Unofficial Portkey Archive

Three Wizards and a Witch--Chapter 14

"Is everyone alright?" The question seemed ridiculous considering that the room still had a smoldering carpet, coughing and choking could be heard from upstairs and shrieks of pain were coming from the direction of Shacklebolt.

Harry recognized Pappy's voice. "I'll get the kids out from above and clear the smoke!" Harry ran and opened the doors to the dorms. "Evanesco!" He remembered the spell for making something disappear entirely. The smoke magically disappeared.

Pappy put out the fires and walked over to the bleary-eyed Shacklebolt who was still on the ground writhing in the aftermath of the Cruciatus Curse. Harry watched as Pappy went over to the now unconscious Wormtail and with a long-blade knife severed the silver hand from Wormtail's arm. He then conjured up a makeshift jail cell that caged him in a box with solid metal half-way to the top. "There that should keep you where we can all see you and you can't transform and wiggle out through a knot hole or gnaw a hole in wood."

Harry was back to Hermione sitting at her side. "Ouch, that must hurt. There are still little slivers of glass in your hair and forehead."

"Yeah, I've felt better." Hermione said with a wince. Pappy came over and began the delicate task of removing the glass.

Through the lingering pain Shacklebolt asked, "How did this happen?"

"As we feared, there was something we hadn't figured on. You knew when you were questioning Wormtail. He had the original Marauder's Map and withheld it from Voldemort." Pappy said.

"That doesn't explain how we ended up in our own Common Room with Bellatrix LeStrange and Wormtail trying to kill us and everyone here." Hermione said as Pappy worked on her forehead.

"No…No…it doesn't. Not by a long shot. We didn't even know that Wormtail and Bella were even in the picture. Hey you stop moving or you'll end up looking like your boyfriend with a scar an inch long." Pappy said.

"What? All the hype and two of the most vicious we can imagine get through undetected?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"There were about twenty people rushing up the dungeon corridors and the names got all mingled together." Pappy began. "They were in alternate forms or she was Disillusioned and melted into the background and unfortunately a rat is hard to spot when you're looking at twenty Death Eaters bearing down on you." That's when we heard Shackebolt's warning just after we turned them away. There are some injured in the hospital wing."

"What do you mean?" Hermione said.

"I think Bella and Wormtail were their targets…to get the original Marauder's Map back. They didn't expect us to be prepared like we were." Pappy said with reserved happiness.

"So, what do we do now?" Shacklebolt asked as he rubbed his sore lower back.

"First, we get Wormtail as far away from Harry and Hermione as we can. Second, we get this copy of the Marauder's Map to Dumbledore ASAP. And, third, we hope that Voldemort doesn't become as aggressive as these two were, because if he does…no one's safe." Pappy said quickly as he finished fixing up Hermione. Pappy stood up from his kneeling position next to Hermione.

"Why get rid of Wormtail?" Harry asked.

"Harry, we can't be near him because he will still show up on the Marauder's Map that Voldemort has and he thinks that Wormtail still has the original or that he's near us," said Hermione frantically.

"See, Harry, the old Hermione still exists, she just bites her tongue until it is necessary to say what she has to say. But that is not a bad thing, and don't think it is, Hermione." Pappy said pointing an approving finger at her. "For the moment, the best we can do is to have Shacklebolt take him to Dumbledore for safe keeping. I told Dumbledore to send backup they should be here shortly."

The portrait opened and Mad-Eye, Tonks and another Auror Harry didn't recognize came in. "We have to get this piece of sh…excuse me, there is a lady present…work to Dumbledore." Shacklebolt pointed toward the container. As each Auror saw who it was they sneered in disgust. "Pettigrew," they said in unison.

"I'm staying here. Make sure he gets to Dumbledore!" Pappy was adamant.

"Pappy, I mean I heard the things you said we are going to do, but isn't Voldemort going to be pissed off and want someone's head?" Hermione asked.

"Well, it moves up our timetable considerably. I have my preferences, but I don't know whether Dumbledore and the rest who make the decisions will agree." Pappy said.

"I'd rather not say. It would be premature to start any worrying on your part, you two. Scourgify." Pappy cleaned the entire Common Room in one sweep of his wand.

"You seem different than at the shop, Pappy." Harry said with sort of a sad look.

