A/N: Got a bit of a surprise for this chapter...
Chapter XXX: The Perpetuation of Evil
The clock was worrisomely approaching the three hour mark. No more than twenty minutes remained until Ginny was due to initiate the resurrection spell. Rod had gone back outdoors and kept a close eye on Demetris Snape. The old man was showing signs of exhaustion, as beads of perspiration had begun to form on his forehead, and his lower jaw had tightened considerably under the effort required to maintain the needed concentration.
Ten minutes. The tension was palpable. Ginny could not take it and tried to alleviate herself by walking around - Draco chose to remain under the tent.
"Ron," she called over to him, and he looked up. "I'm going to bring Harry back!"
"But we have more time still," he protested. "Give him a chance."
At that moment, Longhorn's voice came over frailly. "I am slipping, Mr. Weasley. Now would be a good time."
Torn, Ron looked at Ginny, glanced at the old man, and then turned back to his sister. "Fine. Do it!"
She ran back to the tent, while Ron took it upon himself to alert the others. In the space of two minutes, everybody was assembled in high anticipation around Ginny and Harry's body. Draco had retreated too, to give his significant other more room to work...
Silence. Ginny rolled up her sleeves, and took out her wand. She levitated Harry's body in front of her, and retrieved the ever-so important book that contained the spells. Flipping quickly to the right page, she lowered her eyes to scan the contents hastily.
Nodding to herself, she raised her head, closed her eyes, and described the complicated patterns with her wand in the air.
"Enoevarb Odaedeth Morfesir "
Just as the last time she performed the spell, the wind grew significantly more intense, and with the force it exerted, the tent was swept up and blown away. The drizzle became a downpour in the space of seconds, and lightning strikes lightened up the fierce sky. Ginny shouted the spell again and again over the howl of the storm, her wand now pointed at Harry.
The pure awesomeness of the sight made the audience immobile. Snape, despite being battered with wind and rain, maintained his meditative stance.
Ron took the lead in illuminating the tip of his wand, and soon enough, everyone present had done the same. A soft glow of pearly white created a sphere of warmth around Harry and Ginny.
Nobody was prepared for the moment when Harry opened his eyes wide and drew in a ragged breath, arching his back as he was there, lying on the muddy ground.
AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!
An inhuman scream escaped from his mouth that frightened the entirety of the assembled Order. Left and right, people retreated, shocked, and it took several minutes for everyone to regain calm.
Harry remained unconscious, but breathing, on the ground. The rain quite suddenly resumed its drizzle, and the storm was gone as suddenly as it had arrived. However, the string of shocking events was not meant to quite end.
The sound of footsteps on the wooden floor leading to the door to the backyard drew the glances of the Order members, and with exclamations of surprise and relief, they saw Remus Lupin standing there, much younger than most had remembered him recently.
He looked confused and disoriented. Ron rushed forward to help him, but then something else caught the general attention.
Demetris was rising on his feet, his concentration broken now, but as he was standing up, a woman's scream penetrated the air, and with horror, all eyes turned to witness Ginny gripping her chest, her face screwed in pain, before she collapsed on the ground and did not move again.
"Ginny!" Draco shouted on his own turn, and dropping Demetris, he ran towards the youngest Weasley. Sliding on his knees next to her, he turned her over. "Ginny!" She did not respond when he tried to shake her.
"Damn it! Ginny!" he placed two fingers on her neck to check for a pulse, and did not find one.
All fight evaporated from him. He lowered his eyes, clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, and a tear fell down his cheek. After that, still very ashen-faced, he stood up, and rigidly walked towards the house. He stopped next to Ron, who was still supporting Remus next to the door. "I am going to kill both Lestrange and Dolohov. They did this to her."
Ron could not quite say anything. His sister was gone....that tore too deep a wound in him to be able to think straight right now. He knew she could be brought back, but the knowledge did not lessen the pain. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had kneeled down by their daughter now, while the Twins' expressions were murderous. Hermione and Luna stood in disbelief, while the kids just watched on, uncomprehending. They were put through too many trials for their young minds to bear or understand...
