his best to appear unaffected by her immediate arrival, but Hermione spied the quick bob of his Adam's Apple and hid a grin.

"All right?" she asked casually, striding forward and letting him fall into place behind her and to the right. They began moving between canvas tents set up by the northern and riverlands soldiers who accompanied Edmure, skitting around open-flame fits and one portable smithy.

"Just fine," the tall twenty-something Karstark replied. "Did you get what you needed, Lady Hermione?"

Hermione turned slightly and gestured at the wooden box in her arms.

Torrhen sighed. "What's that going to do, then?"

"It'll help with warding larger properties," she answered, and then they were at the command tent.

Edmure, looking queasy but determined to keep a solid face on, looked up from the map on their table and nodded at the two. Mallister and Blackwood were with him. He turned to his squire and ordered, "Find Lord Bracken and Lord Vance and tell them to come to the command tent, immediately."

The teen raced out and Hermione placed the wooden box on top of the map.

Blackwood eyed it skeptically. "What's in it?"

"Some salt, some potions," said hermione evenly, with a limp hand movement. "Chalk, as well. I'm going to need to ward the entire property of Raventree Hall and Stone Hedge in order to ensure that you don't get any surprises."

Blackwood closed his eyes in gratitude, despite being unsure of her abilities. "My thanks, Lady Hermione. When will you go?"

"As soon as Lord Bracken is here," she answered. "It's best we ride out immediately to seeing distance to each location, and then I'll Apparate us over to complete the ward scheme."

"Apparate?" asked Lord Mallister.

Torrhen and Edmure both made faces, but Edmure answered, hesitantly, "She… pops from one place to another."

Both Blackwood and Mallister looked at Hermione, who smiled demurely back. The tent flap opened at that moment though, stopping them from asking any further questions, and Lord Vance and Lord Bracken entered, along with Edmure's squire.

"Excellent, let's begin," said Edmure, his voice barely shaking. "Lady Hermione will take Lord Blackwood and Lord Bracken on horseback towards Raventree Hall and Stone Hedge, in order to place these… protective ward schemes she has suggested."

"I'll be going too," interrupted Torrhen, squaring his shoulders back as everyone turned to him.

"You don't need to," argued Hermione kindly, "It'll be a quick in-and-out thing."

Torrhen shook his head, the candlelight in the tent catching on his light brown hair and turning it russett. "King Robb asked me to protect you, and while you are," he looked her up and down, "capable, Lady Hermione, I'd feel better at your side."

Edmure nodded slowly. "Very well; Lords Blackwood and Bracken, as well as Lady Hermione and Karstark here will travel on horseback towards the two, while Mallister and Vance here will organize our forces and begin making token defenses along the Red Fork, starting just south of here, across from Acorn Hall. We'll continue through past Riverrun, towards Raventree Hall and Stone Hedge, and finish by the Inn at the Crossroads."

"How much time will you need for these defenses?" asked Vance, turning to Hermione.

"Not much," she replied, "About an hour to ward everything, but I'll be tired afterwards for a few. Once I've visited a place, I can Apparate back, and take someone with me in a Side-Along."

"So within a day?" clarified Vance, frowning slightly.

Hermione nodded.

"Good," said Mallister instead, interrupting, "As scouts estimate that we only have a few days before the Lannister army is in sight. No more than five, and I am sure it will take you the better part of a day or two with a hard ride to reach Raventree Hall and Stone Hedge."

With that said, the groups broke off, leaving Edmure with Mallister and Vance in the command tent, and Hermione, Torrhen, and Lords Blackwood and Bracken with her towards the horses.

I'm going to have to get used to this, sighed Hermione, eyeing the large brown horse Torrhen easily swung up onto, as well as the large black warhorse Blackwood sat astride and the grey one Bracken used.

Torrhen held out a hand for Hermione to grasp, and with ill ease, she gripped his wrist. He tightened his grip around her wrist and hauled her up and onto the saddle in front of him. Hermione scrambled into an upright position, her hands white-knuckled as she gripped the pommel and her thighs squeezed the side of the horse. Being on Torrhen's horse was a different feeling altogether than being on Buckbeak, or the Gringotts dragon.

