Harry, Hermione and Ron walked into the kitchen to see an array of people. Harry smiled happily at all the old faces, and hugged a good deal of them. He introduced himself to some of the newer ones (though he really needn't have bothered). Ron looked surprised to see Neville as a member of the Order, but Harry just smiled happily at him. Chairs were conjured and eventually everyone was sitting in the room, though with all the people in there Harry could hardly move his arms without elbowing someone.
"Right then!" said Lupin loudly trying to get everyone's attention. "First things first! There was an attack on a muggle village a few hours ago, as most of you know. Four people were killed, many severely injured and most of the houses burned down. The muggle police are dealing with the situation now, but I need a few volunteers to come with me after the meeting. We have a tip as to the whereabouts of a couple of the death eaters responsible."
"I'll come," said Harry at once, which was quickly followed by calls from Neville, Mr Weasley, and Mad eye. Ron tried to volunteer after that but Lupin said that five people were more than enough. Ron looked slightly relived, but not more than Mrs Weasley who seemed to have a vice like grip on the arm of her chair.
"That's settles then…Next on the agenda. We're having a problem with this dementor situation. It seems like they're breeding rapidly, at the moment they're in various woods around the country but it won't be long before they start moving into the villages and attacking both muggles and wizards. We need to come up with a plan of attack. I think we need to track them to the various woods they're hiding in, and destroy them before they even attack a village. Minerva, Tonks, Mad eye and myself are still devising a strategy for this. Once we have found the central breeding area, we will contact you all with the time and place for the attack. Brush up on your patronus' and bring plenty chocolate." said Lupin decisively. He shuffled his papers and was about to begin the next topic for discussion when there was a thud in the hallway and the door was opened. Standing in the doorway was none other than Severus Snape.
For Harry the room seemed to go quiet and black as he leapt out of his chair and lunged towards Snape. He let the bricks form quickly around his mind and cast a shield charm on him without saying a word. Snape's eyes widened in momentary surprise, but before he could do anything Harry was on him, his arm digging in to his throat and pinning him against the wall. He looked into the cold eyes of the teacher he had hated for so long and felt a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. This man had killed Dumbledore; this man had sold his parents out to Voldemort. This man had made his life a living hell since his first day at Hogwart's. He could hear the voices of everyone from the Order suddenly floating towards him. He glanced to the side and could see them all standing and pointing their wands at Snape. He looked back and Snape and wondered why he had come here, when he certainly knew he was going to be killed.
"Potter," he said in a choked voice "Dumbledore trusted me. I'll tell you why if it will mean this ridiculous charade of you killing me will end" Harry pushed his arm further into Snape's throat and got the grim satisfaction of seeing him cough in pain.
"Charade Snape?" said Harry darkly "You're mistaken. I'm going to make you pay for what you did to Dumbledore, and my parents…"
"You really think you can kill me Potter?" said Snape with a derisive laugh. "Let us talk alone, and then we can duel if you think it's necessary." Harry stood with his arm pinned to Snape's neck for a minute or so, before he finally made his decision.
"Fine," he said tersely, wanting to hear Snape's pathetic story before making him pay for his crimes. There were shouts of outrage and warnings from the members of the Order, but Harry could only stare at Snape.
"EVERYONE LEAVE!" he shouted "If I need your help, you'll know pretty quickly." With enormous effort the members of the Order filed out of the room, leaving an eerie silence in their wake. Harry sealed the door, put an Imperturbable charm on the room and cast a binding charm on Snape. He had the satisfaction of seeing Snape looking momentarily shocked at his progress in non-verbal spells and allowed himself a harsh smile. He stepped away from Snape and summoned a chair. He sat opposite him, pointing his wand threateningly at his chest. A moment passed in silence as the pair just watched each other, each trying to read his enemy's mind and neither succeeding. Finally Harry spoke-
"Decided not to bring Voldemort with you tonight then? Pity, he could have had his pick of who to torture, though I think I'd have been his favourite." said Harry unpleasantly. Snape curled his lip at Harry and looked like he wanted nothing more than to have his wand and make him very sorry for the angry marks on his neck.
