A/N: I still own nothing really
Chapter 17: A Dark Choice
****************************Azkaban, North Sea**************************
Flaming torches sprung to life along the walls of the vast chamber their hasty apparition had placed them in. The room was dark and barren and possessing of a disconcerting sense of unreality. At least fifty cloaked and armed Death Eaters crowded the walls, twenty werewolves sat in a pack near the head of the room, and several X'Sheen warriors stood guard at the corners.
All of that was somewhat concerning, but none among the parents that had literally fought through an army this very night was paying them the least heed. No, what every eye that had fought through the night was fixed on; was a pile of small bodies, stacked haphazardly at the foot of a black throne. They're alive Hermione's eyes flicked to Harry as she slowly took three steps to her left.
A feeling of raw, elemental magic and a slight smell of ozone slowly filled the room as Harry nodded to her and stepped to his right. Behind and to either side they could feel the rest of their companions following suit. Cordelia took a breath and her eyes lit softly. Her knuckles whitened on twin daggers as she glanced over at Sirius. The two of them and the twins were the only ones without children here tonight. And it really didn't matter. It was the same as if he had sired any of them, especially the two raven-haired ones.
Ron growled and started to jump forward only to stop at a gesture. Harry caught his eyes and gave him a tiny shake of his head. A dark laugh echoed in the hall as a door opened and Lucius swept in, his cloak billowing behind him like some dark cloud. He was flanked by Xavier, Narcissa and Bariss as he sat on his throne and steepled his fingers in front of his face. The three others with him casually joined at least ten other Death Eaters in pointing wands at the children; the tips of the wands were already lit in a variety of colors. "You actually can learn Potter." Malfoy grinned darkly. His red eyes lit the deep shadows within his hood and reflected oddly off his platinum hair. "I suppose the Mudblood did teach you something after all." He stood slowly and approached the children. He leisurely knelt next to Emilia and ran a pale finger languorously along her chin. To his left, Harry felt Hermione shaking with rage. Flashes of the day Hermione's parents had died leaked into his forebrain from their link. Images of Malfoy running his finger along Hermione's cheek before sentencing her and Tonks to die came to mind and his eyes flared.
"Well you know." Harry replied darkly, "Even with my hard head, it eventually had to sink in." Harry carefully kept his hands away from his now-sheathed wands. "So what is this Lucius? You seem sadly lacking in minions to challenge us." The Death Eaters looked around at each other in confusion, clearly counting the five to one odds in their favor not even counting the werewolves or X'Sheen.
Malfoy on the other hand, chuckled. "Well said Potter. Well said." His fingers trailed down Emilia's unconscious cheek once more before he stood slowly and flicked his fingers absently in the direction of Hermione. All of those who had came here tonight stared at the slowly approaching form of the little girl as she drifted over and settled next to Hermione. Harry glanced back at Malfoy just in time to hear a soft gasp from Hermione. His eyes shot to her, and an instant later his body followed.
Without a word Harry knew why she had gasped. He could feel the dark magic radiating off the crumpled form of his daughter. Hermione's eyes were clouded with terror as she slowly ran a wand over Emilia. "What the fuck did you do Malfoy?" Harry hissed as the torches hanging on the walls flickered as a sudden wind rustled the clothes and hair of those here.
Malfoy stalked back to this throne and sat. He crossed his legs and leaned back. Narcissa sat demurely at his feet and looked up with a sycophantic expression. "It was so rewarding..." He replied contemplatively, "watching your enemies being led down the garden path as it were." A sinister laugh answered his words from Narcissa, Xavier and Bariss. He joined them for an instant before nonchalantly waving them to silence. "You were so weak Potter, both of you." He added, motioning vaguely in Hermione's direction with his off hand. "I watched Tom try to destroy you. I watched as he let his ego lead him to fight you at your strongest. To challenge you at your stronghold, to match you both strength to strength."
"Yes, you were always a half-arsed imitation of Tom, Lucius." Hermione said softly. Harry could hear something in her voice; he could feel her thoughts as she tried to shield him from some fact that she herself did not want to face.
