Chapter 19
In Moonlight and Shadows
"Snape!"
Hermione cringed as she heard Harry's bodiless voice reach her ears, breaking the odd silence that had formed at the appearance of their old Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Not that Hermione was surprised by Harry's reaction, the man standing before them, shrouded in shadows had murdered Professor Dumbledore in front of Harry. Before she could reach out to find the invisible dark haired wizard to silence him, to stop him giving away their presence, the figure before them ceased in his motion, scanning his surroundings with searching eyes for origin of the noise.
Hermione's heart beat loud in her chest, ringing in her ears, sounding like a huge drum being bashed for all it was worth. Her breath caught on her lips, stilled as if making the tiniest noise would bring about Snape's attention. Around her, Harry and Ron were both silent, though Hermione knew that it would not be long before Harry attacked Snape. She had felt his hatred for the man growing over the summer, and she knew that one of his wishes was to avenge the death of Dumbledore. He had tried to stop Snape as he escaped from Hogwarts at the end of the last term.
A slight rustle of material made Hermione once more reach out her hand to still the motion of the boy near her, but before she even brushed against something solid, something else drew her attention.
"Snape!" Another familiar voice rang through the night air, catching Snape's attention.
The moonlight fell upon the head of the second shadow that crept through Hogsmeade, the hook of his cloak slightly back on his head, revealing his blonde hair.
"Shut up," Snape's voice sounded sharp to Hermione's ears, and she was instantly reminded of the many classes she had sat through with the dark haired professor, who had an obsessive loathing of everything Harry. "How many times have I told you not to be quiet?"
The younger man, not used to being reprimanded, scowled at Snape, only to have the older man turn away untouched by the expression. Muttering under his breath, he followed the now moving Snape down the street, heading in the direction that the trio had only moments before came from.
Once the two shrouded figures had moved far enough out of earshot, Harry's voice broke through the eerie silence sounding loud despite the lowness of it. "We've got to find out what they are up to. They could give us some clue to Voldemort's plans."
A long drawn out breath, revealed that Ron had been holding his as much as Hermione had. "Mate, I was so sure you were going to hit him with a spell or six." The red haired wizard sounded more than a little relieved.
Harry remained silent for a moment before he answered. "I wanted to, even more so when I saw Malfoy." His voice sounded bitterer than Hermione could remember. "But now is not the time for getting revenge, not until we know what Voldemort is doing. Why has he sent those two to Hogsmeade? Is he planning on attacking Hogwarts again?" The sound of gravel indicated that Harry had taken a step. "Let's go and find out."
"Wait," Hermione finally spoke, sounding more than a little unsure even to her. "You remember what Dumbledore said? Do not stop for anyone."
Harry let out a long breath. "But he didn't know those two pieces of scum would be walking around, did he?"
"Harry, we really should get back to Hogwarts and raise the alarm. You know that both Snape and Malfoy are wanted by the Ministry. This could be the information they need to break You-Know-Who's hold on the Wizarding community." Hermione frowned, unseen by either of her companions.
"You go back to Hogwarts and tell them." Harry snorted, sounded annoyed. "By the time you've got through explaining what you were doing in Hogsmeade and finally getting them to listen, Snape," he practically spat the word, "and Malfoy will be long gone."
"Harry, this is stupid…" Hermione began to argue, but the sound of footsteps on gravel cut her off as she realised that Harry had begun to walk away. "Harry!" Her voice, though in a whisper, revealed her own annoyance.
Huffing loudly, Hermione turned to look in the direction that Harry was going in, seeing nothing but an empty street. As she was about to take a step forward, Ron's voice reached her ears, his voice taking on a new level of concern.
"Hermione…"
"What is it, Ron?"
"I think we have even more trouble."
Looking down the apparently empty street, seeing nothing but still hearing faint footsteps, she turned and gazed down the other half of the street, suddenly seeing what had caused the reaction in Ron. There further up the street, silhouetted on one of the buildings on the opposite side of the street were two more dark shapes. As she continued to watch, a third figure appeared out of thin air.
"Death Eaters." Hermione felt her heart sink. "We've got to stop Harry. Come on, Ron."