"I cannot tell the Dark Lord where the headquarters for the Order are, even if I had the desire to. Surely you know that? If he would have known where the meetings were held you would all have been tortured and killed by now." said Snape malevolently. Harry eyebrow's raised slightly at this comment and he remembered Hermione's comment about Grimmauld place being the safest place for them to hide. Why was she always right about everything?
"But Dumbledore is dead, he was the secret keeper so now you're free to tell anyone you want about Grimmauld place" said Harry.
"The secret keeper was changed before Dumbledore died. He appointed another knowing what was to become of him." said Snape patronisingly.
"I don't have all day Snape. I'd much rather kill you now so I can go home and have a nice cup of tea. Tell me why Dumbledore was stupid enough to trust you so we can get this over with" said Harry, his green eyes boring into Snape.
"Do not call the headmaster stupid boy!" said Snape scathingly "When you cannot even manage to concoct a simple potion correctly."
"Why are you defending him when you murdered him?" replied Harry, feeling his sick anger start to bubble within him. "You told Voldemort where my parents were going to be the night they were murdered. Dumbledore was a very trusting man; in this case he made an error of judgement. You're a filthy snake and you always have been."
"I DID NOT tell him where your parents would be! I simply told him of the prophecy. How was I to know that he would start hunting for a little boy to murder? How was I to know he would murder your parents? You see everything in black and white Potter, which is your problem. There is never one soul person to blame in any situation." replied Snape angrily
"If you hadn't interfered they would still be alive. If you hadn't been one of his evil followers I would still have my parents. Can you deny that?" said Harry angrily, standing up from his chair and pacing around the room. It was taking all of his self control not to pull out his wand and make Snape pay for what he was feeling right now.
"I have never denied that charge," said Snape, his voice sounding suddenly hollow. "It does not mean that I am proud of it. I have paid for that mistake everyday since."
"Oh! I see!" said Harry sarcastically "You've paid! You decided to join Dumbledore instead, and be a coward until Voldemort returned. Then you fed him information, oh…then you killed the Headmaster! Wait…where's the bit where you lose your parents? Where's the bit where you have people trying to kill you all the time? Yeah Snape, I can see you've paid dearly…"
"DO NOT CALL ME A COWARD!!!" shouted Snape savagely "Do you have any idea what it takes to face the Dark Lord, to hide things from him that would surely have you tortured to death? To have to murder against your will in case you're found out? To live each day wondering when he is going to find out, and when you are going to pay?" There was silence in the room as they both took in what Snape was saying. Harry felt the tiniest shred of pity towards him…it didn't last long.
"Get on with it Snape. What did you tell Dumbledore that made him trust you?" asked Harry and looked intently at him. Snape seemed to be fighting with himself, and when he spoke it was in a very low and quiet voice that Harry hadn't heard him use before.
"If I tell you this, I ask that you keep it a secret. It's not the kind of information that I would normally divulge to…some like you," said Snape.
"I won't make any promises Snape, your life is on the line here so hurry it up will you?" said Harry. Snape took a deep breath and uttered the words so quietly that at first Harry had thought he'd misheard them. As understanding finally filled him his green eyes widened with a mixture of disgust and surprise. He sat back down on the chair heavily and stared at Snape, unsure of what to think of the man now in front of him.
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They sat there in silence for a long time before either of them spoke. Snape humiliated at having to tell the boy he hated most his most inner feelings. Harry felt so much pity for Snape, but his anger still flowed deep. There was no excuse for killing Dumbledore.
"How did you meet her?" Harry finally asked, wanting to hear the story so he could understand fully.
"During our first potions class." said Snape; a slight smile on his face that he didn't even know was there. "It's true what professor Slughorn was saying last year. She was truly gifted at potions. We were the best in our year, and I daresay the school."
"But you hated her." said Harry still quite confused "You called her a Mudblood. You can't love someone and call them names like that"
"I was an arrogant teenager Potter," said Snape coldly "I'm sure you know all about that." Harry ignored this comment and began pacing the room again, trying to get his head around what Snape was trying to explain to him.
"Did anyone else know?" Harry finally asked.
"Do you really think I would admit to being in love with someone like Lily Evans? Someone that is so unlike me. We were from two different worlds Potter. Can you imagine what I would have had to deal with if anyone had ever found out? Can you imagine the look of pity your mother would have given me every time I walked passed her in the corridors?" said Snape, sounding strangely miserable.