"No, my dear Mudblood...I have accomplished what he could never do..." Malfoy's eyes pulsed slowly, "I have defeated you." Behind Harry, Luna glanced over at the kids and a soft, shocked sound came from her throat as softly glowing eyes evaluated the kids. Faint auras surrounding the small forms greeted her enhanced gaze. Instead of the normal, strong, blue-white auras surrounding the Potter twins, the slightly dimmer golden one that normally surrounded her daughter or the bright, emerald green ones that typically surrounded the Lupins, fainter, sickly imitations had replaced them. Each aura was further tainted with black tendrils writhing through the patterns of light.
"What. Did. You. Do?" Harry repeated.
"I have ensured my victory, Potter...what else?" Malfoy flicked his wand and a large vial of a shimmering; glowing potion hovered in the air. Next to Hermione, Emilia started coughing and shaking violently. "Ah yes, it has started." Hermione knelt and cradled her daughter, holding her to her breast as slivers of the girl's emerald eyes peeked through slitted lids. "Soon the tremors will become worse, their innate magic will lash out at all those around them, and then, for a short time all will be quiet, right before their own magic destroys them. All courtesy of the Draught of Nefrati."
Hermione let out a soft strangled sound, her head snapped to Malfoy's, "you FUCKING, SON OF A BITCH!" Harry barely stopped her headlong rush towards Lucius, as she jumped to her feet. Oh god...Harry, he's killed them.
What?
But Hermione never got the opportunity to answer, "I see that Granger recognized the reference."
"What do you want Malfoy?" Harry said flatly in a voice that was tautly quivering.
"Simple, Potter. As your...wife has already realized, I am sure, the lives of your children are at my whim. There is no cure to the draught, merely a retarding potion that holds the effects in check for a time. Of course is an addendum even to that; the potion must be made in the same silver caldron that was used to make the original. That caldron is hidden and enchanted most completely...if I am killed, it is destroyed, if I am injured, it is destroyed," he chuckled, "if I get a severe cold it is destroyed. For your children's' sake you should hope I have a long, healthy life. I offer you a bargain, Potter."
"What?" Harry growled.
"Surrender to me...you or your wife, it does not matter in the end, the effect is the same. Surely you learned of the hostage concept in History of Magic, surrender and I will supply the counter once a year as needed. I will let the rest of you go, along with the children...well perhaps" he amended. "I am not sure my X'Sheen servants will let you escape so easily with your wanton destruction of so many of their brethren." No one noticed the slight bristling the X'Sheen present showed at the word, "servants" "We can of course begin this duel, but your children will die either way, and in fact, unless the retarding potion is given within the next hour or so, your daughter will die in front of your eyes." Lucius shrugged, as the rest of those who had came to the rescue shared a panicked look. "The rest of the children will follow soon after, well except for Ginevra's son, I decided that I would not dose him as a reward for her leading all of you away from them so Xavier could take them..."
Hermione...can you...can it be cured?
No. Hermione replied, her thoughts dead. It can't. I don't know if Severus could...no one has ever come up with a cure, it's an old loyalty potion, which was developed to keep court wizards loyal to their kings. It was outlawed four hundred years ago, even with the counteragent it killed about forty percent of those dosed. The counter keeps the symptoms in remission for a year, before it wears off and the new dose has to be administered. He's right about the cauldron; even caldrons made from silver mined at the same time and made by the same craftsmen won't work.
"Harry?" Ron asked urgently, Harry waved him to silence.
So can you come up with a cure? His eyes implored her.
Harry, NO!
We don't have much of a choice do we? His eyes held hers for a long moment as she swallowed heavily and tears bloomed in the corner of her eyes. She watched as he slipped the Sword of Gryffindor from his back and handed it to her, along with both of his wands. His hand held hers for an instant, I promised you Hermione. I would get them back to you.
Not like this. She argued hastily, I'll go...
No, Hermione, Harry looked over her shoulder and caught the deep gray eyes of his godfather. Sirius nodded. Hermione, the kids will still have their mother, and he won't kill me, not as long as he thinks he still has control. You are the only one that can beat this...figure out a cure; I'll be waiting. We have time. I love you Hermione Potter. His thoughts were choked and raw as his eyes implored her not to argue.