It whinnied and Torrhen smothered a laugh as he said, "Easy, Lady Hermione. I won't let you fall."

"It's not the fall that I'm worried about," she muttered, but the Karstark soldier laughed behind her and wrapped his arms forward, holding the reins lightly in one hand and chuckling his tongue to get his horse moving.

The ride was mind numbingly boring, for Hermione, who spent the better part of it with her eyes squeezed shut, her fear driving her to recite Gamp's Transfiguration Laws at least ten times until her heart rate calmed enough to realize that Torrhen was speaking behind her, over the sniping comments that Blackwood and Bracken were sharing with another.

"-and, if you can see it, Lady Hermione, that there in the distance is High Heart," he was saying, his voice a soothing, low murmur. "We're going to go to there because we'll be able to see all the way down to Harrenhal and the God's Eye Lake. I haven't seen it myself, but I've heard it is quite something…"

"Thanks," she muttered back, slowly opening her eyes and sucking in a breath as she realized how quickly they were cantering through farmland and through forested paths, all leading closer and closer to the hill in front of them, looming over the landscape.

"Of course, my Lady," he replied. "We'll be at High Heart soon."

"How soon?"

'Soon' was still two hours, but by the time they reached the crest of the hill, the three horses had slowed and Torrhen led them off the path and through the thick woods. They often had to duck under low-hanging moss and branches. Noise was muted within the foliage, and the air was significantly cool that Hermione shivered in the shadows.

From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw something, and she turned partially in the shadow and Torrhen's arms to look at it.

"What was that?" she asked. Between the green of the trees, there was a flash of white, and then two, beady red orbs, but they disappeared quickly.

"Do you see something, Lady Hermione?" called Blackwood from just behind.

At the man's other side, Bracken tensed and shifted his gaze to the thick trunks and bushes around them. "Perhaps it is the Ghost of High Heart?"

"Ghost?" repeated Hermione.

Torrhen nodded, and Hermione felt the movement of his chest, the brush of his armour against her sweater as he spoke. "Aye, the Ghost of High Heart, who gives out prophecies to those who seek her out."

Alarmed, Hermione squeaked, "Prophecies?" Merlin, I thought I escaped that when Harry killed Voldemort!

"Planning to seek advice on marriage, Lady Hermione?" teased Lord Blackwood with a short guaff of laughter.

Behind her, Torrhen turned partially and sent a glare at the man. "Don't give my father hope, Lord Blackwood!"

Yeah, thought Hermione, Yeah, that's not happening.

They emerged on the other side of the forested peak of the hill, overlooking the north. The landscape was a patchwork quilt was farmed fields, small clusters of trees, and thatched roofs. In the distance, Hermione could see the smoky blue haze around the mountain range near Riverrun, as well as a tiny, meandering blue streak that she knew to be the Trident's many forking rivers; that particular river was the Red Fork.

And, ahead, were two grey structures; one rose prominently in a rectangular shape whereas the other was blackened and smaller - Raventree Hall and Stone Hedge, respectively. A thin trail of smoke lazily danced in the air from Stone Hedge.

Beside Torrhen, on their hoses, Lord Blackwood and Lord Bracken came to a stop, surveying the land and smaller keeps that dotted the landscape of vassals under their leadership - minor houses - and Bracken sucked in a sharp breath that had the others turn to him.

"My home!" he cried lowly, a keening noise.

Hermione turned back and narrowed her eyes, glancing all over the smaller of the two keeps, until she spotted a bright red cloth waving in the soft breeze. It meant something to the other men, as Blackwood growled.

"Lannisters," Torrhen hissed.

Hermione turned back to the smaller, blackened keep. From her beaded bag, Hermione pulled out a pair of used Omnoculars - remnants of the Quidditch World Cup - and brought them to her eyes, using the features to zoom in on Stone Hedge. The red cloth she saw had a golden lion rearing back on it, very unlike the Gryffindor lion. There were several armoured men around the battlements of the keep, but the front gate was open and it looked like they were not expecting any resistance - from outside or within.