"Son, I am the person you met there in Little Whinging. This is the person I have to pretend to be. That's why I stayed out of this business for so long and never wanted in again. Then I met this smart, bright-eyed kid I'd known about for years and couldn't let him face his demons alone. And, when I realized that like me he valued his loved-ones most, I was convinced to return." Pappy said with a face of regret. "I have been sad for a very long time, sixteen years to be exact. Now I see you too, and that sadness is replaced with determination." He smiled at the two of them.

"Pappy, I never thanked Shacklebolt." Harry said.

"Neither did I," said Hermione.

"He knows, believe me, he knows." Pappy assured them. "Now, I'm going to rest on the sofa." He looked at the burned out sofa and said, "Evanesco." It disappeared and almost immediately it was replaced with one like in his apartment in Little Whinging. "You two are sleeping right behind this sofa, on the floor where I can hear you, if not see you. So no funny stuff that makes noise. I have to get some rest and so do you."

"Can I get my music box?" asked Hermione.

Pappy's heart soared with the question. "Yes, my darling Hermione, you can." She was gone but a second or two and returned holding her head.

"That stuff you put on my head stings and I have a headache." She said in a soft whining voice.

"Get some rest. By the way, I love the song. Claire de Lune. My mother and grandmother loved that song. How it ever got on that music box, I'll never know." Pappy had not lied to Harry about anything except that he let him think it was the original song on the music box. He knew when he met Hermione that she'd like it, so he switched it to that song over the summer. "Good night, little ones." Pappy said it as if the two of them were babes in their cribs.

Harry and Hermione lay looking one another as he spoke. She turned the key as far as it would go and let it play. Harry had put the card in his pocket when he ran up the stairs. He looked at it in the darkness, only able to see it clearly in his minds eye and mouthed "Thank you" to Hermione as she looked into his eyes.

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The events of the night before created all sorts of headaches for everyone. It started out as an atypical Sunday to begin with. Hagrid was pounding around Gryffindor tower to find Harry and make sure he was alright. All the children in the dorms were startled by his loud voice and carrying on. Ron, Neville, and Seamus had thought better of getting in the way the night before and had stayed in the dorm once the smoke cleared. They came running down at the sound of Hagrid's voice.

"Hagrid, Hagrid!" Ron shouted. "It was wicked cool to hear how Shacklebolt, Harry and Hermione beat them. We heard it all between coughing and gagging. That Shacklebolt's some sort of Auror."

"Weasley, please be quiet," said Harry as he got up from behind the now empty sofa with an ear to ear grin. Hermione slowly raised her bandaged head too. Moments after Hagrid's arrival, Pappy stepped out of the loo.

"Doesn't anyone sleep in anymore?" He smiled. "I have to take Harry and Hermione with me to Dumbledore's office first thing. Hagrid can you see them down there…say, around ten o'clock." Harry looked at his watch and his beautiful Hermione and saw it was just six-thirty.

"Ugh," he said as he showed the watch to Hermione. She looked frightful. The places around the bandages were bruised and she looked absolutely beat.

They followed Pappy who took them through passages that they'd not know before. Or maybe it was just that he took a different sequence of staircases. They were too tired to tell. Finally, they arrived in Dumbledore's quarters.

"Albus, these two need more sleep and we need to talk." Pappy said. "Do we trust them alone up there?" He winked at both of them.

"Yes, I do believe we can," said an obviously overtired Dumbledore. "The outer-office with the Auror's station is where they have Wormtail. I surmise that that will be the subject of our discussion."

"That would be correct, but I assume you have guessed that I have more on my mind than that." Pappy said cryptically so as not to give away anything to the two young eavesdroppers pretending to be sleeping sitting up on Dumbledore's sofa. "Off you go you too. Same rules apply. No noise, sleep."

They went off peacefully, realizing that neither of them could feel their feet as they walked on the extraordinarily soft carpet on the way up. They looked down and realized the room below had been enchanted to let no sound up to their room. They smiled took their shoes and socks off, and slid into the king-size bed from opposite sides clasping hands in the middle and falling asleep within seconds.

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"Nathaniel, thank you for minding Harry and Hermione while I monitored things from here. One of us had to be here if more than one cell of Death Eaters gained access to one of the Houses. How had Shacklebolt fared?" Dumbledore asked.