I love you too Harry. She replied but Harry had already turned and walked to Malfoy. She absently passed the strap of Harry's sword over her head with shaking hands, it's sheath crossing the one of its mate. Harry's wands slipped into her belt behind her back as she glared at Malfoy, willing the Dark Lord to die on the spot. Harry, I'll find a way, I promise...I'll come for you.... He paused for a breath and the slightest of nods bent his neck.
"You have me Malfoy, let them go." Harry stood unmoving at the foot of Malfoy's dark throne, and even unarmed; no Death Eater would approach him. Malfoy laughed, and gestured at the children. The pile of children, along with the vials of potion, silently rose into the air several feet and floated over to settle gently at Hermione's feet. Ron, Luna, Tonks and Lupin crowded around them to check on their children, but Hermione's eyes were only for Harry, and Sirius' were only on Hermione. He had made a promise to two generations of Potters, now, and he aimed to keep it.
"Well Potter, you have lost." Malfoy laughed. He stood and walked over to Harry and backhanded him. Hermione flinched as Harry staggered and flexed her hands. Malfoy gave her an evil grin before he stepped back, "you ever notice, Harry, that it is amazing the things that you find while looking for something else? Fudge had this made up for Dumbledore when he tried to arrest him, that year you sent me to this place..." he flicked a wand and two events happened all at once. A shimmering, flaming cage appeared around Harry, and Harry and Hermione fell to their knees as one. Hermione screamed incoherently as she collapsed into a fetal position. Malfoy's eyes widened and a huge smile appeared. "Better and better, you really did bond with the Mudblood, Potter." He laughed, but his laughter died as Hermione fought to her feet and faced him with eyes ablaze.
"Your time will come sorcerer." She snarled and started to walk towards Lucius. But any confrontation would have to wait.
Harry looked out of the flaming cage, and captured Sirius' eye, "GET THEM OUT OF HERE." He screamed before collapsing into unconsciousness; Sirius nodded and caught Cordelia's gaze. He was moving before she could signal her assent.
Sirius ran up behind Hermione and a red flash lit the room. She fell into his arms as Cordelia literally jumped on top of the children and the other parents and the entire pile vanished in a fall of color as she activated an emergency Portkey, which while inside the wards at least was strong enough to rip a hole to escape, it was always easier to ward against Portkey arrivals than departures. Sirius held Hermione against his chest as if she were his own daughter, as he stood facing the Dark Lord. "Count your days Lucius, this is not over." He touched a second, pocketed Portkey and they vanished.
*******************************Hogwarts*********************************
The sight of Emilia and Horatio lying silently in side-by-side beds in the Hogwarts Hospital Wing sent a tiny shiver across Hermione's otherwise blank, expressionless, almost dead face. Her eyes were seeing...maybe...she hadn't ran into anything or anyone as she had walked in here next to the floating bodies of her children but it was otherwise a toss-up if she were even alive. A rushing sound was filling her ears as she watched Pomfrey's lips moving, obviously saying something that she neither cared nor wanted to hear.
After a minute, Ron got up from his perch across the aisle from Hermione, where he had been sitting with Luna watching over Harriet. Tentatively, he draped an arm around Hermione's shoulders only to have it cast off angrily a moment later. Words never escaped her lips as she kept her silent vigil. Little sparks would occasionally dance around her hair, but nothing else moved, nothing else dared.
Finally after almost another ten minutes of silence, in which the deadness was broken only by the clank of potions bottles and the murmured whispering of words of comfort from Madame Pomfrey as she leaned over the unconscious children, a tall, powerful presence filled the room.
Dumbledore stood at the door, flanked by Sirius and Remus, their eyes constantly moving even here, in this temporarily for now, safe place. With a small gesture, he kept the pair at the door and crossed to Hermione. Sirius glared at him, before a moment later, following in his wake. Dumbledore bent down next to Hermione, and without asking, pulled her into his arms. For a minute, two minutes, she sat there frozen, as if petrified by some errant spell, until all at once she started to try to fight him off. She trashed, and pushed, magic flared up blinding everyone in the room, but Dumbledore held fast until she surrendered with a loud sob.
Great wailing cries escaped her throat as Dumbledore gently eased her to her feet and led her into the hall. Sirius, Ron and Remus fell in like an honor guard for the Queen as Dumbledore led her along the passages to his office. He flicked his fingers at the gargoyle guarding his office; it jumped out of the way with a bow. He nodded to it as he led the party up the stairs to his office.
