Hermione kept to herself that week. She helped in the hospital each morning and in the afternoons, she'd attend Kingsley's strategy meetings and suggest new attack formations. If she was lucky, Kingsley would ask if she had new information from Malfoy even though the answer was typically no. Afterward, no matter how tired she was or whether or not Ginny was in the tent while she did it, she'd spend the rest of the day pouring over the few books she had access to and scribbling notes on a spare parchment. She didn't know much about muggle bombs or wizarding bombs, but she knew enough magic that she was certain she could figure something out in a matter of time.

After two days of pouring out ideas, Hermione was ready to test her first one. It wasn't very efficient and was really just for her to see if she was on the right track, but it counted as a first trial nonetheless. She hadn't expected it to be such a success when she cast a handcrafted spell on a pebble in the forest, but she'd blown over three of the nearest trees and only managed to stop the resulting damage with some quickly cast shielding charms. After she was sure the forest wouldn't keep falling apart, she let herself do a happy squeal and race back to camp to continue her work.

It became very obvious to Hermione early on that unless she wanted to walk between her tent and the forest several times a day, she would need to move all her research into the forest. Everyday after the Order's regular meeting, she would grab her satchel and walk far enough out in the trees that she didn't worry about anyone from the Order overhearing. She'd also strung together a variety of shields and wards to surround the area with so the forest wasn't devastated after each test run and no one accidentally heard or saw what she was working on.

It wasn't until she was standing behind several shield charms and watching her bomb burn a meter deep hole in the ground and level the six trees around it that she knew it was ready. The small pebble she'd spelled into a specially triggered bomb had caused massive damage to the area she'd shielded in to contain the blast. She'd felt it blow through her wards and all but the last shield around the area had been shattered due to the force of the blast. Within the protected area, the ground was smouldering and Hermione wouldn't have known there were trees there if she hadn't seen them before.

She made quick work cleaning up the area and repairing the forest. Even though most of the other Order members didn't wander into the forest, she couldn't be too careful. She made sure to repair the area outside of where the bomb had gone off and then placed heavy wards around the damaged area so no one would uncover it. After so many tests, there was no way that particular portion of the forest would recover.

From the time she left the forest until she had safely stowed away her satchel in her tent, she didn't stop to talk to anyone. She didn't think they would be able to sense the residual dark magic she'd resorted to, but she didn't want to risk it. Even though it was only minor spells and she'd really just added them to enhance the overall destruction of the bombs, she didn't want to try and explain to the Order why she'd even known how to dabble in the art.

"Hermione?" Ginny groaned.

Hermione climbed down from her bunk where she'd hidden her satchel and sat on the edge of Ginny's bed. From the looks of it, she'd just woken up from a nap.

"How do you feel? Should I get you more potions?" Hermione asked, flicking her wand and casting a diagnostic scan on Ginny. Ginny waved her off and sat up.

"I'm fine," she assured her. "I'm healing as fast as I can, but if the three of you would stop fussing, that would be greatly appreciated."

Hermione rolled her eyes. Even though it was clear Ginny would make a full recovery and likely be back to fighting by the end of next week, the boys hadn't stopped fussing over her. The other Weasleys stopped in whenever they could as well and after seeing how annoyed Ginny was getting with the attention, Hermione had tried to back off.

"You look like you had a good rest," Hermione said. Ginny nodded, gesturing to the empty tent.

"No one's around to wake me up," she said. Though she said it with a smile, Hermione could tell Ginny didn't enjoy being stuck in the tent alone. "Harry said something about Kingsley sending a small ambush up north, but he didn't say much. Do you know anything about it?"

"I know the attack plan, but no details," Hermione replied, refraining from telling Ginny that Kingsley decided to pull her from the battlefield indefinitely. That would lead to too many questions and quite possibly make Ginny worry more. "I'll talk to Kingsley for you though; see what I can find out."

"Thank you," Ginny replied. She leaned back against her bedframe and rubbed her head. "While you're out, I wouldn't mind another potion for my head."

"Of course," Hermione said, smiling.

She got up from Ginny's bed and went straight to the hospital wing. While she hadn't planned on staying, she ended up checking over all of the patients who were still under watch from the new acid curse and assisting Padma for a bit. She learned how Padma and Madam Pomfrey cast the cure for the new acid spell and made a mental note to teach Harry and Ron in case it ever happened to one of them later on.

"Oliver's been asking for you," Padma told her as she walked past Hermione. She gestured to where Oliver's cot was set up and when Hermione frowned in confusion, she shrugged. "I think he just misses the familiar company, but you never know with the Irish these days."