"Extremely well, I am afraid that I was the one who caused him to lose focus when the door to the Common Room opened. Wormtail saw him clearly and used the Cruciatus Curse hoping to disable him, but I unarmed and stunned him before he could escape or hurt either of the children." Pappy's voice carried a bit of relief as he finished. "We will have to discuss Harry's performance later today. He needs training. The knowledge as you told him is there. The focus with Hermione present is on her. That is the danger."

"Ah, protecting the loved ones in a defensive posture rather than taking the threat head-on and keeping that threat off balance-a difficult lesson to learn, indeed. We shall address it at the appropriate time with Harry and Hermione." Albus said to Pappy.

"Dreams are powerful things. That dream of Harry's came true almost to the exact detail." Pappy said.

"I wonder why that is, Nathaniel. You've been known to project dreams to people before." Albus smiled wryly.

"Surely, you don't think?" Pappy looked like a man holding back.

"Yes, I think you knew that if Harry played that dream in his head, time after time, your vision of Wormtail and Bellatrix breaking through our defenses would more likely come out with a happy rather than the sad version you first saw." Dumbledore said. "That is the only one that was yours, I trust?"

"Albus, the boy was going to lose the love of his life to that grubby-handed Wormtail. I had no way of knowing whether it would work out, but I knew if he froze they might be dead." Pappy was emotional and sad.

"And, you were going to lose the two people you love most too?" Albus' tears were real too.

"If I have a gift to save their young lives, I will use it at the risk of forfeiting my own." His misted eyes told a story of love beyond imagining.

"Well, no matter, what is done is done. And done well I might add," Dumbledore said.

"One last thing, do you read his dreams or was it a cover to draw off the attention to interrupting his dreams with ones you've modified?" Dumbledore asked.

"I see his dreams. I have no information on the one with Voldemort if that's what you mean to ask? I wish I did." Pappy said slowly.

"That is what I meant to ask." Dumbledore said with a concerned pursing of his lips and a shake of his head.

The two wizards began looking over the Marauder's Map in every detail. They discussed whether some of the DA members of the Quidditch teams could safely fly their brooms through the dungeon corridors left and right. If someone were to be brave enough to go beyond the edge of the map and attempt to get coordinates they might use a portkey to that point for stealth. Success they agreed was not in numbers. The Dark Lord himself was too powerful for any number who could fit in those corridors to confront him. He'd kill wave after wave, first with the Death Eaters and then himself if necessary. If the flyers could get in and out…how was yet to be determined…they could weaken the structure to force Voldemort to either flee through the rear into the forest or to force him to move to where the map would make his location known.

"The most distressing part of this entire operation is the fact that with his power he could be in the cavernous dungeons or be in another location, returning as needed by Apparating or Disapparating. He is elusive." Dumbledore realized that the best he could hope for initially was a weakening of Voldemort's power in the close proximity-namely the dungeons.

"Should we wait until Shacklebolt, Snape, and Lupin may discuss it?" Pappy asked.

"I think we should," said a tired Dumbledore. "Those two don't make noise do they, referring to Harry and Hermione?"

"If you are referring to the act of snoring, no they do not. Occasionally, you get the lip smacking of light kisses though." Pappy laughed quietly as Dumbledore ascended the staircase.

"I may have to put up a barrier around each so they can't do that if I am awakened even once." Dumbledore joked.

"I will monitor the map. Lupin's last day for a few will be today and tonight." Pappy said. "Sleep well, Albus."

Ron sat by Ginny's bedside saying a short prayer that she would regain her eyesight and that there would be no lasting nightmares from Voldemort. He realized that Voldemort had possessed Ginny just as he'd rung the bell to enter Dumbledore's quarters. He'd sensed somehow that Dumbledore might suspect Ron. "Ginny, how's my kid sister doing?" he said lovingly. He kissed her on the forehead.

"I'm seeing light and dark now, but no real clear outlines." She said sadly. "I am finding that I hear more things now though. For example you have the prefect keys in your left pocket. They sound different if they are in your right pocket that if they were in you left and then even different yet if they're hung inside your robes." Ginny smiled. "It's a parlor trick at this point, but if it continues to get better I'll be able to use it to navigate around things."

"You may become good a divining the truth. In divination class we were reading about this woman who could tell a lie from the truth by the pitch of a person's voice. She had more dreams too that gave her insight. All the energy to see went to other places." Ron explained.