As they entered they could see Ginny and Neville sitting together, more or less upright after their ordeal, after all Poppy had had almost three days to work on them. Hermione's eyes flared as they swept across Ginny, but a strong hand on her shoulder kept her from the girl. Sirius kept his hand on her shoulder as Dumbledore sat heavily behind his desk; the silent battle with his granddaughter-in-law had been more than slightly taxing. Without a word, Hermione sat down on the couch next to Sirius, who threw an arm around her like he was comforting his own daughter, which in many ways, he was. The animagus had argued vociferously that he or Dumbledore or Remus would be better to come and get her than Molly. Had argued that Molly trying to smother her and giving loud protestations that it would be all right would probably have caused more harm than good. He was right. And besides, he had promised Lily and James.
Dumbledore looked tired, and old. Even more so than the night Voldemort's Death Eaters had attacked the families of the DA, or even more so than in the aftermath of the battle in this very school. He sat silently, his lips pursed as he contemplated the events of the past three days. Fawkes cooed softly in his basket on the desk; absently he petted the tiny bird as he looked out over his guests. "Ronald," he said after a moment of contemplation, "please coordinate with Minerva to see that the school is ready to evacuate." Ron nodded "Lucius will send his forces here soon, we must be gone by then."
"Where to?" Remus asked gruffly, as he thought of Tonks and his two kids up in the infirmary.
"We will go into exile I am afraid." Dumbledore replied sadly, "alas, we cannot at this time take the risk of confronting Lucius directly without risking either Harry or the children." Hermione flinched as if whips accompanied his words to her ears. He took a breath and his eyes hardened, "we will however, do what we can, until we can solve this problem."
Hermione's head finally snapped up, "Solve it...Solve it..." she took a breath, "there's no cure Albus." A choked sob escaped, "they're...they're all dead." Her last words were closer to a wail. Every eye turned to her as she visibly hammered her emotions in check, "unless we do what he wants, stand aside and leave Harry to...to rot in there. He'll then deign to give us the sustaining potion." Hermione's eyes flashed as she scanned across the room once more to settle on Ginny for the briefest of instants. Not all of Poppy's words had escaped her, she had heard enough to confirm Lucius' claim that he had not dosed Elliot, Ginny's son, with the draught of Nefrati, had not doomed that child to an existence placated on Malfoy's suffrage, while all the rest were.
Dumbledore turned to her with a slight frown. "Hermione, I am afraid that you need to activate certain protocols, yourself. I wish you..." he didn't finish his sentence as she broke free from Sirius' arm and stood. Her face shut down once more as she nodded and silently headed for the old, oaken door.
Hermione staggered from Dumbledore's office, her face absolutely bereft of emotion. Her eyes, the huge, expressive, chocolate eyes that had anchored her face all of these years were dead, glazed and staring. She hardly blinked as she sprinted down the steps, down into the dungeon. She barely paused for the secret passage to open, and for the security systems to recognize her.
The red/white flash lit her features as the far door opened. The room was abandoned and empty, no one had come back, and now no one might ever again. As she approached, the door to her and Harry's office slammed open magically. Her eyes were dark as she swept the papers from Harry's desk and tapped the top in a peculiar fashion with her wand. A panel slid open on the top to reveal a hand-shaped impression, glowing faintly in the dim office. Dropping her wand, Hermione slammed her palm down on the handprint. Her voice was choked and raw as she whispered, "activate...c..code, ni..Niffler."
Actions, and events went into effect throughout Great Britain and the world.
In Gringotts, goblins grabbed for Portkeys and vanished, whisked away to alternate offices in New York, Bermuda and Cairo. As the last vanished, a five-foot thick magically reinforced wall of the same alloy that made up the blades of the Hogwarts Heirs fell across the entrance to the vaults. They had been forged by the same, lost to history, smith.