"I'll be right over," Hermione said. She finished wrapping a nasty burn on her current patient's arm, making sure the dittany was perfectly placed, then stepped back. She made sure to let the woman know the burns should be gone by that evening, but she'd have to wait for Pomfrey to officially release her later. "She should be by tomorrow morning and I'll make sure you're at the top of her list," Hermione promised.

"Thank you, Hermione," the woman said. Hermione nodded and left her cot to go visit Oliver shortly.

Just like Hermione had expected, the boy just wanted to talk. Oliver had grinned as soon as he spotted her and asked how her research was going. He filled her in on the spells Pomfrey and Padma had performed and how he already felt as good as new.

"Well, as new as anyone with scarred organs can be," he teased. Hermione gave him a small smile and after making sure he was feeling alright, she grabbed a vial of pain potion and headed back for Ginny.

As promised, she stopped by Kingsley's tent to ask about the ambush Harry and Ron had been sent on. Kingsley wouldn't tell her much, but he did tell her when they were expected back and that she'd be needed in the hospital wing at a moment's notice ("Just in case."). Hermione hadn't even left Kingsley's tent before she was forming a plan for her own ambush that night. With several Order members gone—two of whom were the most likely to notice her disappearance—it would be the perfect time to slip away and lay her bombs around the Death Eater base by Dortmouth. Kingsley wouldn't hear about it until much later as he'd be preoccupied with his own ambush and the base full of rookies wouldn't know to be on edge when another attack was taking place so far away. With a little luck, she could get all the way back to the hospital wing without Ginny even noticing she was missing.

As she returned to the tent to give Ginny her potion, she'd already come up with a seamless excuse and a sure fire way to keep Ginny from getting suspicious.

"I'm to wait in the medical wing until they all come back safely," Hermione said after telling Ginny the boys were expected back late that night. "They could use a little extra help right now anyway, but this way I won't have to wait for the call."

"Send me a patronus when the first one arrives, okay?" Ginny asked. Hermione nodded, watching Ginny gulp down the potion and scrunch her face up in disgust. "That never gets better."

Hermione laughed and got up from Ginny's bed, summoning her bag. She waited until Ginny had settled back in her bed before leaving the tent again, heading for the forest instead of the medical tent.

While she had a few already crafted, Hermione wanted to transfigure more pebbles into bombs just to be safe. She was certain two would take care of the base if placed properly, but she was never one to leave any uncertainty, so she transfigured and spelled two more pebbles and gently set them in her bag. She apparated to the same spot she'd been when Malfoy found her and frowned at the memory. If he'd set up more wards and interrupted her perfectly planned attack, she'd have his head. The Order would do fine without him.

Ever so carefully, Hermione cast the ward detection spell Malfoy had shown her. An impressive list appeared in front of her and Hermione took several minutes to study it. Not all of the wards would need to come down, but she'd definitely need to remove the ones that would alert them to her presence. Even levitating a pebble through them would trigger the magic and she couldn't very well have Death Eaters swarm the forest when she needed them inside the base for the explosion. Rookies or not, they'd destroyed the Dortmouth safe house and were a threat to the Order.

Hermione had never actually removed a ward she hadn't set up before. At least, none that had similar consequences if she failed. Failure would lead to her triggering the wards and having to give up her plan in order to escape an army of Death Eaters.

"Fuck it," Hermione grumbled. They were rookies; she could easily set the bombs and flee before they had enough time to find her.

Throwing caution to the wind, Hermione levitated all four pebbles and sent them soaring through the wards. The triggered wards sent a wave of rippling magic towards her, but Hermione didn't lose her concentration. She watched the wards tumble to the ground and reveal what sounded like a siren. Two boys came rushing out of the building and looked around the area, wands drawn as they looked for the intruder. Hermione's concentration wavered only for a second as she tried to identify them but was unsuccessful.

It all happened in a second, but it felt like several minutes had passed before she'd set the pebbles where she needed them. The siren wailed for the third time as she scrambled further into the forest and set up an array of shields, making sure she was thoroughly protected from the incoming blast. Another Death Eater stepped out of the building right as she flicked her wrist to trigger the bombs.

Even from behind the shields she'd put up, the blast sent her flying backward in a tree. Her ears rang and the resounding boom echoed in her skull. Slightly dizzy, she looked up from where she'd been thrown to the ground to see a huge column of smoke rising to the sky. The entire clearing was black and ash rained from the sky as the only remains of the base. One of the Death Eaters that had left the building first was screaming down below, but Hermione knew he wouldn't live long. There was no way he'd escape without life threatening injuries and there was no living person around who would help him.

Certain that the base was sufficiently taken care of, Hermione apparated back to the forest outside the Order's camp and brushed off her clothes. She had only two hours before those who had left on the ambush returned and the hospital could probably use some assistance, so she sent her satchel back to her tent and ducked into the medical wing to see how she could help.