"We've been gone barely two moons," griped Blackwood. "When did the Lannisters sneak their way here?"

"There's been talk of the Mountain leading men through the riverlands," said Torrhen quietly, shifting his horse as it whinied nervously. "He could have done that."

"He wouldn't've stayed," responded Blackwood grimly. "Just burnt the keep after raping and pillaging his way through."

Hermione, mouth opened, turned to the men. "Rape and pillage? Just who is this man?"

"Gregor Clegane," replied Bracken, anger thrumming through his words. "Tywin Lannister's enforcer. The man is tall and built like a mountain, hence his name. He's vile and dangerous."

"They say he killed his own sister and father," continued Blackwood, "And that he burnt his younger brother's face just because he didn't like the boy."

"Merlin," whispered Hermione, turning back to the smoking keep. Her eyes hardened. "We need to do something about this."

"You said this wasn't your fight, Lady Hermione," said Torrhen quietly, "And we have Raventree Hall to protect, as well as the upcoming fight with the Lannister forces marching on Riverrun."

"It won't take long." Hermione's mouth was pressed into a long, thin line. "We can do Raventree Hall first, anyway." She shook her head. "If this - Mountain - Clegane - is at Stone Hedge, then he needs to be stopped."

"Better men and greater soldiers than little wood witches like you have tried, Lady Hermione," cautioned Blackwood, wrinkles deepening around his eyes as he faced the woman.

"Well," replied Hermione, her tone dark, "They weren't me, were they?"

As per their original plan, they decided to ward Raventree Hall first. However, by horseback it could've taken hours to reach the castle, so by wary agreement, Hermione was going to Side-Along the soldiers one at a time, starting with Lord Blackwood.

Hermione reached out and wrapped her arm around Blackwood's, in a parody of the gesture Robb had extended to her when she first arrived at Riverrun.

"This is probably going to be unpleasant," warned Hermione.

"How unplea-?"

Hermione spun on her heel and with a loud crack they displaced the air around them and reappeared near the gates, much to the surprise of several Blackwood guards, who raised their bows from the two towers by the gate. At her side, Blackwood was hunched over, retching their jerky lunch to the grass.

One of the guards recognized him, calling nervously, "Lord Blackwood? My lord? A-Are you well?"

Blackwood held up a hand and coughed, and then straightened. He levelled a glare on Hermione, one that was rendered moot by the green tint to his scraggly face. "'Unpleasant,' Lady Hermione, is an understatement."

Hermione shrugged. "I'm going to get the others. Can you explain to your men what I'm going to do so they don't pepper me with arrows?"

Blackwood nodded, and she disapparated again, appearing back on High Heart. Bracken cursed loudly at her arrival, as it sent his horse skittering back into a bush.

"Torrhen, you'd best come next," she suggested, and the tall Karstark guard merely nodded, his face grim. Instead of taking his arm, she took his hand, and appeared at the gate of Raventree Hall, which now had several other Blackwood soldiers outside, along with Blackwood himself who was explaining Hermione's plan.

By the time she completed the trip with Lord Bracken, who did not vomit on arrival, much to Blackwood's ire, the Blackwood men were staring at Hermione in shocked awe.

"How long will this take?" the Stone Hedge lord asked irritably as they stood within the inner courtyard.

"An hour or so," replied Hermione, already eyeing the far corners of the front of the hall. "I just need to get at the cornerstones, and once that is done, a map of the castle and grounds."

With Torrhen trailing her, as well as Lord Blackwood and several curious guards, Hermione crouched in front of one grey stone at the corner between the far right wall by the gate, and drew Uruz, the rune for strength; at the opposite corner, Algiz the rune for protection; at the other end of Raventree Hall, in the corners, she drew Ihwaz for longevity, and Berkano for hidden things. At each chalky rune, she finished the drawing by tapping it with her wand and infusing it with her magic.

Slightly dizzy, she took an offered cup of cider from Torrhen, gulping the amber liquid down quickly. Once done, Blackwood offered her a map of Raventree Hall, and with a drop of his blood, Hermione traced a ward line along the property, finishing the Muggle Repellant ward tied only to the man's bloodline.