In a small cottage, set back in the woods in northern France, a tall, red-haired man with a dragon-tooth earring glanced up to see a flashing red light. He screamed, "Fleur, we have to go. Now." A pale-haired witch ran out of the kitchen, a towel falling from her hand as she went. Her eyes grew wide as she took in the flashing orb. She ran for the door, her voice cracking as she screamed, her accent kicking in fully as the adrenaline spiked, "TERESA, ANDREW"
At two houses, Grimmauld Place and a white, cottage bordering a stream in the little village of Godric's Hollow, a shimmering, pulsing hemisphere sprang into being. At the later, half a dozen Death Eaters approaching the house exploded, leaving only a thin, red mist slowly settling to the ground.
Upstairs, in the expansive Hogwarts Library, thousands and thousands of books rose off the selves and shrank to the size of matchbooks. The tiny books queued up in mid-air and marched into large trunks that popped into existence, filled, and as they filled vanished with a soft crack, only to be replaced by another in an endless train.
In Romania, Charlie looked down at a flashing charm around his neck. He ran out of his small, rustic house and waved his wand. Vast gates opened in equally vast paddocks. Shining, jeweled collars fell from the necks of a half dozen dragons and as one; the green behemoths took to the sky and vanished into the distance. Charlie watched them leave with a longing expression on his face and vanished as soon as they faded from view.
Hermione fell back into Harry's chair with a soft moan. Her head dropped to her hands, and she sat, shaking, not looking at anything as the tears, truly began to fall. Around the office, small items shot into the air randomly and smashed into the walls as her emotions spiked. Soft footsteps slapped the ancient stones of the castle, and a moment later Ginny stood in the doorway.
"Hermione, Dumbledore sent me, we need to..." She began, but the sentence was never to be finished.
Hermione never realized she moved as she came up out of the chair. Instantly she was across the room, and in that instant, she forgot she was the most powerful witch in a thousand years.
In the end, it was only Hermione's anger that saved Ginny. Her fist crashed against Ginny's cheek, knocking the tiny witch sprawling into the main room. She had forgotten her training, the intricately choreographed combat skills that could have killed Ginny with a blow or the magic that could have rent the very walls of this castle asunder.
Hermione followed Ginny out of the office, and in that instant, she had remembered her magic. Her eyes lit blue and a hand stretched out towards the prostrate girl. A blur of red hair came from the side, crashing into her and knocking her off her feet. Furious, she turned in the strong arms holding her, to find Ron's blue eyes looking at her with a mixture of fear and concern. "Luna," He snapped to his wife who had followed him down, "get Ginny out of here; now damn it." With a quick nod, she picked up Ginny from the floor and dragged the non-resisting witch from the room. His other sister gone, Ron turned back to Hermione. She was now shaking in his arms, "Hermione..."
"Ron...she, she...I can't feel him Ron, he's gone." Hermione screeched, tears flowing once more from her chocolate eyes. "I can't breathe Ron, I, I.... don't know what I am going to do." She pulled back and stared beseechingly in to his eyes, "what am I going to do Ron, what are we going to do?" She took a harsh, gulping breath, "she betrayed us Ron, she lured us away from the kids, and now they're poisoned and Harry's gone, and the Ministry's fallen...and..."
Ron's eyes were hard as he pulled her into his arms; he softly kissed the crown of her head. His heart ached as he held his shaking friend, his sister in all the ways that counted and right now, probably more than the one who was born such. His voice cracked slightly as he whispered a reply, "we run Hermione...we run, and then you find a way to cure the kids and we come back, free Harry and we kill every fucking one of Malfoy's little pricks." Hermione nodded mutely. "I'll be there for you Hermione, me and Luna, if no one else. We'll be there." Hermione nodded into his shoulder, the tears damping his shirt.
"Just keep her away from me Ron." She bit out as she pulled from his embrace and pried herself to her feet. Hermione angrily wiped away tears as she walked back to the office and began opening drawers, and filling a suddenly conjured backpack. He watched her, his arms crossed.
"Hermione, she did it..."
"Shut the hell up Ron." Hermione snapped, took a deep breath and pulled back the power flooding her bones. "Just be quiet Ron, I know why she it it...if it had been Harry I might have done the same..." her chest rose and fell deeply, flickers of fire danced in her pupils. Her voice came out in a flat hiss, "The. Logical. Hermione. Knows." Her eyes begged his for understanding, and with a nod he gave it, "the Hermione in charge right now is the one who took Dolohov's head Ron...just keep her away...please."
