Dark Lord Rising
Chapter 37: United they stand.
"Remus!" Dora bellowed as she entered Grimmauld Place, "Get your lazy arse down here!" Hearing the telltale clomping of people coming down the steps, she headed towards the kitchen to grab a bite while they discussed what her boss wanted her to do.
Sirius and Remus both started at the sounds of Dora's voice shouting up the steps. As they got up to see what she wanted, Remus muttered, "Damn that woman, she's going to give me a heart attack one of these days with that shouting."
Clapping his friend on the shoulder, Sirius replied, "If you think that's bad, wait until she…mmmffff"
Before he could finish the sentence, Remus clamped his hand over Sirius's mouth and said, "Too much information." Yanking his hand away in disgust, he wiped the drool on his pants and said, "Typical, at least it tells me that your animagus form is appropriate."
Sirius was grinning like an idiot as they entered the kitchen. Seeing Dora, he plopped down in the seat across from her and said, "Still as loud as ever, Nymphadora. What's got your knickers in a twist?"
If she were a basilisk, Sirius would be a stone pillar due to the glare she was giving him. "I'll deal with you later, doggy." Dora growled at her cousin before turning her attention to Remus and asking, "How would you feel about picking up a Death Eater supporter with the full backing of my boss?"
Remus' grin was feral as he replied, "I'd love too. Who are we going to nab?"
"We're going to grab the wand maker in Knockturn Alley." Dora supplied before continuing in a more somber tone, "Ollivander was killed and turned into an Inferius today."
Her statement immediately drove all of the playfulness from the room. When he recovered from the shock of Dora's news, Sirius asked, "What happened?"
For the next fifteen minutes Dora filled them in on everything that she knew about Ollivander, the stolen wands, and the aftermath of the battle.
~AQ~
In a dusty little shop in Knockturn Alley, Lucius Malfoy was sneering at the man behind the worn counter. "Grab your tools and pack up the wands." When the man's eyes widened at the order, Malfoy hissed, "The Dark Lord has need of your services. Report to my manor as soon as you finish packing, and leave the boxes where they are, just take the wands."
When the unkempt shop keeper was finished packing, Lucius waved Bellatrix over and said smoothly, "Please see to it that he is unharmed and set him up in the storage room in the basement."
Nodding, Bellatrix seized the man by his arm and disappeared with a pop, taking them to Malfoy Manor before the wand maker had any second thoughts.
Lucius tapped his cane on the counter idly while he thought over the rest of the plan. His goal was to kill any members of The Order of the Phoenix or the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Fortunately, the Dark Lord gave him plenty of leeway into how that was to be accomplished. With that in mind, he summoned two more Death Eaters to aid him in his endeavor.
The Carrows arrived ten minutes later and began going over the plan with Lucius. It was decided that they would take polyjuice potion and lay in wait to ambush anyone that the Ministry or Dumbledore sent to investigate.
~AQ~
Sirius was sitting in his favorite chair in the study while Dora and Remus went over the plans to snatch the wand maker from Knockturn Alley as a growing feeling of unease settled upon him. Putting his tea down on the end table, he interrupted, "I've got a bad feeling about this one."
Remus turned to look at his friend and saw the worry in his eyes and said, "What's bothering you, Sirius?"
"It's too easy." Sirius grumbled as he stood up and began pacing around the edges of the room. Absent mindedly, he plucked a book from the shelf to give his hands something to do before continuing his pacing. After a few seconds of thought, he whispered, "If I were Voldemort, I would have taken the wand maker in Knockturn first. Not many people go down there so no one would notice right away."
Dora opened her mouth to respond before clicking it shut as she realized the truth in her cousin's words. "Damn." She muttered under her breath before sitting up a touch straighter and saying, "We're going to need more people to do this the right way. The problem is that the longer we wait, the more likely that the wand maker will slip through our fingers."
"I'll quietly ask a few old acquaintances if they would be interested in helping." Remus added before getting up from his spot on the couch and looking at the door.
"Okay. I guess that I'll report into Madam Bones and get her input before staking out the shop." Dora said while turning her attention to Sirius, "Please bring my parents up to speed." Glancing down at her watch, she added, "Why don't we meet back here around five to go over everything before Remus heads to Hogwarts for his `Secret' meeting." She finished while making quotation marks with fingers.