By the time Hermione had finished her work, the sun was high above Raventree Hall, and she had the grimy feeling of dried sweat along her hairline and down her spine. Her head was no longer spinning, a side effect of charging the runes to cover a large parcel of land due to magical exhaustion. She knew she was no magical powerhouse like Harry was, her strength lying in books and spellcraft, but she was no slouch either.

It's just been awhile since I stretched my magic, she thought wryly; most of her time the past year since the Battle of Hogwarts had been spent on geminio and reparo, copying books from the library at Hogwarts or repairing sections of crumbling walls and stairs.

The group had migrated from the inner courtyard to Blackwood's solar, a light-infused office where prisms of colour danced through the many floor to ceiling windows against white-washed weirwood panels. Hermione was resting on a low chair near the fire with Torrhen standing beside her, while Lord Blackwood's heir Brynden (who remained at the castle while he was gone), as well as his other third and fourth sons Hoster and Edmund, Blackwood's castellan, a dour-looking brown-haired man named Aethl, and Lord Bracken, stood in a loose semi-circle facing Blackwood, who sat behind his desk.

Blackwood heaved a sigh. "What do we know about the Lannister force at Stone Hedge?"

His eldest son Brynden, a tall, broad-shouldered young man replied quickly. "A small group of them moved through the riverlands quickly; they bypassed us though and went straight for Lord Bracken's."

The man in question began a nervous pace. "What happened to my people?"

Brynden Blackwood shrugged. "We don't have communication with Stone Hedge, so anything we learned was after-the-fact. The keep itself was burned, and there were several dead."

Hermione frowned at the callus words, and Bracken snarled. "Are my people's lives a jest to you?"

The young man shrugged, and Hermione got the feeling that something else was going on between the two. She turned to Torrhen but he was focused on the conversation in front of him.

Scowls were passed between the Blackwoods and the Bracken, until Hoster Blackwood, a gangly teen taller than even his father at seven feet, spoke. He had bookish mannerisms from Hermione's perspective, and the cowlick at the back of his head endeared her to him. "Past a certain point, all the dates grow hazy and confused, and the clarity of history becomes the fog of legend."

His words cautioned his father and Lord Bracken, and significantly cooled the tempers.

"My apologies," said Brynden Blackwood stiffly, but sincerely. He struggled for a moment visibly, but then said, "The Mountain did come through but it was some time ago. I do not believe that he attacked Stone Hedge, and that those Lannisters who remain are a small contingent."

"What kind of numbers?" barked Lord Blackwood.

"Less than twenty," said Aethl, the castellan, "But more than ten. They have been burning through the Stone Hedge provisions quickly and made some hesitant inquiries towards us recently."

"We can't do a full-scale attack," sighed Brynden, "As they will see us coming."

"Then what can we do?" asked Bracken, angrily.

"Use the backdoor."

Everyone turned to Hermione. She met their eyes and continued, "We use the backdoor. And while I'm guessing you don't physically have a backdoor, I can make one. Into a storage larder? Or pantry? We can sneak in from behind. We'll leave a token resistance at the front, capturing their attention and come from the rear in a pincer movement."

Lord Blackwood and Lord Bracken were staring at her, as well Aethl; and Brynden had his mouth open. Hoster and Edmund both look befuddled, like it was strange to hear her speak, while Torrhen was smothering a grin.

"That..." sputtered Blackwood, "That works."

Bracken composed himself first. "Then… now?"

Hermione agreed; the sooner they left, they sooner they'd return to Edmure and that battle. Blackwood turned to his castellan and had him write Edmure a note saying that were delayed, and Brynden and Hoster gathered a handful or armed soldiers to join them as the front assault.

For Hermione, she swallowed heavily. It would be the first time since the Battle of Hogwarts that she would be involved in a fight. I just hope I don't let anyone down.

Brynden led the front, charging towards Stone Hedge in a sea of blood red and black ravens trimmed with white - for their sigil - while Bracken led Blackwood, Torrhen, Hermione, as well as two other Raventree Hall guards behind the keep. There was a small village of wooden huts and some in stone around the keep, all closely packed together. There was a heaviness in the air, one Hermione recognized from her time leading up to the Battle of Hogwarts; in Hogsmeade, the village was quiet and still, with the townsfolk barely peeking out of their windows - it was the same here.