************************Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts********************
The door squelched shut behind Remus as he crossed to sit tiredly next to Tonks. Her eyes were only half opened as her head drooped to his shoulder. The pair of them had just left Abigail and Xander's side in the infirmary. Poppy had finally kicked all of the parents out, to ostensibly let the children sleep before submitting them to the stresses of a transoceanic Portkey trip, but it might have been more for the sake of everyone's sanity. There was one that she dare not try to command, not tonight, however. Right after activating the Niffler protocol and her abortive confrontation with Ginny, Hermione had returned to the infirmary and even Madame Pomfrey hadn't been willing to risk angering her. After a brief, murmured negotiation, Poppy had let Luna back in to watch over Harriet...and Hermione. If need be Luna could briefly siphon off enough of Hermione's anger and fear to, maybe, slow her down enough for Dumbledore to intercede. But only a small tithe, even Luna's empathic clairvoyance was limited.
Over at the window, Sirius stood looking out over the grounds. Far below he could see the overgrown paths that every generation of Marauders to attend this school had tread, and that he had hoped that the latest generation, the ones up in the hospital wing right now would play, walk, love and joke along. But that dream seemed to fade further and further away by the minute. He glanced back into the room to find Cordelia looking up at him with a concerned expression in her tired violet eyes. He sighed softly as he sat down next to her and took her hand absently. She squeezed it as Ron cleared his throat, "What do you want Albus?" He asked with a voice just this side of utter exhaustion. "We need to sleep before we evac, and despite what Poppy says I am going back to my daughter and godchildren. I'll sleep on the frigging floor if I have to..."
"As you should," Dumbledore agreed softly as he looked on his former student with eyes that looked a thousand years old. The old wizard frowned slightly as he gently petted the baby phoenix chirping helplessly in a basket on his desk. "It is those here in this room that I need to most talk to at this dark time, despite all of our desires to be elsewhere. It is those here that I might trust with a heavy burden, as well as Luna I am afraid Ronald, in addition to the huge ones already placed on your families by tonight's events."
Sirius nodded to himself as an early morning conversion with old friends long gone suddenly made sense, "Hermione." He stated simply and Dumbledore nodded.
"Indeed Sirius." Dumbledore tented his fingers in front of his face for an instant before nodding to himself. "Right now I need all of you in this room to understand certain facts, and the possible consequences of those truths." All five of the wizards and witches crowding the room leaned forward to hear, as Dumbledore added, "I will also trust you will relay this conversation to Luna, Ronald. I would also appreciate it if you did not relate it to your other siblings or parents...especially Miss Weasley." Ron nodded almost absently as he looked at Dumbledore.
"Fine then." Dumbledore fell silent as he considered his words, "As you all know, all of your children have been given the Draught of Nefrati." Silence greeted his words. "And that for what ever reason, Lucius did not poison Ginevra's son, Elliot. This is concerning to me. While I do not feel that Miss Weasley in any way intended what happened, that if she knew her actions would have uncovered the children she would have let both herself and Neville die or be driven insane." Dumbledore looked directly at Ron, who returned a tiny nod after a moment, "It is now all too apparent that Lucius paid close attention to Tom's defeat and attacked us at out weakest point. With this act he has effectively removed Harry, Hermione and myself from the board." Dumbledore's eyes gained a tiny hint of his normal fire as he raised one long finger, "however in concentrating on neutralizing our magical powers he has missed one of the most important ones."
"Hermione...Hermione's smarter than him." Remus put in he realized the course of Dumbledore's chat.
"Indeed." Dumbledore looked around the room, "Indeed, before he died, though he would have never admitted it to her, Severus admitted to me that she was perhaps even better than him at that age. And he was one of the Great Potions Masters before he died. Yes, he had more experience and time to read even more on the subject than the indomitable Mrs. Potter." Soft, bitter chuckles whispered as those who had known them in school remembered her papers and the constant embittering of Snape, as she knew the answers to his questions almost before he asked them. "However there is a catch. In the end, it will be mainly her working on the counter to the draught; I must be involved, however discreetly, in the resistance that will have to arise. She needs her facilities intact to solve this puzzle. Those she trusts must support her at all times. She does not trust Ginevra any longer, and may never again. It is regrettable but understandable as well."
