Unofficial Portkey Archive

Title: War Within a Breath

Author: Muddgutts

Rating: R

Ships: H/Hr

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Chapter 5

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Knock, . . . knock

"Come in," Bellatrix called as she fastened the clasp on her cloak. The door to her room open a little and Mona, her young blonde lover, slipped into the room. She too was dressed and ready to leave for tonight's raid. She moved across the room in small quick steps removing her mask from her face.

Bellatrix picked her potion up from the nightstand. "Why are you dressed like that?"

Mona stopped before her with her hand out stretched as she spoke. "Please Mistress, don't make me stay behind. I want to go with you tonight. I, I just want to be with you."

Lifting Mona's face with her finger Bellatrix moved in close and kissed her roughly, backing her up against the wall. The kiss was only broken when Bellatrix started trailing kisses down her neck and softly spoke into her ear, "But Mona, I need you here. You must ready the room in the basement for Potter when we return."

Sticking her lip out in a little pout Mona whined, "Why do you always leave me behind? You never bring me along for the fun stuff. I can fight too, you know." Bellatrix snaked her hand down across Mona's belly and into her jeans. Her fingers caressed the soft hairs trailing down into her neither region. A small gasp escaped Mona's lips as she laid gentle butterfly kisses on Bellatrix's neck. "Please . . ."

"I'm sorry love, but I can't risk something happening to you. You don't know Potter and his friends like I do. It's better that you stay here, and out of harm's way," Bellatrix said, as she removed her hand from Mona's jeans. Throwing back her hood she placed her mask against her face.

Mona sighed and stepped behind her and knotted the ties behind her lover's head. "Just be careful ok, for me?"

Opening the door Bellatrix pulled Mona forward, kissing her much more softly this time. Their tongues massaged each other's slipping in and out of their mouths. When they stopped kissing, Bellatrix just smiled at her and drew her hood over her head. "Be back in a tick, okay?" Mona frowned a little as she nodded, and then Bellatrix was gone.

When Bellatrix reached the stairs she looked down at the other Death Eaters assembled below in the main gallery. Some were dressed in the black robes of the Death Eaters that the public has come to fear, but others were dressed in different clothing, such as uniforms from Muggle and magical agencies. A few were dressed as policemen, four had on Medi-wizard uniforms, and two had coveralls on and looked like workers from the Muggle sewer authority. Bellatrix descended the steps slowly looking at each of them, "Everyone knows what to do tonight, right?" A loud chorus of 'Yes Mistress' followed and when she reached the last step a lone Death Eater waited by the window with an owl on his arm. Bellatrix handed him a note from the inside of her robe and walked to the center of the room. The note was tied to the owl's leg and he was set free out the window.

Bellatrix drew her wand and pointed to the large grandfather clock in the corner of the room. "We have precisely 35 minutes to get in position and be ready to strike. When that owl reaches Malfoy and Dolohov, they will set off the diversion drawing all attention to them. Nott and I-with the help of his creepy little friends-will storm the house and get Potter. Once your assigned task is completed withdraw, but do not come straight back here in case you're followed. Is that understood?"

"Yes Mistress!"

With a broad sweep of her arm she commanded them, "Go!" Throughout the room, one after another, the Death Eaters disappeared in little pops of smoke. She turned back to Nott and looked him up and down, "You ready?"

Nott only nodded and took her hand Disapparating them both away to the location of his secret army.

~*~

Harry walked into the kitchen and dropped his potions textbook on the table. He sat down and pulled out his essay he had started last week when Hermione had told him to and looked it over. It didn't take him too long to review it. There was only one line written on the page. He sighed and flipped the book open to the flagged page and started reading.

"Not bad, Potter," Moody's voice echoed from the doorway.

Harry turned as Moody walked in to the kitchen. His wooden leg made a hollow thumping sound as he walked and sat at the end of the table. He paused for a second and his magical eye stopped spinning and studied Harry's face. "You took those hits and you still kept on going. Good for you, but that one you took to the face in going to leave a mark; the muscle is bruised."

Swallowing a bit Harry asked, "You were watching the whole time, weren't you?"

"Of course I was. Wouldn't be much of a guardian if I wasn't, would I?"

Harry regarded him for a minute. "How come you didn't come up there and stop us then?"

Moody scratched his noise as he said, "Well it's none of my business. You're almost adults now, I think you can handle your own problems."

This made Harry feel very warm inside. It was good to have another adult besides Tonks and Remus treat them like adults. "Thank you Moody."

"Bah, it's nothing. You'll be sixteen next week and it's about time people stop treating you like a kid." Harry nodded and returned to his reading. "Listen, I'm going to set a few perimeter charms up outside the house before we go to sleep. So keep your ears open on the upstairs ok?"