Snape, while exhausted, also knew what had happened. Would he blame himself for it? He had reached the extent of his ability to protect Ginny, while she brought Harry and Lupin back. In the end, the pressing of two evil Legilimens on the other side ultimately overwhelmed him...
The girl could be retrieved. He was worried about Lestrange exploiting her ability further. She was after the resurrection spell, and he knew the only way to recover it was through the tome the Order protected...and to which he had access now.
Avery and Nott had been compelled to stay inside and alert when he arose. The intent had been simple enough, to prevent them from witnessing the crucial magic behind the process. Soon they were due to report to Lestrange what they had accomplished. Granted, it was not much, but it was important they lied...
Harry had quickly regained his senses. Recovery did not take as long if one had not been dead for an extensive period of time. Before the end of the day, he was up and around.
Now, however, came the difficult part of telling him what had happened. Ron and Hermione took him aside, recounting the details of the day and anticipating him to lash out in anger at some point. Their trepidations turned out correct, when they arrived at Ginny's death.
"She what!" he steamed. "Has that monster no decency! Why doesn't she target me, I'll rip her heart out, the bitch!"
"Harry, relax," Ron tried to calm him. "I would do that tomorrow if I had the chance, but we need a plan first."
"Don't tell me to calm down, Ron," Harry snapped at him. "That was a hit below the belt. She isn't even human, for crying out loud!"
"Tell me something I don't know," Ron rejoined equally snappishly. "Look, I want to avenge Ginny too! But we need time!"
Harry knew Ron was inevitably right. Right now, they could not do much, until someone had been trained in using the resurrection spell. Not only that, but it was also very draining from the magical aspect. A powerful wizard or witch was needed.
"Avery and Nott haven't seen the spell, have they?" Harry asked, indeed more calmly now.
"No," this time it was Hermione who answered. "We made sure of that."
Right then, Demetris interrupted the meeting. "You know, those two idiots will need memory charms."
"What?" Harry was momentarily confused. "Why?"
"They ought to report back to Lestrange immediately after the ritual," Longhorn explained impatiently. "She knows Ginny is dead, and as part of the story, you and Lupin never came back."
"That's true, but she has the ability to look past modified memories," Ron reminded him.
"Yes, if you go about it the ridiculous way you did the first time around," Demetris told him.
"Are you suggesting you can do it better?" Ron challenged him.
"Infinitely," Demetris said with confidence. "I might teach you afterward."
"Then that'd be the first priority," Harry interjected before Ron could snap back another emotional response.
"Well, you gained a cool head pretty quick," Ron told him in an undertone, as they were moving back towards the living room.
"Trust me, I'm still steaming over what happened...just keep it down for now, ay?"
Remus was sitting with Hermione and Luna, while the two Death Eaters were by themselves, looking very thoughtful .There was no trace of Draco, or the Weasley parents.
"Jonathan, Terrance," Demetris startled them out of their mental meanderings.
"Longhorn," Avery acknowledged him. "What's going on?"
"There has been a change of plans," the old man explained. "You two need to be on the outside for a while."
"Why?" Nott asked him.
"You have to report to Lestrange, as you might know," he went on, while mouthing `idiots' to the trio, "if she picks your brains, she is bound to find out you two failed the mission."
Avery and Nott became even more ashen-faced than they already were.
"Look, I know," Avery told him. "She found out about that earlier meeting too, so memory modification is out of the question. We're dead - it's only a matter of time."
"No," Demetris shook his head. "For a memory charm to work, you need to do it right, and that's why I am here. You will tell a fabricated story that you will believe, and should we all survive this whole ordeal - then you'll receive your original memories."
"Does that mean our involvement with the Order ends here?" there was a sudden note of worry in Nott's voice.
"Of course, not," Harry intervened. "You will be needed, but on a need-to-know basis. As well, you won't know I'm alive until Lestrange is dead and the Death Eaters are either in Hell or Azkaban."
"Look at it this way," Ron rejoined. "The whole security of our operation depends on you two."
In all truth, Nott and Avery did not have an option in the matter either. They had to go back, else be viewed as traitors, and killed either way. A memory charm was their only chance of survival.