"Well, I guess that's encouraging, but I like looking at trees and nature…" she said sadly.

"And, don't lie to me, Ginny Weasley." Draco chided from the other side of the bed. "How are you Weasley? Thank you for not fighting Ginny and I on allowing me to visit."

"I'm still not taking you to the Spring Ball Malfoy…she might but I don't like you well enough yet, but you've been good for her. I admit that." Ron smiled. Malfoy actually liked Ron's testiness when he showed up. It wasn't acidic, cruel and nasty like the Slytherins' would have been.

"Does your chest still hurt, darling? I asked Mrs. Pomfrey for something to help you there." Draco asked.

"My chest feels tight and my heart still beats very fast sometimes. I don't know why." Ginny said.

Madame Pomfrey overheard. "Your experiences with Voldemort become more physically damaging each time, dear. I should hate to think if it happened again. That is why we have a protective charm over her bed, but I let it down for you boys to talk with her for a while."

Anytime the boys tried to touch her, an invisible almost plastic shield would have stopped them from having skin to skin contact with her. Ron would have preferred she didn't when Malfoy went to kiss her. The feeling was weird. Malfoy kissing his sister…on the lips no less and she returned it. He had to turn away for a second. He hadn't been ready for this.

The two boys sat on opposite sides of her bed, speechless for nearly the entire afternoon. They looked at Ginny's now faintly pink eyes where the capillaries had burst and were now repairing themselves. But her beautiful smile as she looked from one to the other of them made understand she could see shadows. What she didn't tell them was that if they changed sides she tell which of them was which. Each cast a dark shadow, but Malfoy's was darker. She had to ask Dumbledore about that.

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Harry and Hermione awoke to the blazing sun shining through the opened curtains at the other end of the room. "Rise and shine my fine young friends. It is nearly two-thirty in the afternoon." Pappy said. "Professor Dumbledore came up for a nap and has been back downstairs for hours."

They looked at each other with another collective, "Ugh. Can't we sleep more?"

"One hour. You must be downstairs in one hour or I will personally drag you down the stairs in whatever state of dress, undress, or in the process of whichever personal cleanliness habit you are engaged in at the time." Pappy smiled. "I'm serious. You don't want to be embarrassed. We had a couple of each of your mates gather some clean things for you to wear. Do what you must. One hour, not one second longer." Pappy went down the stairs.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other and laughed. As soon as Pappy was down the stairs they gave each other a high-five and pulled each other close to snuggle.

"I was worried about you last night, Hermione. I had seen it in my dream. I thought you were dead." Harry confessed.

"It was you Wizard Boy that knocked me on my bum with the Stunning Curse. Wormtail had me by the arm and it knocked me back into the table." Hermione said putting his hand back at the top of her pants where he could feel a welt and see a bruise.

"I am sorry. It was dark." Harry apologized.

"Well, Wormtail used me as a shield in any case. I doubt that he could have held me up if you hadn't stunned me and disarmed him. But I owe you one good blast to knock you on your fanny." She smiled with a faint sigh of relief.

Suddenly, Hermione swung her leg over Harry and straddled his chest. "Hermione, I can't breathe. Really." She was pressing down on him and he was gasping.

"That's right, that's how you'll feel for a long time if something happens to me. I felt it the day I couldn't find you." Hermione said with a tear. "You have to protect yourself first. If you don't die doing what you can to save yourself instead of protecting me, I will feel like you do now forever. It is a heavy burden, but you have to promise me that you need to let me defend myself and you defend yourself. If we can, we defend each other. It's the only way we'll survive." The tears were larger now and Hermione could barely see Harry's face. "I'd rather think of you dying as my hero than my protector. Merlin forbid."

Harry looked at her soft face and the tears. She'd stopped holding him down. He realized that last night was a rush of action and emotion. When he protected himself, everything went okay. When he thought too much about Hermione, Shacklebolt had to take over. It could have cost them all their lives. "I promise."

"No, swear to me. A feeble, `I promise' won't cut it." Hermione said.

"I swear that I will protect us by protecting myself first." Harry said. He knew he could do that, but he wanted her safe so badly.