Turning once more, she looked back down the deserted street, listening for the sound of footsteps, but it had once more grown very quiet. Keeping to the shadows Hermione and Ron made their way down the street, unable to see Harry but listening for the sound of his feet. They had only managed to creep along three houses, when they suddenly hit an invisible obstacle.
"Harry? Is that you?" Hermione whispered urgently.
"Sshhh," came the bodiless reply.
"We've got big problems," Hermione whispered again, trying to warn Harry.
Turning, Hermione looked back down the street, her eyes once more finding the shadows upon the house. Her eyes opened in horror as she saw that there were no longer three shapes on the wall. The number had doubled.
"Harry, there are Death Eaters here." Hermione turned, her hand finding Harry's body after a little searching. "There are six and it appears that there might be even more on the way." Her whisper sounded frantic. "They already outnumber us."
"They can't see us, they don't know we are here," Harry replied, sounding very matter of fact. "We need to know what Snape is doing here." He paused for a moment. "He seems to be stopping…he's going…" He took in a sharp intake of breathe. "He's gone into the Hog's Head. He's after Dumbledore's brother."
Ron's voice joined the conversation. "Harry, Hermione's right, we've got to warn everyone."
There was no reply other than the sound of soft footsteps moving away. Hermione let out a long sigh. "Ron, get back to Hogwarts as quickly as you can. Find Professor McGonagall and tell her what has happened."
"What are you going to do?" Ron asked, his voice sound breathless.
"I'm going to stop Harry," Hermione answered. "We've got no time, Ron. You have to hurry."
"I'll be as quick as I can," Ron said, before Hermione heard his footsteps.
Hermione's whisper called out behind him. "And stay in the shadows, like Aberforth said." Unsure whether she had been heard or not, Hermione edged her way in the direction that Harry had taken only moments before.
The moonlight seemed oddly bright, almost as if the sky was shining a spotlight down upon the scene below. The sky was cloudless, which caused the night breeze to have fingers like death, cold and uncaring. As Hermione edged closer to the Hog's Head, her eyes and ears seemed to work harder, straining her see and hear anything that would reveal the location of Snape and Malfoy, but more importantly Harry.
Up ahead, she could see a dark shape, the light reflecting off the odd strands of blonde hair that his cloak did not hide. He was alone, pacing back and forth outside the door to the Hog's Head, keeping guard. The dark figure of Snape was nowhere to be seen. She moved a little closer, a rustle up ahead revealed the general whereabouts of Harry. Almost reaching him, she was surprised to suddenly make out his shape as he stepped out of the shadows, his form visible to her eyes.
Her heart jumped into her mouth, as she took a step forward, grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back into the shadows.
"Wha…?" Harry sounded alarmed, before he was cut off by Hermione's hand across his mouth.
"Ssshh," Hermione whispered in his ear.
Fortunately for them both, Draco Malfoy had been looking in the opposite direction, his gaze travelling down the street. At the sound made by Harry, he swung around expectantly, his wand in hand and ready for striking, as he looked up the street.
"Who's there?" Draco's voice sounded a little edgy. "Show yourself!"
Hermione and Harry stood silently, watching the fair-haired wizard, as he waved his wand menacingly around in front of him. Hermione could not help judging the randomness of his movements, knowing that his fear would either make him a formidable opponent or an easy target. But with Snape not that far away and with Aberforth his prisoner, it was not the time cause a scene, especially without help.
I hope Ron is alright, Hermione thought, as she pictured the red haired wizard working his way back to Hogwarts. I hope he doesn't get caught before he can get help.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash coming from the direction of the Hog's Head. The street flashed a series of red and yellow as spells shot out of the window and door.
"You will get nothing from me!" The sound of Aberforth's voice rang out into the night, followed by another flash, this time a brilliant blue.
Draco spun around, his eyes focused on the doorway, ducking to avoid any stray shots that continued to light up the street like a firework display. He rushed forward, frantically looking for signs of Snape.
Hermione hears a rustle before her, knowing that Harry has his wand out ready to intervene. Her own fingers grasped her wand, as she shuffled the book she was carrying, under her arm better, not wanting to drop it if possible. Both waited, ready to enter the fray. Before either of them could reacted, flying out of the door like a bat out of Hell, came the dark shape of Snape, followed closely by a burst of bright yellow, which just managed to skim over his back as he ducked.