"So is that why you hated my dad then?" asked Harry, "because he got my mum and you didn't? Is that why you hate me? Because I remind you of my dad?"
"I disliked your father because he was an arrogant show off. Just like you." said Snape, the anger at the mention of Harry's father clear in his voice. Harry finally understood why Snape acted the way he did. He didn't feel relieved, he didn't suddenly like him, but he felt better that he finally understood why this man had hated him so much when he was only eleven years old. Harry was a reminder to Snape of everything he had lost, of the woman he had loved and the great person he had sacrificed by serving Voldemort.
"At least I'm not a murderer." said Harry, and was relieved to find more anger towards Snape. He had been feeling quite uncomfortable with these new feelings of pity.
"Dumbledore knew what might happen. He knew I had made an unbreakable vow to save Draco. He knew that either he or I would have to die. He chose himself to die, another thing I have to live with everyday. He felt that my cause was greater than his life. He begged me to kill him, do you know why Potter?" said Snape, throwing an angry look at Harry. Harry was too shocked by what Snape was saying to do anything but shake his head.
"For you. All of this hard work is all for you. So that you can defeat the Dark Lord and rid the world of evil at last. I hope you do it, otherwise a lot of lives will have been wasted for nothing."
Harry sat back on the chair and stared at the floor for a long time. Was it possible that what Snape was saying was true? That Dumbledore knew he would have to die either way? Is that why he made sure that Harry knew of the Horcruxes? Is that why he made him see his true fate with the prophecy? He remembered Dumbledore's last words 'Severus please…' Was it possible that he was begging Snape to end his life?
"You looked so evil when you killed him. You looked like you hated him," said Harry numbly.
"I hated myself. I had to murder the only person that had put his faith and trust into me. The only person that would stand by me no matter what. Wouldn't you hate yourself?" Harry nodded dumbly and they sat there for a long time, saying nothing, each lost in his own thoughts. Eventually Harry removed the binding charm from Snape and unsealed the doors. Snape stood up stiffly and regained his usual air of hostility. Members of the Order came flooding in, wands still raised and pointing at Snape. Harry stood up and observed him, before finally reaching his decision.
"He's fine everyone. Don't attack him, he's…on our side." Everyone stood shocked at Harry's comment, but eventually there were cries of outrage and accusations flying across the room. Harry and Snape stared at each other before Harry finally stood on the chair so that he could see everyone.
"STOP!" He shouted "DUMBLEDORE TRUSTED SNAPE…AND I DO TOO. STOP THIS FIGHTING AND LETS GET ON WITH THE MEETING." Everyone fell silent, but professor McGonagall stepped forward, eyeing Harry with doubt.
"Harry," she asked, "Why have you made this decision? Tell us so that we can at least understand. No one trusts Severus now, you must see that." Harry looked at Snape before replying, and Snape was obviously nervous.
"You trusted Dumbledore's opinion. Now trust mine. I'm sure Snape will tell you everything that happened on the night of Dumbledore's death. As for the rest, take my word for it. He's on our side," said Harry with finality in his voice. Lupin nodded his head curtly and led Snape out of the room, followed closely by McGonagall, Mr. Weasley and Mad Eye.
"Where are they taking him?" asked Neville anxiously "You said he was alright to stay, they're not going to do anything to him, are they Harry?"
"No," said Harry "They're going to make sure that there's no way he can tell Voldemort the location of the Order meetings. I don't think he could anyway, but best to be on the safe side in case he found a way of leaking information,"
"I heard Mad Eye whispering to Kingsley that they were going to make him make the unbreakable vow." said Ron quietly.
"He'll do it," said Harry firmly "He wants to help us, he wants revenge too…"
The rest of the meeting was very quiet, with Snape explaining his version of Dumbledore's death. Most of the Order still didn't trust Snape, but they also knew that he was extremely valuable to them. When the meeting had finished, Ron, Hermione, Luna and Susan went back to the cottage. Harry caught Hermione's eye before leaving and gave a small thumbs up. She smiled at him , trembling so slightly that Harry was sure he was the only one who noticed it.
"Be careful Harry," she said quietly, trying not to betray her emotions in front of so many people. Lupin, Mad Eye, Mr Weasley, Neville and Harry readied themselves to find the death eaters, and Harry wondered what could possibly make this evening more remarkable.