"I swear that I will protect us by protecting myself first." Hermione said. "There we're equal on that count. We don't have to feel guilty if something happens. She put her legs down with one knee between his and kissed him. She put her hands in his hair and made sure he knew what it was that they were protecting. Harry lay still returning her kisses until something reminded him.

"Unless you want to be transported starkers to the library, I'd get in the shower and brush my teeth in the shower. Leave your hair wet. We have only twelve minutes." He said. He patted her bum as she grabbed the clean clothes and ran to the water closet and loo.

Twelve minutes later Harry found himself sitting in the library with his pants unbuckled and unzipped with his tighty-whities showing struggling to put on his last shoe. "Very good timing, no embarrassing body parts are showing." Pappy laughed. Harry looked at Hermione who looked like she'd just got out of the rain with wet spots on her blouse from her dripping hair. "I'll give you five minutes to finish. They found themselves back upstairs in a flash. Hermione ran to the hairdryer. She could dry her hair magically, but it would be straight and it looked so much better curly.

"Pappy, how'd you do that?" Hermione asked about ten minutes later when they were back in the library.

"Never you mind." Pappy said with a smile.

Dumbledore sat in his high back ornate chair at his desk watching the entire thing in silent amusement. "Well, are we comfortable? We must cover many things with you that have been decided only this morning. We will be interrogating Wormtail shortly."

The discussion went on for hours. Wormtail was brought in with his arms tied together uncomfortably about the area where Pappy had severed the silver hand and arm. His feet and ankles were shackled as well as an excruciatingly painful procedure had been performed putting a ring attached to a chain and steel ball through the flesh and fused to the bone of his calf. He could pull the ring free and tear his muscles, bones and flesh to get free, but he would go no where on one leg as a man or on three legs as a rat with the loss of blood. "Wonderful thing Auror training in magical restraints. But Animagi prisoners must be detained so they can't transform and escape." said Shacklebolt.

"You are as cruel as the Dark Lord. What makes you any different than he?" Wormtail said with virulent hatred.

"We will just kill you and stop the suffering." Pappy said with such forceful and undeniable certainty.

"Then do it." Wormtail challenged.

"No, just like the Dark Lord we have our limit to which we will use torture. But it will not be as severe or as long." Dumbledore suggested.

Harry and Hermione realized that neither Pappy nor Dumbledore were toying with Wormtail. They were deadly serious.

"Where is the girl, Luna Lovegood?" demanded Dumbledore. "If you do not give us the exact location and how to get there we will apply a little excitement to that chain in your leg. "Isn't that right, Pappy?"

Wormtail's demeanor changed. He looked at the two powerful wizards in front of him. "What would you do?"

"Well, a little electricity would shock your memory and engage your mouth I should think." Pappy pointed his wand at the ball.

"Alright, alright. She is twenty-five meters inside the last hidden entrance to the dungeons where the exit into the Forbidden Forest. He has bewitched that part of the forest to detect intruders." Wormtail said. "What will you do with me?"

"You said you wanted to die last night. None of us have a problem with that solution." Harry said as he looked at him in the eye.

"I could have changed into a man anytime in those first three years and killed you. So don't be a little snot. You should at least recognize that I spared you." Wormtail said with an evil spitting grin.

"Yeah, like you spared my parents by promising to be their secret keeper and then giving them away to Voldemort. I feel so gratified that you decided to kill me with the help of Voldemort instead. Shacklebolt, did you try to attach that ring to his stones or couldn't you find any?" Harry was angry.

"Back to the subject at hand, how many are in his company?" Pappy asked.

"There are more than seventy now I should think. There were over sixty when they came after us." Wormtail divulged.

"You don't even have to really be threatened to give up secrets, do you?" Hermione said.

"I would be careful to think that he is telling the truth, however, my dear witch. He is as cunning a liar as he is a traitor." Shacklebolt pointed his wand at the ball and a white bolt of electricity hit it.

Wormtail jerked in agony and point around which his pants had been cut smoldered. "Ahhhh."

"Do you remember a comment made by Shacklebolt last night. `Change the game.' He said."

"Yes, yes, I remember." Wormtail said in agony.

"Well, that's what we are doing. We are no longer the pacifistic Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that turns out good members of the community. We are becoming a warrior community. We are going to preserve ourselves at the expense of anyone who opposes us." Pappy said with a snarl. "Do you understand me you worthless piece of bat dung."