"I have a question Dumbledore?" Cordelia interrupted, "forgive me as I came to his story late, but why wouldn't Lucius just kill Harry now? It would permanently take him off of the board instead of keeping him alive, where he could escape." She glanced over at Sirius who squeezed her hand supportively. "I'm sorry, I mean..."
"No Cordelia, it is a valid question...the answer is difficult as I do not know that he knows the full impact of what he has actually accomplished. Lucius has not only trapped us but himself as well. Yes, he does hold the periodic doses of the delaying potion against us, thereby keeping Harry from even attempting escape and also holding Harry's fate as a second bastion against direct action by myself or Hermione as neither of us, would dare take action that would result in Malfoy harming Harry, at least as of yet."
"As of yet?"
Dumbledore nodded, "yes. We must wait until Hermione finds a cure. I have already sent missives to those I trust who have expertise in the field near where we will evacuate to for a time, but I am afraid that it will still probably come down to her in the end. However there is a catch, and it involves, unfortunately both the depth of their feelings for each other and their bond." He sighed as his eyes took a far away cast. No one spoke as Dumbledore looked to be replaying some past time in his mind, "years ago, I shared a similar bond with my wife. Anne had many qualities in common with Hermione, she was smart," He grinned for an instant, "she also had a temper like Hermione's as well...and she was loyal...too loyal. Grindelwald surprised us in Hogsmeade. The war had just started in Europe and we had gone out to dinner while we still had the time for such things. Rosmerta's grandfather owned the Three Broomsticks in those days and he had lost a bet with me for dinner, something about turning chickens to diamonds or some foolishness." Dumbledore shook his head tiredly and looked down at his desk.
"Grindelwald appeared in the street with at least fifty of his Knights of Walpurgis. Anne and I fought. It was a Hogsmeade weekend of all things and the streets were still filled with students. She never would have left children helpless if she could help it. We held them for a time, for a long time actually. Grindelwald's followers never were the best of wizards in the main, and not to put too fine a point on it, we were much better."
"At the end, Grindelwald dueled myself, while Anne covered me. Something distracted me, to this day I still do not know what, and one of his followers fired a Kedavra at my back. The wizard who did so, was not a particularly powerful one and his curse was not fully realized. Anne dove between it and me, and took the curse. She lingered for almost a month."
"Albus...we didn't..." Remus said softly as a fresh horror bloomed in his eyes. Dumbledore returned a tight smile, and a small wave.
"Do not trouble yourself my friends." Dumbledore glanced around at the gathered wizards and witches. As one they sat in rapt attention. "I merely relate this story to explain a point or two of interest with regards to Harry and Hermione. I would suspect that Hermione and by extension Harry, have not been totally alone in their thoughts for a very long time, and right now, she is alone, separate from the one person who would never leave her of his own volition for the first time since I would guess their fifth or sixth year here." Slowly Dumbledore looked each of them directly in the eye, "I base my suppositions on what they have told me and what I have observed during Occulmency and Leglimency lessons with them. I trust each of you to keep their confidence." Heads nodded mutely.
"In some ways this result, while terrible, is the better of the two possible outcomes. If for some reason, it had been Hermione who surrendered herself into captivity, I do not feel that Harry would even be sane at this moment. She may actually be the stronger of the pair...however not that much stronger." He took a breath, "Right now, she is alone, scared and probably the most dangerous single individual in England and very possibly the world. She must be kept grounded or the results could be disastrous. And there is also one other consideration that we in this room must keep in mind. If, Merlin forbid, that Lucius kills or allows Harry to be killed while in his clutches and weakened, it will kill her as well."
Grim looks answered his words, but everyone knew more or less the depth of Harry and Hermione's bond. "I was able to escape that fate...or rather Anne kept me from that fate, but they would not. In their case...at the instant of his death, Hermione would gain all of Harry's powers as well as her own...and she would quite literally have nothing to live for. There has probably not been another bond like theirs in a thousand years; Lucius has no idea what he could awaken. The bound would eventually drag her beyond the veil, but before then..." Dumbledore left the statement hanging, but imaginations were quite able to fill in the blanks.
A/N: Ok, I can hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth from here...remember we probably aren't even at the halfway point yet...