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The five men walked down a cobble-stoned street in silence. They were all alert, looking at the people walking down the street, trying to see if there could be any possible danger other than the one they were walking into. Lupin nodded to a dark alley with a single street lamp at the end of it. They slowly walked down it, their wands at the ready.
"Where are we going?" asked Harry.
"A little bed and breakfast owned by a witch around the corner. Apparently she overheard two men talking about a plan to destroy another muggle village. They've been staying there for the last week and there have been some strange goings on." Lupin explained quietly. They fell silent again and all that could be heard were their footsteps echoing on the cobblestones. Harry found himself thinking of Hermione's anxious words to him when he left Grimmauld place. A smile came to his face, and even though he knew he was going to fight a couple of death eaters, he had a hard time removing it. 'I am losing it,' he thought to himself, but the smile remained.
They reached the end of the alley and rounded the corner. There in front of them was a small cream coloured brick building, with an old black sign swinging lazily in the wind that read 'The Rat and Parrot'
"Looks like a place that would be owned by pirates, not a witch." said Neville, to which Harry laughed.
"Ssh!" said Mad Eye, "You're attracting too much attention to us! Lupin we should circle the B&B before we go in. Make sure the areas safe…"
"The area is never going to be safe if there are death eaters around," said Arthur quietly. Lupin nodded his head in agreement with Mr. Weasley, and they walked towards 'The Rat and Parrot'. They entered the building to find the reception area deserted, save for one old man sitting on a bench asleep. Harry stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out where he had seen him before. He recognised the cane that was resting in his lap, it had an absurd duck head at the top. Harry finally looked away, not exactly comfortable but trying to tell himself that there were loads of old people who had canes. He was just nervous and reading into things too much. They looked around and Mad Eye motioned for them to follow him towards a very narrow flight of stairs. They had to ascend it in single file. Mad Eye at the front, Arthur second. Harry was third, then Neville and finally Lupin bringing up the rear. They walked up flight after flight in silence, Mad Eye making sure the coast was clear before signalling them to move on to the next flight of stairs. The moved in quick silence, until Mad Eye signalled that they had the correct floor. The walked silently up the corridor, passing old and dusty looking black doors on either side of them. Harry noticed that the carpets were stained with a strange black looking substance. The numbers on the doors were crooked and the corridor smelt heavily of cigar smoke. They all pulled their wands out and they reached the door at the very end of the corridor on the right hand side. The lights flickered slightly as Mad Eye pointed his wand at the door and uttered 'Alohomora' the door swung open slightly and Mad Eye signalled for everyone to get ready. He raised his hand and held three fingers up…then two…then one…with one quick movement he pushed himself in the door, the rest of them quickly following.
"There's no one here!" said Arthur "How could they have known we were coming?" Mad Eye made a few comments about circling the B&B as well as his famous 'constant vigilance' but no one was paying too much attention. They stood in a line staring around at the cramped room with the tiny bathroom attached to it and wondered who had tipped off the death eaters. Just as Harry was wondering what they would do next the door was blown off of it's hinges and sent flying into the room. A cloud of smoke obscured his view, but he knew that the death eaters were now in the room. They also had them cornered.
"AHHHHHHH!!!!!!" screamed Lupin and fell to the floor in agony. The smoke cleared slightly and they all looked up to see that a death eater had his wand pointed directly at Lupin, and was obviously casting the cruciatus curse. Harry saw the old man that had been sleeping in the reception area downstairs behind the death eaters. He let out a cackle of laughter as he pointed his wand towards them. Lupin stopped screaming for a moment, and Harry lunged to the side and jumped across the bed. He cast a shield charm around himself and knew that several hexes had just bounced off of him. Arthur and Mad Eye scattered in different directions and both death eaters started firing off curses. Neville had stayed rooted to the spot and was looking at Lupin in horror. He was utterly silent as he raised his wand and pointed it at one of the death eaters now firing at Harry.