Harry and Hermione were suddenly afraid of Pappy once again.

"What do you need to know? What do you need to know?" Wormtail cried.

"You and Hermione should go upstairs now. We will call you again soon." Dumbledore said with a sidelong glance at Pappy.

"I know what you're thinking you spineless worm. I could read people since I was 10 years old. And I was the meanest wizard in school and the biggest bully at home. You had better explain what we are up against or I will find a way to leave you in eternal misery." Pappy was fuming.

Harry and Hermione heard that last bit as they walked up the stairs. It almost sounded funny. Maybe that's why Pappy said this was his toughest acting job, not changing into Pappy and being kind.

For the next forty-five minutes by Harry's watch, the conversation went on as a question and an answer. Occasionally, there was a scream by Wormtail. Finally, they heard nothing. The voices had stopped. They looked down the stairs and Dumbledore was the only man standing in the room. "You may come down now. How much did you hear?"

"Just the change in speakers, but not what was being said. Except for when Wormtail cursed in pain. What happened to Pappy?" Harry asked.

"I will answer it this way. Pappy is a very powerful wizard. He like Voldemort learned a great deal about the Dark Arts. He knew if he continued he'd be like his hated enemy. Voldemort tried to recruit him. I was his secret-keeper…his and Francine's, much like Peter Pettigrew was your parent's secret-keeper." Dumbledore expounded on their relationship. "He blamed me for letting Voldemort so close but never understood the wickedness of Peter Pettigrew drew Voldemort there that night. He knows now and Wormtail will not survive his wrath. It is you who will do in Voldemort, but Wormtail is his."

"So is that why you couldn't find him for so long these past years?" Hermione asked.

"Very perceptive, Hermione. Once Francine died and Nathaniel left the place designated as his secret location, I had no idea where to look. I found him first one place then another. But he'd always run. Finally he found Little Whinging where I never thought to look. We still have not spoken of it personally." Dumbledore said with a sad smile.

"It is also the reason no one knew of Nathaniel and Francine's existence at the cottage that night. We had hid them from all magical people except your parents when I recommended the cottage." Dumbledore said with a sad sigh.

Harry looked at Hermione as they both felt the sadness that gripped Dumbledore. Nathaniel had been his best friend to ever come out of Hogwarts. A twist of fate had left his friend exposed to Voldemort even though Voldemort never saw him. "They had been standing in plain view as Voldemort approached." Dumbledore explained. "Why Nathaniel lost his hearing at that moment no one knows. But had he known what was transpiring inside, he was one powerful enough to have turned away Voldemort for a short time at least."

Harry knew now that Pappy mourned not only Francine, but his parents as well.

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Wormtail had told Pappy that in the afternoons for the next two days, Voldemort and the Death Eaters were gathering in a cemetery on the other side of the forest. He was able to organize better where his 'weak hearted and weak minded' followers could congregate. Voldemort was counting his followers and giving them only what they needed.

Pappy was dragging Wormtail painfully through the corridors and dungeons to save Luna. As they went Pappy drew a sketch in his mind of the dungeons as he knew them from the map and tried to gauge where the map ended. At least, one Death Eater was left behind. Pappy could sense him from the exact spot he figured the map ended.

He stopped. "You are testing my patience. Who was Voldemort going to leave behind?"

He questioned with the long-bladed knife in his hand. He wanted something that didn't produce wand sparks or require him to talk if he could help it.

"Dolohov. He was going to leave Dolohov, because he'd already told him the plans." Wormtail said in haste realizing that he'd divulged too much.

"You lying piece of shit. You've known his plan all along. You saw that I was too kind to carry out my threats and you baited me. So who else is here?" He sliced off one of Wormtail's coattails with a swish of the knife.

"Lucius Malfoy…Voldemort leaves him behind bound by a charm so that he can't leave." Wormtail cackled. "One of them will get you, you sorry old broken-down wizard." Wormtail was right. He was breathing hard and nothing was easy.

"What else?" `I have no intention of being caught by these two buffoons,' Pappy thought.

"Nothing, I swear." Wormtail shook his head vigorously. "Nothing else."

They moved quietly under the Disillusionment Charm to the brink of the final few dungeon entrances. Pappy knew that Voldemort was keeping the last of the Marauder's Maps close so they could only be found when he freed the girl. He noticed the pictures on the walls. Some sort of hieroglyphics he guessed and then it dawned on him. "Nagini."