Harry again nodded, understanding Moody didn't mean Ron or the others, but Lupin. He would be transforming tonight. Harry's insides gave a small lurch thinking about the time in third year he watched Lupin change when they met Sirius. The backdoor slammed and locked from the outside after Moody left.

Reaching into his back pocket Harry felt the photos inside and pulled them out, but there was only one. The picture of Hermione, Ron, and himself moved and danced around inside its paper borders, but the picture of his parents' wedding was gone. Harry jumped to his feet and checked all his other pockets, but it was no good, it wasn't there. He checked his backpack too and found nothing.

He smashed his fist into the table and cursed. "Damn it," he clenched his fists and swore to the gods above. "Why do you always take everything from me? I hate you!" Tears rolled down his cheeks and he flopped back down in his chair. His head landed on the table with a bang on his potions essay. His hands franticly grabbed at the offending piece of parchment and he ripped it to shreds throwing it across the room, and yelled, "You've taken everything from me, and you still want more! Screw your prophecy! Just leave me the hell alone!" After a few minutes of crying into his hands Harry drifted off to sleep with his head down on the kitchen table.

~*~

Nott and Bellatrix walked down a dark cave light only by their wands. Their feet stepped over small crushed bones of many animals and humans along the way. Bellatrix's foot bumped into a thigh bone of a dog or some other animal and a cold shiver ran down her spine. "So Nott, how did you happen to find a colony of Hobgoblins living in the heart of London? I thought all the Hobgoblins were wiped out in the last war."

Lowering his wand to the ground a little Nott examined the path in front of them, "Well about four years ago I worked with Macnair in the Ministry of Magic. We were told to check on a report about four Hobgoblins seen in the area. We came down here and found the nest just like the report said." He stood and continued down the path leading the way. Bellatrix followed close behind.

"And I assume you didn't kill them. So what happened?"

"When we found them they were close to starvation anyway, so I had an idea. Macnair and I decided to let them live in secret here, and for sparing their lives they owed us a life debt." Nott hunched over as the tunnel got smaller and smaller as they descended.

Bellatrix thumbed the wand in her hand nervously as they walked. "And what makes you think they will help us with Potter? We are wizards after all. Why would they risk exposing themselves to the Ministry?"

Nott stopped walking as they approached a reinforced wooded door with large metal bars, and he spoke quietly to her. "Freedom." He paused and looked her in the eyes. "If Potter is out of the picture, the Master will have no one to stand in his way. They are warriors by nature, they only need a reason to fight, and the Master will grant them their freedom when the dust settles."

"You've thought this through, haven't you Nott," she said patting him on the cheek. Then she grabbed him by the throat and banged his head against the door. Moving close to his ear she whispered, "Just-don't-forget-who's-in charge here, Nott. Do we understand each other?"

Struggling for breath Nott gasped, "Yes, Mistress."

Bellatrix yanked her hand away from his neck, leaving red track marks from her nails across his throat. "Good, now let's get moving, we're running out of time."

Nott banged on the door once, waited a second then banged on the door again three more times quickly. They waited in silence for a few minutes. The sound of rushing feet could be heard from the other side of the door. A small slot opened in the door and a glassy red eye watched them from the darkness beyond the door, "Nottzz, . . . who is dah female?"

"A friend, now open the door."

There was a lot of grumbling and cursing, but after a moment or two the door cracked open. As the light from the wands flooded into the doorway the Hobgoblin cringed away from the light. It cursed in a guttural form of goblin that Bellatrix had never heard before. She lowered her wand a bit bringing the beam down to its feet and traveled upward.

It was much bigger then any goblin she'd ever seen before. The biggest difference between Hobgoblins and normal Goblins was height. Dagnir, as she later found out was his name, stood just about four feet tall. The goblins at Gringotts Bellatrix remembered being only about two and a half to three feet tall at most. Dagnir's forearms were very large and muscular, clad in dried leather armor. His hair was long and wild, braided in little clomps in the back and greasy black in color. His face looked just like any other goblin with the exception of his teeth, which were much bigger and very nasty-looking.

Dagnir and Nott spoke in goblin for a few minutes and Nott handed him a small scroll with the Dark Mark pressed in a red wax seal upon it. Dagnir grumbled and called for someone down the hallway. A moment later another Hobgoblin came running and Dagnir gave him the letter. They spoke quietly off to the side for a minute reading the letter from Voldemort then returned. Dagnir's red eyes flashed between Nott and Bellatrix and he held out his hand. "We will fight!"