Running, Snape made a grab for Malfoy, tugging at the young wizard's cloak, his actions causing the hood to fall off, revealing a brilliant head of blonde hair to Harry and Hermione.
Taken aback by the sudden appearance of Snape, Draco took a moment to realise what was going on before he made a dash after the quickly retreating Snape, who was already quite some way up the street. The dark shadows of the other Death Eaters, that had not grown more than the six that Hermione had seen earlier, began to run down the street in the direction of Snape.
"Our cover is blown," Snape yelled at his companions. "Get out of here!"
The six Death Eaters, followed closely by the ex-Dark Arts professor, raced up the street. A little way behind, the young Malfoy ran, trying to catch up with the others. Suddenly a burst of red shot up the street, enveloping him, before he stopped and crashed to the floor. Those up ahead did not even notice the events happening behind them, and failed to react to their companion's predicament. Further up the street, the shadows upon the wall began to disappear, one at a time.
Snape turned back, coming a little way back down the street. "Malfoy!" He shouted, finally spotting the prone young man. He had only taken a copy of steps before the same green flash that had taken down Draco shot up the street before him, but just as it was about to touch his body, he vanished.
"Mr Potter?" A voice rang out. "Miss Granger?"
Remaining still, the two young Hogwarts' students watched as Aberforth took a step out of the doorway of the Hog's Head, walking over to the fallen figure of Draco Malfoy, the boy's head half hidden by the hood of his cloak. He crouched down and checked Draco for signs of life.
"Make us visible, Hermione," Harry commanded as he took a step towards Aberforth.
Suddenly, the young wizard and witch appeared, standing a few feet away from the aging wizard. Hermione was not surprised to find Harry had his wand pointed menacingly at the still form of Draco, as if he expected him to spring into battle. Hermione lowered her wand and quickly covered the distance to the middle of the street.
"A nice bit of wand work, Mr Potter," Aberforth commented as he rose to his full height.
"Not that good, I missed Snape," Harry spat out the professor's name.
Aberforth nodded sagely. "You managed to hit one, which is a good percentage."
"What did Snape want with you, Mr Dumbledore?" Hermione asked, her brow etched with questioning lines.
"He seemed interested in searching through Albus' belongings, or that's what he was doing when I came upon him." Aberforth chuckled suddenly. "He was very surprised to see me appear behind him."
The sound of heavy breathing and rushing footsteps stopped the conversation suddenly, as the three looked down the street. Harry and Hermione raised ready for action, expecting to see the return of the Death Eaters and Snape, but Aberforth stood calmly beside them.
"Ah, Mr Weasley, it's good of you to join us." Aberforth chuckled again, as the young wizard and witch beside him looked down the street in wonder.
"Ron?" Harry and Hermione asked together.
"Wow, I missed all the fun." The bodiless form of the youngest male Weasley reached their ears. As he spoke, Hermione raised her wand and said the spell to make Ron once more visible. "I heard the ruckus and thought I should come back to help, being as you were outnumbered and all."
Hermione frowned, her eyes looking at him questioningly. "Why did you come back? I thought I told you to get to Hogwarts."
"This is a topic better discussed elsewhere," Aberforth interrupted. "We should get off the street, and get our young captive off the street before it fills with people that we would rather not answer to." He pointed to Draco. "Can you two get him inside?"
Without word, Harry and Ron moved over to Draco and each taking an arm, pulled him up from the floor. Looping his arms around their shoulders, they carried the burden of their fallen foe, dragging him inside the Hog's Head, as Aberforth looked around expectantly.
"As quick as you can," he commanded, indicating for Hermione to follow before he too entered the building, closing the door behind him.
* * * * *
Firelight flickered against the walls, casting an orange glow around the room, offering the only light in the room. The soft crackle of the burning wood was the only sound, as four pairs of eyes stared silently at the still form of Draco Malfoy, who was now lying on the couch in the living room of the Hog's Head. The gently rise and fall of his chest was the only indication that he was still alive, as the spell that Harry had used upon him had knocked him out cold.
Finally the silence was broken, as Ron looked away from Draco and turned to Harry. "So what are we going to do with him?" The harshness in his voice revealed that he had several things in mind, and none of them were pleasant.