"Behind here," whispered Bracken, pointing from their hidden spot between a blacksmith and a tanner at a portion of the Stone Hedge wall that led up to a large tower. "The base of this leads to the larder."

Hermione stepped forward, just partially out of the alleyway, and flicked her wrist to slide her wand into her grasp. She then pointed at the wall, imagined a porthole, and said, "Evanesco." A portion of the stone wall of the keep vanished, leaving a small hole large enough for them to crawl through.

Lord Bracken went first, with Hermione second and the rest following behind. One they were inside the larder, which was nearly bare, Hermione turned back to the wall and whispered, "reparifarge," returning the stone transfiguration to its base. She then wordlessly lit her wand with a lumos, as once the hole repaired they were cast into darkness.

"Lead the way," whispered Hermione, and together, they crept out of the larder into the kitchen. One sculley maid saw them, and almost shrieked, but upon seeing her lord, her eyes just went wide and then she pointed up, towards the Hall.

With Bracken and Blackwood on point, leading the group through the corridors, Hermione didn't have much to do, quickly extinguishing her wand's tip once they left the kitchen. Torrhen kept beside her.

The first Lannister guard they came across was humming as he exited a side room, and had no time to warn anyone before Bracken was upon him, his sword slicing across the man's throat easily. The Lannister bubbled a bit, but Bracken caught him and dragged him into the room he came from quietly.

The next four soldiers met the same fate; the few Bracken maids and soldiers they came across aided them quietly, slipping the heavy-armoured Lannister soldiers into the adjoining rooms, or in one memorable occasion, the privy.

The walls of the keep were scorched in places, and there was a sense of rot where Bracken soldiers had run around carrying buckets of water to douse flames, as many support beams and columns around them were blackened or a darker brown colour, with bits of mould already growing on them. There were remnants of decorative horses galloping up and along the wood.

Hermione and Torrhen eased around one such column, while opposite them Blackwood and Bracken did so to another, and the two other Blackwood guards with them picked another.

They were peering from the shadows into a dark great hall. At the head, on a dais, was a blond-haired Lannister, laughing raucously with at least ten Lannister soldiers while three well-dressed teenage girls with miserable, terrified faces served them from flagons. One had light brown hair, the eldest by the looks of it, wearing a pretty pink gown; the other two had similar traits but darker brown hair, in soft buttercup yellow gowns.

At the foot of the dais were two teen boys in shackles; one, fair-haired, but not Lannister blond, with a pleasant face and wearing a tunic in the reversed house colours of Bracken, and the other with dark hair and a similar chin, also in the Bracken colours.

One guard reached forward and grabbed at the pink gown girls' bum as she passed by, making her squeal in surprise and horror. The fair-haired teen leapt to his feet, shouting, "Leave Barbara alone, you lion scum!"

A guard closer to the teen reached out and heavily struck him across the face with his armoured glove, and the teen collapsed to the hall floor, a dazed expression on his face, his mouth bloody and cheek red.

Barbara, the brown-haired teen in the pink dress, sobbed as the guard reached forward and manhandled her into his lap. "Whatchya gonna do about it, bastard?"

From behind the large column, Hermione saw red. Although the girl didn't look like her much, the light brown hair that bordered on blonde and the pretty pink dress reminded Hermione of Lavender. And when the guard shifted from having Barbara in his lap to pushing her back on the table, all Hermione saw was the broken and bloodied body of her old Gryffindor dorm mate, her throat ripped out from Fenrir Greyback's claws, her eyes vacant and body pale.

Without realizing it, Hermione stepped forward from the column, her wand in hand making an aborted swirl. Fumos, she thought furiously and smoke erupted from her wand, quickly filling the great hall in grey and obscuring the few torches that lit the space.

"What the-?"

"Where's the smoke coming from?"

"Intruders!"

"Swords out!"