"Good, very good," Nott said rubbing his palms together. "Gather your men quickly, we must hurry."

The two Hobgoblins bowed just a little, but never removed their eyes from the two wizards as they left.

~*~

Hermione and Ron sat on opposite sides of his bed as they talked about their problems. Ron toyed with the sheet as he spoke. "I think I should start by doing something I should've done a long time ago." Hermione didn't look up as Ron spoke; she had a feeling she knew where this was going. "Hermione, I'm sorry about the way I acted at the Yule ball. I was a jerk and I must have made you feel horrible."

She looked up at Ron and asked, "Why? Why did you do that to me? Was it because you liked me?"

"Maybe, I think it was, but it also made me angry that you went with him and not one of us."

"So you would have been ok if I'd gone with Harry and not you?" Hermione folded her arms across her chest, eyeing him intently.

"Yes! I wouldn't have minded," he said, looking down at his feet. "Ok, well maybe I would have minded, but you have to understand Viktor was the enemy at the time and I didn't think you should've been hanging around him to begin with."

Hermione sighed and lay back on the bed. "You see, there you go again, acting like my brother."

"I was not. I was just trying to look out for Harry is all, and you!" Ron said raising his voice a little. Hermione pursed her lips and just shook her head. Ron coughed a little and adjusted his seat, "Sorry."

"That's what I'm trying to tell you, Ron. I don't need you to look out for me. I'm a big girl now and I can take care of myself."

Ron frowned and said, "If that's true then why is it whenever we're in trouble you always go straight to Harry's side? You never hang on to me like that."

Hermione rolled her eyes at him, "Come off it Ron, I do not."

"Do too. You even did it the other day when the giant was attacking. As soon as the bad guys rear their ugly heads you're hanging onto Harry's hand or his arm. It's true, Hermione, and it makes me feel . . ."

"Feel what?" Hermione sat up again looking at him.

"I don't know, left out I guess. Like you don't need me." Ron's ears turned red as he scratched his neck.

Hermione didn't even realize she had been doing these things Ron was telling her, but in some way it made sense. She had always felt more comfortable with Harry than with Ron, and when they were in trouble the first thing to cross her mind was Harry's safety. All of that aside she knew the real reason why she had been acting this way. "Don't you ever say that Ron. Harry and I have always needed you, and we still do."

"Even now that you're a couple?"

"Yes…I suppose that was the reason why I was always acting that way," she said, crossing her legs in front of her.

Now Ron was really confused. "What?"

"Ron, I've been in love with Harry for a very long time now. I've always tried to do my best not to show it, but you know, things just…happen." Hermione's head was downcast as she flicked her shoelace with her finger. "I couldn't let anything happen to him. I don't know what I would do if something really bad ever happened to you or Harry."

Ron could tell she was starting to get emotional and that actually scared him a little. He never knew what to say or do. So he just rubbed her shoulder with his hand. Hermione reached up and took his hand in hers. Her eyes were very desperate and her cheeks flushed red as she spoke. "Ron we need to put this behind us so we can be a team again. I know that's asking a lot of you-but you're our best friend. Harry needs you to be there for him."

"And you?" He couldn't meet her eyes as he asked.

She squeezed his hand and gave him a half smile, "Yes, I need you too Ron, just not like that." He smiled at her too and laughed a little.

"Yeah," he smiled and looked away. "Listen, I know that you love him and would do anything for him. I got the hint a long time ago when my arse backwards approaches at getting your attention always turned out bad. You never showed any interest in me."

Hermione let go of his hand and became serious. "You did get my attention, but it was the wrong kind of attention. You always made me so mad. I-just didn't feel the same way, and I didn't want to hurt you. I'm sorry. If I had said something a long time ago, maybe this wouldn't have happened."

"Bah, it's ok," he said smiling broadly now. "If I would've said something back in third year, we would've settled it then, right?"

Hermione cocked her head to the side and looked a little surprised. "Third year? How far back does this go?"

"How long have you liked Harry?"

"I asked you first."

"So, you guys started it today. You tell me."

"No you started it today, remember?"

"Oh, yeah."

~*~

Serverus Snape thumbed desperately through every book he had, and as he was just about to give up hope of ever finding out what Bellatrix was up to, he found an entry that looked promising. It wasn't for a potion but for an enchantment spell instead. The name was Loki's Lore. It was very similar to a polyjuice potion but did not require any physical elements from the person being impersonated; instead a photograph was the item of choice. It was very simple; with the proper ingredients and a photo the caster could take the appearance of the victim's loved ones. This was it. It had to be, nothing else made any sense.