Harry shook his head. "We can't leave him here, that's for sure. They are bound to come back for him and in greater number. We need to get him to Hogwarts."
"Are you kidding?" Hermione asked incredulously. "If we take him there, we'll have a full scale attack before we know it. I don't think the school could take another attack on it, not with all the worried parents and everything." She shook her head. "We need to hand him over to the Ministry."
"We need to know what they are up to; it could be the difference between success and failure. If we hand him over to Scrimgeour, he'll disappear into the realms of that labyrinth of bureaucracy and we'll never learn anything." Harry frowned. "We need him, and I know that Professor McGonagall with be able to get information out of him."
Aberforth frown, his face seeming to age considerably. "Will that not reveal your whereabouts tonight?"
"It can't be helped, finding out what Voldemort is up to is far more important that a detention for sneaking out of the school," Harry replied.
"More important than finding the Horcruxes?" Aberforth asked matter of factly.
Harry shook his head. "Nothing is more important than them, but this could help with that. This could be connected to our search, this could have been Voldemort trying to discover what we know about them, and this could help us."
"It could also hamper you search, Mr Potter," Aberforth announced, causing the three students to stare at him questioningly. "If Professor McGonagall believes that an attack on the school is imminent, do you think it will be so easy for you to sneak out to continue your search?"
The room once more fell silent, as the trio pondered Aberforth's words. It had always been a task and a half to get out of the building unseen, but with the school on high alert, it would be nearly impossible for them to go on with their quest. Hermione and Ron turned to look at Harry, waiting for his answer.
"He's coming back to Hogwarts," Harry finally announced. "Even if we don't inform Mc…Professor McGonagall, we can still find a safe place to keep Draco. I don't trust the Ministry, not with something as important as this."
Aberforth let out a loud chuckle. "Mistrust in the Ministry already, Harry? I'm not saying you are making a wise decision, but I am beginning to think you are making the right one, after all." He paused and looked at the still sleeping form of Draco. "Do you think you can get him into the school unseen?"
Harry nodded. "With the Invisibility spell no one will see us, and if we lose Malfoy on the way, his spending the rest of his life lying unable to move and unable to be seen does not seem to unfitting for the scum."
Hermione looked at Aberforth, not at all surprised to see the expression on his face. "We'll get him safely to Hogwarts…without losing him." She glared at Harry before continuing. "And there are plenty of rooms around Hogwarts that people do not use; we'll find a safe one for him to stay in where he won't be found."
Smiling, Aberforth nodded his head. "I've no doubt you will do your best." He moved quickly over to the form of Draco, giving him another look over. "He should sleep for another hour, so you will need to hurry. And this time," he looked at the three young people before him. "Stop for nothing or nobody, do you hear me?"
The trio nodded their heads but said nothing, which appeared to satisfy Aberforth, as he went about preparing for Harry, Ron and Hermione's return to Hogwarts with their prize.
* * * * *
Walking back to Hogwarts was not as easy as the three had imagined it would be, despite being invisible. Dragging along the unconscious Draco turned out to be harder than they thought it would be, and on several occasions Ron suggested dumping him on the way and leaving him to rot, but Hermione protested that it would be inhumane, even if it was Malfoy. Eventually, Ron and Harry decided that carrying Draco in a chair of their arms would be quicker and less noisy than having his feet dragging along the floor.
Hermione walked a little ahead, listening and looking for signs of people wandering around and especially for returning Death Eaters. Sticking to the shadows as they had been told again to do by Aberforth, the three students and their companion finally made it to the secret passage they used to get in and out of Hogwarts.
Hermione, whose walk had not been all that easy, having carried a huge book and her wand out ready for any attacks, stopped suddenly. Fortunately Ron and Harry noticed the sound of her footsteps falling silent, and they followed her example and stopped too.
"What's the matter?" Harry whispered, suddenly concerned that they were no near and yet so far from their goal.
Hermione turned and faced her invisible companions. "I'm not sure this is a good idea."
"What?" Harry asked, sounding confused.
"Taking Draco through the secret door to Hogwarts," Hermione explained. "How do we know this is not some plot to get him inside? Voldemort or Snape could have arranged for this so that they had someone on the inside."
"Now who's turning all paranoid on us?" Ron quipped.