Behind her, Hermione could sense Torrhen creeping along; he tapped her on her shoulder, and she glanced back. "Where are they?" he mouthed, jutting his chin forward and squinting in the smoke.

Hermione paused, Torrhen hovering behind her, and pointed her wand forward. With her hand other, she reached back and placed her hand in his, skin-on-skin. Homenum Revelio, she thought, and instantly, the Lannister guards, the three girls, and the two shackled boys lit up in red outlines.

Torrhen inhaled sharply, able to see what she saw. He glanced back down at her and nodded, a grim look on his face as he shifted his grip on his sword.

They inched forward towards the nearest Lannister; the guard had a sword against the darker-haired teen, eyes wide and panicked as they darted around the obscured room. He was shifting back every few steps, dragging the teen with him.

Torrhen snuck up behind and Hermione moved to the front. As Torrhen covered the man's mouth with his hand and slit his throat, Hermione murmured, "Alohamora," and the shackles around the teen sprung free. His eyes were wide but Hermione held a finger to her lips and motioned him to the side, where he quickly disappeared into the smoke.

Meanwhile, noises from the other side of the table meant that Blackwood and Bracken had joined and were battling in the smoke with their guards; having now lost the element of surprise, directed a blast of wind from her wand to blow the smoke away.

Several Lannister guards were already dead, but so were the two Blackwood guards that came with them. They were still unevenly matched, especially with three unnamed girls and one still-shackled teen. Bracken rushed forward toward the table where the three girls were, a cry erupting from his mouth, while Blackwood cursed behind him, engaged in a sword fight with two Lannister guards.

Torrhen slashed at a nearby guard, engaging him but Hermione surveyed the room coolly and picked her target: the handsy Lannister. He stood with the girl plastered against his front, using her a human shield. The girl's sisters were under the table, crying loudly, but she was quiet, eyes wide and pale-faced, already at terms with her eventual death.

I don't think so, thought Hermione. She pointed her wand at the man, thought expulso, and as the girl was wretched from the Lannister's hands, both of them sailing in two different directions, Hermione immediately cast the cushioning charm on the floor where Barbara landed on her stomach with a soft whump. The Lannister guard, however, sailed through the air and hit one of the columns, snapping it in half. The heavy wooden beam then landed on top of him, and he lay unmoving.

Unfortunately, it brought attention to Hermione. Three other guards from the table turned to her direction, including one which seemed like the leader.

"Bitch!" he snarled, and together he and the two others hopped off the dais towards her.

Hermione narrowed her eyes and nonverbally cast depulso, and the very chairs they had sat on went flying towards them in a flurry of wood; one guard cried out as the chair broke against him and he fell to the floor. The other two managed to hack through the wooden chairs with their swords, but left piles of wooden bits behind.

Oppugno, Hermione thought, directing those pieces to the air and shot them towards the two men. The leader dove to the ground, eyes wide; the other was not as lucky and the wooden stakes found purchase between his armour, piercing the skin and jerking him back in tiny hits until he resembled a pin cushion.

"By the Gods," whispered the leader, but his words carried across the hall, "What are you?"

The man got to his knees and then feet, swinging his sword up at the same time and extending his reach to catch Hermione. She, however, cast a nonverbal protego, and the sword bounced off her invisible shield. With a slash towards the man, she cast expulso, and a bright blue light burst from her wand and slammed into the man's chest plate, dead center.

There was a ding as the spell impacted, visibly denting the steel in and making the man gasp out in pain. He was sent flying backwards, ass over head into the table and then over it as well. Hermione raced forward and looked over it, only to see the man dead, his neck at an odd angle.

"Lady Hermione! Behind you!" cried Torrhen, and Hermione turned to see one of the men Blackwood had been fighting had abandoned the Lord to engage her. His sword swung out but she dodged under it, only for the man to grab her right wrist from across his chest, her wand arm, and squeeze painfully.

Hermione cried out, her wand falling from her limp grip, and locked her knees to stop from falling to the floor. The bones of her wrist ground together and tears welled in her eyes.

Conjunctivitis, thought Hermione, gasping aloud as the soldier yanked her forward and off the dais, only to flail back as his eyes swelled up, blurry and pink. He let go of her and scrambled backwards, raising his hands to his face, crying, "I can't see! I can't see!"