Snape moved over to the desk and retrieved two small pieces of parchment. He quickly scrawled two notes about Bellatrix's intended course of action-one to Dumbledore and the other to Lucius Malfoy, who no doubt would find this information very useful. Bellatrix had been keeping Malfoy so in the dark about the whole operation that he didn't even know what he was walking into tonight.

The potions master wrapped the notes tightly and placed them on the windowsill as he took a jar of worms from the shelf. He pulled two of them out and placed them on the table, then stopped and checked the room quickly to be sure he was alone. No one was around so he carried on. With a wave of his wand he transfigured the worms into owls. Snape attached the notes and sent them off on their way.

~*~

The clouds rolled across the evening sky revealing the perfect white orb that was the moon. Its light cast odd shadows over the ruins of the house that had been destroyed by the giant a few days ago. Lucius Malfoy pulled up a rickety metal chair and had a seat. With a wave of his wand he repaired the shattered teakettle and began brewing himself a bit of tea. There wasn't anything to do really, but wait. Dolohov had found the giant a few miles away sleeping in a clearing, and luckily for him was able to regain control over the giant easily.

Lucius swirled the tea in his cup as he watched Dolohov command the giant to walk in circles backwards. This didn't seem to be normal behavior for a giant so he had to ask, "How is it that you can make him do such things?"

Stopped just long enough to look over his shoulder Dolohov said, "The Namba beetle."

This only served to confuse Lucius more. What did a beetle have to do with controlling a giant. "I don't understand. Giants can repel most magic; even the Imperius Curse doesn't work on them. So again I ask how can you do it?"

The giant stopped and bowed to Lucius and Dolohov before sitting down in the grass. Dolohov walked over and sat down on a large wooden beam lying across the ground. "You're right, the Imperius Curse doesn't work on giants, but it works on the Namba beetles just fine." Lucius shook his head and sipped his tea. "You see the Namba beetles are from South America, and the thing that they thrive on is anger."

"Anger?"

"Yes, you see the beetle is very small so what they do is climb inside of a person's ear at night." Lucius unconsciously started to scratch his ear for a second. "Once they get inside your noggin they latch on to the spinal cord and the nervous system."

"And?"

Dolohov shook his head, "Didn't you learn any of this in Care of Magical Creatures?"

Looking down in his teacup Lucius pursed his lips, "Get on with it already. What does this have to do with the giant?"

"Easy, mate, I'm getting to it. So they live on the back of your spine, right. So the more pissed off you get the bigger it gets. Eventually they lay eggs and, . . . well you get the idea, but the beauty off the whole thing is this. Imperio won't work on the giant, but it works on the beetle!"

Lucius looked up at him with an impressed smile on his face, "I see now. So by controlling the beetle that has control over the nervous system you bypass the giant's resistance to the Imperius Curse. Brilliant idea, Dolohov."

Dolohov tugged on the corners of his robe straitening them a bit, "Thank you, thank you, and another thing. . ." He stopped speaking when he saw a black silhouette on the horizon flying towards them. Lucius stood up and tossed his teacup to the ground.

He held out his arm and a brown barn owl drifted through the air landing on his arm. Lucius untied the note from its leg and ripped it open. It was Bellatrix's instructions for tonight's attack. A small piece of shoelace fell into his hand as he read the note. When he finished he crumbled it up and threw it to the ground. "Unbelievable! This woman has some pair of stones on her I tell you."

Shaking his head Dolohov asked, "What? Where are we supposed to go with the giant?"

Rubbing his temples with his fingers Lucius voice was tense and low. "Bring the giant over here and grab the string." Dolohov waved his wand in the air and the giant walked over to them slowly. He kneeled down behind him and held out his index finger between them both. Malfoy took one end of the string and so did Dolohov. They pulled it tightly and rested it across the giant's finger.

Dolohov watched Malfoy intensely and asked, "Well are you going to tell me or what?"

Anger was boiling inside of Malfoy now. "We're going to Diagon Alley!" he barked out. Dolohov just shook his head as his throat tightened. He tried to speak but the words just wouldn't come out. Why would Bellatrix want them to walk into one of the must highly guarded areas in London?

Lucius adjusted his mask a little tighter as they waited for the Portkey to activate. "I hope you know what you're doing with this giant, because as soon as we show up every Auror in the bloody ministry is going to be on to us."

There was a sharp pull behind their navels and a surge of light and they were gone.

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I know that we're all waiting for the action to start here, but I needed this chapter to complete the set up. So the pieces are in motion and chapter six will be a good one. I promise ok. Thanks for reading and review with your questions. They help me a lot it's because of your comments that I felt this chapter needed to be fleshed out more. Thanks again.

MG