Hermione sighed loudly. "All I'm saying is, we don't know if Snape let Malfoy get captured so that he could find the way into the school." She paused. "We all know that Snape suspected Sirius and your father of having a way around the school, and he thought we knew about it…"
"How did he know we would be in Hogsmeade today?" Harry asked, sounding a little tired. "And anyway, once we have Malfoy locked up, he won't be able to get word to anyone."
Hermione shrugged to herself. "Okay, but let's check he's still asleep first."
Before she could take a step forward to check for signs, the sound of something hitting the ground with a heavy thud filled her ears. It did not take a genius to know that Harry and Ron and dropped Malfoy.
"What are you doing?" Hermione hissed.
"Like you said, we needed to check he was still asleep," Harry informed her, sounding a little amused.
Ron chuckled. "He didn't make a sound; I'd say he was still out cold."
"I can't believe you did that." Hermione shook her head, and looked back towards the secret entrance. "Pick him up; we need to get back inside before the light comes up. It must be nearly dawn."
A rustle of material and the sound of rapidly exhaled breath indicated that Draco was once more safely in the arms of Harry and Ron, although Hermione could not help wonder what the two of them would do if they were given the opportunity, not that she could blame them after all that Malfoy had done to the three of them over the years.
Finally they reached the entrance, which Hermione opened with the relevant spell. The open entrance appeared to be grinning at them, as they walked through. The musty smell of the old passage filled their nostrils, getting more potent as Hermione intoned the closing spell, locking the three students and their prisoner inside the safety of Hogwarts protection. The audible exhalation of breath revealed all of them to be more comfortable once there were away from prying eyes.
The rest of the journey took little time at all, especially as they did not feel the need to keep checking around for people who were following them. The passageway was rarely used, and they felt sure that the only people who still resided at Hogwarts and knew about the secret tunnels was them.
Their footsteps resounded around them, as they walked along the passageway, eventually reaching the exit that would bring them into the main school building, in a quiet section, unused most of the time and totally deserted during the night.
Careful not to knock any of the statues and armour that lined the walls of the corridor, Hermione squeezed through the opening, looking around carefully to ensure that no one was about. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she turned back to the doorway.
"You can come out," Hermione whispered, careful to keep her voice low enough that it wouldn't echo around the deserted corridor.
With a few huffs and puffs, Hermione heard their feet hit the paving stones that stretched across the floor, then with another quick look around, she headed off towards the lower levels of the school, which despite being the home of the Slytherin common room and other various rooms, led deep under the school and had become the home of old and no longer pieces of classroom furniture and other long forgotten items. It had been decided before the trio had left Aberforth that there was not a better place to hide the currently unconscious Draco.
What seemed like an eternity to the three students, but was little more than twenty minutes, they came to a group of doors, all of which looked like they had been closed for a very long time. The cobwebs and dust that lay on the locks made Hermione wonder if they had been opened in the last century.
"This place is as good as any," Harry announced, as they stopped outside one of the doors. "Hermione, can you make us all visible again?" Within a few seconds the four once more became visible to each other. "Okay, let's get one of these doors open."
Harry and Ron lowered the still slumbering Draco to the floor, and moved quickly over to the doors, each taking a separate one to check. The first few that they checked heralded nothing by failure, but the third one that Ron tried came open, far easier than he thought it would, sending him sprawling onto the ground.
"Looks like it's this one," Harry walked over and helped Ron off the ground, then took a step inside, his two companions looking in from the doorway. He raised his wand, instantly illuminating it to shed some light in the room before him.
Looking like nothing more than storage rooms, the space inside was big enough for a man to lie across ways without hitting either of the walls with his feet or head. The length of the room was about a width and half long. Inside the musty smell of long closed up rooms penetrated their noses. The steady drip of water that ran down the walls and then hit the floor filled the quiet air.
The room had several filled sacks inside, resembling a disused mill. The floor, despite the couple of puddles that had formed around the edges was relatively dry, a thin scattering of straw or some such substance lay across its surface.
From behind her, Hermione heard a faint rustling, sounding like the skittering sound of a rat. Turning to look, Hermione was surprised to see that Draco was no longer lying prone on the floor.
"Harry!" Hermione cried, drawing the attention of her two companions, who whirled around to see what was causing the anxiety in Hermione's voice. "Malfoy's gone."
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