No time for stealth now. Once the viper noticed the heat of new blood they would be discovered. Pappy ran dragging Wormtail screaming with pain as the ball and chain fused to his shin bone pulled nearly to the breaking point.

He saw what must be the room. He turned right and their huddled in the corner in a blood soaked jumper barely alive was Luna. He had no time to help her now. He had to get her and run.

He heard the hissing echoing through the passages near the dungeon. He heard voices and footsteps. "Ennervate." He said as he charmed Luna to get the last bit of strength he could from her.

He dragged Wormtail to the top of the table and shot a bolt of electricity into the chain. He cut the back of Wormtail's calves and his Achilles tendons so he couldn't get away.

He disillusioned himself and Luna and began running. He heard Dolohov and Malfoy cursing as they chased him. "Sonorous. Wormtail is ready for eating Nagini." He would not stop until he reached the castle a bolt hit him slightly in the back of his thigh as he used the defensive charm as he looked back to see where they were.

Another bolt, this time he heard the faint moan of Luna as a deflected charm cut through the left side of her face.

He was glad that the Killing Curse required a spot on hit because he could see the green flashing into the sides of the corridor walls. He was surprised that he had this much strength left at his age to out run these two.

Just as he reached the final cross corridor, he looked ahead and there dead in his sights was Malfoy with his wand pointed directly at him, but blind to his whereabouts.

"Sorry, darling Luna,' he thought. Quietly, he put Luna to the side of the corridor, stood facing Malfoy and surprised him rolling in a summersault forward as he forced the knife through Malfoy's stomach and pulled to the left disemboweling him on the spot. He heard Dolohov coming. Malfoy hadn't seen him, if he had he would have killed him before he got that close. But the fallen Luna was clear to see because of the blood from her earlier wounds now dripping on the floor where she lay.

He turned and waited for Dolohov. He felt the burn in his leg as Dolohov appeared. He took aim at Dolohov and screamed, "Avada Kedavra." Dolohov fell. The pain in his leg blinded him as another Death Eater rounded the corner from where Malfoy had come. The shot had been a blind one until then, but know he could sense the hatred as the man bore down on him. He heard a clicking noise behind him, a curse, he felt a sudden tightness his chest. He couldn't breathe. And then, all went black.

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Dumbledore kept Harry and Hermione busy as he kept another eye on the Marauder's Map. He saw Pappy disappear into the unknown portions of the dungeons. Moments later he saw Pappy emerge carrying Luna Lovegood. Dumbledore knew Pappy had thought it a long shot, but he could not bear letting the poor girl suffer anymore. Voldemort would not kill until he had drained every drop of humanity out of his victims. Dumbledore and Pappy knew that that was the power that had preserved Harry. Voldemort could not strangle the power of love for her son and husband out of Lily.

"So Harry, was defying us and going to Hogsmeade worth it? I mean, you're stuck here now until you graduate a year and a half from now….no, wait, I remember there is a Christmas party at the Dursley's with your Aunt Marge. You shall be attending that-without Hermione who will be cleaning the loo in each House and the rest of the castle over the holidays." Dumbledore's face was unreadable to either of them.

Dumbledore was enjoying his repartee with them about torture, when all of a sudden he called out, "Mad-Eye!" Through the door under the staircase came Mad-Eye Moody. "Look here." The names of Dolohov and Malfoy had fallen off the map, but the name of Crabbe came from the same direction as Malfoy. `Why didn't I see him before?' thought Dumbledore. "Go help, Nathaniel."

"Right away, Sir." They saw him go back in the door and then heard the clear clicking sound of Mad-Eye's peg-leg running through the corridor.

Shacklebolt came to the corner. "What happened?"

"Nathaniel is about to be ambushed. I didn't see him. I sent Mad-Eye because he can see through the wall with his magical eye as he approaches. Let's pray he gets there in time."

Harry and Hermione ran to the desk. "Harry…Hermione. Step back. I don't want any distractions." Dumbledore's face was as grave as Harry had ever seen it.

"Harry, is Pappy alright?" Hermione said.

"I don't know." He opened his watch. The picture of Pappy appeared and then faded away to a picture of Hermione and Dumbledore.

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