Torrhen appeared behind the man and savagely stabbed and slashed him, and the Lannister guard fell to his knees, gurgling on his blood before falling face forward.

Silence descended on the hall, except for the faint sobs of the girls under the table. The other girl, Barbara, rose shakily from where she softly landed, eyes wide and mouth open as she took in the carnage in her home.

"Jeyne? Bess?" hoarsely called Bracken, dropping his sword with a loud clatter and inching towards the table. The two girls, hearing their names, burst out from underneath, racing towards the Lord who swept them into his arms. "My girls, my little girls…!"

"Are they dead?" asked the teen still in shackles. He was near Hermione, at the base of the dais, so she crept forward on her knees and summoned her wand to her hand. It flew through the air and she caught it, wincing at the soreness of her wrist.

"Aye, lad, they are," answered Blackwood, nudging the one he had been fighting with his toe.

Hermione tapped the shackles and with an alohamora, they fell open. He absently rubbed the marks left behind and turned to survey the great hall, which showed the outcome of their battle.

"There are still a few more men outside," said another voice, and Hermione turned to see the first teen she had helped inch out from behind an upright column.

"Nothing we can't handle," said a confident Blackwood, glancing at Torrhen, who had blood splattered across his chest armour, neck and face. "Lady Hermione, can you still fight? Lord Bracken should remain inside with his children and rally the servants."

Torrhen grasped Hermione's upper arm and hauled her to her feet, and she nodded. "I'm fine."

"Good," the other Lord said, and then strode towards the end of the hall, Torrhen and Hermione quickly on his heels. As they passed through the main hall doors to the inner courtyard of Stone Hedge, Hermione heard one of the girls ask, "Who was that? Is she a woods witch?" and Bracken reply, "Something like that, my dove."

There was no rest though; Blackwood burst into the courtyard with a loud roar, catching the attention of the four guards on the ground by the large wooden door that led out of the keep, also half-burnt and rotted; the two archers above the battlements, who had been engaged in speaking to Brynden and Hoster Blackwood outside the keep, whirled on their heels to stare down at the three.

Hermione, however, ran straight for the wooden gate, ignoring the two men on either side who raised their swords.

"BOMBARDA!" she shouted, and the gate, whose doors normally swung inward, burst out in shards around the lock and iron hinges, one creaking as it slammed against the wall on the other side and bounced back, catching the unaware guard and sending him flying forward into the dirt. Torrhen was on the man immediately, bringing his sword straight down and punching through steel and flesh.

With the gate open, Brynden, Hoster and the Blackwood men with them on their horses raced in, their words flashing and the guard at the gate was cut down. Blackwood himself was on top of the battlement, Brynden on his heels after hopping off his horse, and the two men at the top were easily defeated.

In moments, it was over.

Hermione flicked her aching wrist and the wand slid back into her holster, leaving her hands free. She breathed heavily through her nose, her heart coming down from its gallop. She surveyed the courtyard, at the six dead bodies, shards of wood and blood splattered across the stone, and thought: It's over. This is over. We did it.

"Lady Hermione," said Torrhen quietly, coming up beside her. Hermione glanced up at him curiously. He gestured at her hand. "Your wrist, milady. Are you badly hurt?"

Hermione looked down, spotting the bruises that were already forming a black ring around the delicate joint. "I - I'll be fine, Torrhen. Nothing a little Essence of Dittany can't cure."

The older man looked skeptically at her, but nodded. "If you say so, Lady Hermione…"

"Lady Hermione!" cried Blackwood, turning from where he stood with his sons. His face was bright and open, a grin stretching across his face - he looked beyond ecstatic for someone covered in blood and sweat. "Your magic is quite impressive!"

"I agree," added Lord Bracken as he stepped outside, the younger children all following him; the two youngest girls, in particular, kept close to his side. "Without you, my son and nephew would be dead, and my daughters as well. I owe you more than I could ever repay."