"Fine," Avery agreed curtly.
"Terrance?" Longhoron turned to Nott.
"Agreed," he replied with resignation.
Demetris proceeded to take out two glass viles from an inside pocket of his robes, and opened each one. "Your memories will be in here for safekeeping."
Nods in return - it was time for the charm to be applied.
Demetris took out his wand, and described an extensive, difficult pattern in the air. He did not speak, which meant the spell was not meant to be audible. Hermione watched on with fascination...
Two streaks of brilliant white light escaped the tip of his wand, and enveloped the head of each Death Eater. The light intensified, Demetris concentrated further, started muttering something, and soon enough, a coloured stream of memories began to flow back across each white streak. Seemingly counting off seconds, the old wizard suddenly jerked the wand away, and each magical stream was aimed into a respective vile.
Avery and Nott sat there with blank stares, unresponsive and awaiting.
"Harry?" Demetris prompted him.
He stepped forward, hesitated for a moment, and began the false narrative.
"Ginny Weasley died before she managed to bring Harry Potter and Remus Lupin back. We managed to distract the Order long enough to allow for no significant protection to be extended over Weasley. We observed Harry Potter dying by Draco Malfoy's hand. Nobody in the Order is powerful enough to use any type of magic to revive neither Potter, Weasley or Lupin. We have succeeded in our mission."
Harry nodded to Ron, who took his place in front of the Avery and Nott.
"When you leave here, you will not remember seeing Harry Potter, nor Remus Lupin alive. You will maintain they are dead. You witnessed Ginny Weasley dying. You will forget the location of the Headquarters of the Order of Merlin. Finally, you will not remember the resurrection ritual or its aftermath. Your first thought when you awake is to return to Bellatrix Lestrange."
Ron stepped back. "Hurry now, lead them outside," Longhorn instructed. "We have to hurry."
The two best friends wasted no more time, and saw to it Avery and Nott were led to the end of the street. Demetris came along with them.
"Now what about you?" Harry turned to him. "What's your cover story?"
"Don't worry about me, Harry," Demetris smiled. "I've done the double-agent business for many years, I know what to do."
"How can we reach you if the need arises?" Ron asked him with a sense of urgency.
"For now," Demetris told him patiently, "do not contact me. Meeting every other week is the best way to keep current in what's going on. Make it Wednesday, and we'll start in two weeks, so as to give enough time for any suspicions to die down."
"That will do for now," Harry nodded.
"Alright, you return to headquarters, I'll set these two awake, and we'll take matters from there," Longhorn said.
"Sounds good," Harry replied. "Good luck."
"Yeah. Stay outta trouble," Ron echoed him.
"God speed," Demetris said, and with that, the three colleagues by fate separated.
**
"How are you feeling, Remus?" Hermione was asking the werewolf for the umpteenth time, just as Harry and Ron were coming back through the door.
"As if I was run over by a dragon," Lupin said. "Didn't know coming back would be such an experience."
"Well, now you know how I felt coming back," Harry told him with a small smile.
Remus looked up. "Hey, Harry."
The younger wizard put a hand on his shoulder. "Good to see you again. And for the record, you look a lot better too."
"Give me a moment," Remus replied, as if struck by a sudden thought. He stood up, and walked out in the foyer, where there was indeed a full length mirror.
He came back a minute later, his face alight with delight. "I am at least twenty-five years younger."
Indeed, gone were the old, tired face and receding hair. Inexplicably, Remus was full of youth and life once again.
However, his expression very quickly turned serious when another thought surfaced in his mind.
"Harry, there is something else."
"What?" Harry sensed the gravity in his voice.
"You know that we have to keep secret the fact that you, I, and eventually Ginny, are all alive, from Lestrange."
"I do, yes."
"And you remembered what your parents said, shortly before you and I were pulled back to Earth," he went on.
"I don't remember," Harry declared with some surprise, even though he was sure he knew what Remus was referring to.
"James, Lily, and Sirius want to come back too."
A/N: Come on guys...say something, anything, about what you think...
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