"STUPEFY!" he yelled and the death eater was hit with a bolt of red light. The old man that had been watching backed out of the room and Neville ran after him, firing hexes and jinxes as he went. His eyes were as cold as stone, and there was anger in his face that Harry had never seen before. He ran after Neville and the old man, thundering down staircases until he reached the entrance of the B&B. He ran outside and was greeted with total silence. There wasn't a single person walking the streets. He heard a noise to the left of him, he quickly turned and raised his wand but not before he found himself being flung to the side and hitting a pile of metal dustbins. He tried to get up but was thrown face first into the metal once again. He could feel a cold pain spread throughout his face, and the taste of blood filled his mouth. He heard footsteps coming towards him and waited…When he thought the old man was a couple of feet away he thought of a tripping jink, and heard him fall face first into the cobble-stones. He stood up quickly and tried to stupefy him, but his wand flew out of his hand. He turned around to see another death eater holding his wand. Before he could think of anything he was knocked to the floor. He felt a stinging sensation move from his chest, and become more intense as it moved up to his neck and then spread through his shoulders. The stinging turned to a light burning, which quickly intensified. Harry felt like he was on fire, but he could see that he wasn't. What kind of a spell was that?
"Do you like that Potter?" said the cold voice, moving closer to him. "They didn't teach you this at Hogwarts did they? It burns you from the inside, leaving your skin perfectly in tact. All the torture, none of the mess. If the Dark Lord wasn't so keen to keep you to himself I would demonstrate this further. As it is…"
"As it is you're out numbered two to one," said a cold voice from behind. Harry looked around quickly to see Neville standing there with cold fury and determination written across his face. Harry smiled grimly and pointed his wand at the death eater too. To his surprise the man simply started laughing, which made Harry smile in a very grim way.
"Do you think I'm frightened of two seventeen year olds?" he said coldly
"Not right now," said Neville coldly "But you should be…" He raised his wand and aimed it at the death eater. He screamed in pain and fell to the floor writhing in agony. Harry quickly cast a shield charm on the death eater and stupefied him.
"Neville!" he said, his disgust obvious "You didn't need to use the cruciatus curse on him. Remember, we're better than them. We don't need to inflict the kind of pain and evil that they do."
"Don't worry Harry," he said calmly "That wasn't the curse I used. Looks like it though eh? It's a modified version I've been practicing for a while. You don't need hate to fuel it, and it doesn't cause physical pain the way the cruciatus curse does. It fills them with good feelings, feelings of love and joy. They hate that, it hurts them more than any of the evil curses they could come up with."
"You might have to teach me that Neville," said Harry impressed. Neville grinned at Harry happily and together they bound the two men and made their way back to the room in the B&B.
Inside the room the third death eater was taken care of pretty quickly. He tried to run when he realised that he was now alone and was facing two healthy wizards and one that was hurt but severely pissed off. Everyone fired at once when he tried to escape the room, and he looked like one mass of flesh with different bumps, colours and boils on him once they were done. Mad eye silenced both the death eaters while Arthur made sure they couldn't move. Lupin contacted Azkaban to inform them that they had two more prisoners on the way. Neville and Harry entered a moment later, an old man and a death eater floating behind them looking ten times worse than what they did.
"Who's the old man?" Arthur asked Lupin.
"I have no idea," replied Lupin "But I think that the ministry as well as the Order will be very interested in a snitch."
The death eaters, whose names were Dolohov and Jugson and Travers were taken to Azkaban. Arthur and Mad Eye left to inform the other members of the Order of the evening's events. Lupin and Harry escorted Neville back to school. Once they had said their goodbyes to Neville, Lupin and Harry walked around for a while. At first they were catching up, then they talked about Harry's dad. The subject of Tonks came up once or twice but Lupin laughed off most of Harry's rather cheeky questions. As Harry had suspected Lupin eventually brought up Voldemort, and how Harry was preparing for the final battle. Harry told him of the time he had spent studying different spells, and his progress of occulumency and his attempts at legilimens.
"The Order and I have been thinking about ways to prepare you. We think it would be wise if you spent a couple of hours a few days a week with each of us. That way you can learn different methods of fighting and a variety of spells. What do you think?" asked Lupin. Harry felt unbelievably relieved to have help from fully trained witches and wizards, and his face showed it. Lupin laughed and put an arm on his shoulder.
"You'll do fine Harry. Now we'd better get you back, I have some death eaters to interrogate. When we've decided who will teach you first we'll owl you with the place and time. Try to keep this discreet Harry. You never know who could accidentally let something slip…" said Lupin. They said their fond goodbyes to each other and went their separate ways.
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