Hermione shook her head, making to reply, but Bracken cut her off as he stepped up to her, cupping her shoulders with his hands. "Please," he said, his voice low and pained, "Barbara was… badly hurt by the Mountain and my girls were terrified of the Lannister bastards that remained. It may not seem like much for you, having such amazing abilities, but it means much to us. You will always be welcomed in Stone Hedge, Lady Hermione."

"Aye, and Raventree Hall," boomed Blackwood, eyeing Bracken. Indecision warred on his face for a moment, dimming his smile to solemn. He extended a hand. "Bracken - Jonos - shall we - that is, shall we end this fight? Once and for all? We are not our ancestors."

Bracken eyed Blackwood warily, looking from the hand to the man a few times, but he then nodded slowly. "Aye. Aye - it is time. There are bigger fights than that of the Brackens and Blackwoods."

They shook hands, clasping each other's wrists tightly. Behind Blackwood, Hoster beamed, and one of the girls behind Bracken eyed the tall, gangly teen speculatively.

It was a historic moment - after hundreds of years, the Blackwoods and Brackens were putting aside their feud for a greater fight; but the day wasn't over yet, and Hermione needed to remind them of it. "I still need to ward Stone Hedge," she said, drawing their attention, "And then Edmure needs us."

Blackwood sighed. "Then let us complete this and head back - we've already spent more time here than we had planned."

Bracken agreed, sending his son - Harry Rivers - to find a map of Stone Hedge, and Hermione spent the time etching the same runes on the corners of the keep, with Torrhen trailing behind her. Blackwood, Bracken, and his nephew, Hendry, as well as Brynden and Hoster and the Blackwood men, began to clean the courtyard and move the dead Lannister bodies.

Within the hour, they were done and Hermione was exhausted, swaying slightly as the events of the day began to take their toll. It had been almost a year since she had used so much magic in such a short period of time, and like all muscles, she had to build her tolerance back up.

"Come, Lady Hermione," said Torrhen quietly, nudging her as she swayed into his shoulder, "Can you… ah, what is it? Ap-par-rate us back to High Heart?"

Hermione swallowed and straightened, running a hand through her tangled curls. "Ah - yes, I think so."

As Blackwood gave last orders to his son, and Hermione mentally prepared herself for three jumps. Barbara, the eldest Bracken girl, approached Hermione quietly, eyeing Torrhen who stood behind her. The Karstark moved back slightly, and Barbara eased forward, a cup in her hands.

"Thank you," the girl said quietly, and Hermione took the drink, sighing into the cup of mead. "They - the Mountain, he -" she shuddered and there was a haunted look in her eyes that Hermione didn't like. "Just - thank you, Lady Hermione."

"You'll be safe now," whispered Hermione, firmly. She reached out with her free hand and caught the sleeve of Barbara's gown. "You will. You'll be safe inside these walls, I promise."

The other girl smiled, and then looked down, taking the cup and backing up several steps until she was standing with her sisters, half-brother, and cousin.

Then Blackwood and Bracken were with Hermione, the Lord of Stone Hedge saying, "let's go," and Hermione decided to push her magic, reaching out and grabbing the two Lords on either side of her. Torrhen looped an arm around Hermione's waist and then, with a pop, they were gone.

They reappeared where they left the horses, the shadows in the forest around High heart lengthening and deepening as the sun sank in the west. One horse - Bracken's - nervously whinied, but calmed as the man soothed it.

Hermione, however, felt whatever energy she had left plummet. She had expanded too much, too quickly, unable to build herself up over time or surround herself with the ambient magic of Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, or even the Burrow. She swayed, and then Torrhen was lifting her onto their horse.

"Here we go, Lady Hermione," he muttered, and she didn't even notice as the three men turned their horses as one, galloping down the side of the hill and around its curve, away from Raventree Hall and Stone Hedge, as her head bobbed back and then forward, and she slipped into unconsciousness.

Note: And after this, back to the regularly scheduled story: Edmure's defence of Riverrun at the Stone Mill, and the fate of Robb. I've put off marking for a week, so I'd best get to that now. More to come in a few weeks, I think. Until then, kindly review and enjoy! Happy New Years, all.

Chapter 454 - vgg

Popular novel hashtag