With nods all around, they each left to begin their assigned tasks as quickly as possible.
~AQ~
The smell of antiseptic and cleaning products assaulted her nose while she tried to figure out where she was. A slight groan escaped Daphne's lips when she tried to sit up and the pain washed over her in waves.
"Shhh. Lay still, Daphne. Your father went to fetch the healer." Her mother said softly while holding her daughter's remaining hand. Realizing that her daughter was trying to speak, Evelyn Greengrass held a cup of water to her eldest child's lips while cradling her head.
"Thank you." Daphne rasped after she swallowed some water. Confusion spread across her features momentarily as to why she couldn't move her right arm even though she could feel it. When she glanced over at her arm, she was shocked to find nothing there but a mass of bandages. Too shocked to speak, she tentatively reached her left hand over to confirm that her eyes weren't deceiving her.
Fear, anger, and despair washed across her face as she looked up at her mother momentarily before breaking into soft sobs and starting to rock back and forth.
Evelyn gently swept her daughter into a hug and began mumbling words of comfort as tears leaked from her own eyes.
After a few minutes, Daphne croaked out, "What happened to me?"
Finding it difficult to tell her daughter what really happened, Mrs. Greengrass faltered a few times before managing to say, "You were hit by debris from a stray spell." Softly, she whispered into Daphne's hair, "You're lucky to be alive."
Daphne didn't disagree with her mother's assessment at all. Especially if the injuries were so severe that she was missing her arm. Tentatively, she reached up with her remaining hand and touched the bandages on her chest and face as if inspecting the damage. "Who did this to me?" she rasped while her fingers traced the bandage on the side of her face.
"Draco Malfoy fired a spell at Harry Potter and hit the Slytherin table instead. He was expelled and turned over to Amelia Bones." Evelyn answered. "Astoria told me the details, she's fine the debris missed her." She supplied quickly seeing the mounting worry in her daughter's face.
"Was anyone else injured?" Daphne whispered fearfully, dreading the answer.
Looking at her daughter and trying to gauge her emotional state, Evelyn decided that Daphne needed to know the details to help with her own recovery, so she said, "Tracey Davis was seriously injured but Harry Potter saved her life. The complete coverage of what happened is in the Daily Prophet and Astoria assures me that it is a very accurate article for once."
Daphne began slowly running her hand across her face and body while her mother filled her in on the details of the article. It was a few minutes later when she realized that her mother had stopped talking and was watching her trace her newly acquired scars with her fingers.
Softly, she asked, "Mum, can I have a mirror please?"
Evelyn had been dreading this moment since her daughter woke up. She knew that Daphne wasn't vain, but did take pride in her appearance. Slowly, she pulled her mirror out of her purse and held it up for her to see.
The tears welled up in her eyes once the bandages were removed and she looked at her `new' appearance in the mirror. Most of the smaller cuts had been healed and the scars were almost invisible. There was a large scar that no amount of magic could remove that ran from the corner of her mouth and down the edge of her jaw line where a piece of the table had injured her.
Terrified, she slowly undid the drawstrings on the hospital gown and let it pool around her waist so she could see how bad those scars were as well.
Silently, Evelyn enlarged the mirror so Daphne could see her entire torso. She carefully kept her sobs stifled as she too got her first look at how lucky Daphne was to even be alive.
A tentative knock on the door interrupted the silent moment. Composing herself as best as she could, Evelyn said, "Enter."
The pale form of Tracey Davis entered the room and made her way over to the now covered Daphne. Reaching out, she clasped her hand with Daphne's remaining one and whispered, "I was so scared."
Daphne pulled her best friend into a one armed embrace and sobbed quietly, "I don't have any recollection of what happened at all. I'm just glad that we're both alive."
"Me too, Daph. Me too." Replied Tracey in a choked voice.
~AQ~
Later that evening, Remus was walking up the path towards the gates of Hogwarts with Sirius by his side hidden beneath Harry's invisibility cloak. Sirius had the Marauder's Map in his hands and was busy scanning the map for Snape's name.
After searching for a bit, he finally found what he was looking for; Snape was holed up in his office. Quietly, Sirius whispered, "The greasy git is in his office in the dungeons. If I hurry, I can ambush him at the secret passageway by the hump backed witch."
Continuing their trek up to the castle, Remus nodded minutely and whispered, "Good hunting. I'll see you back at headquarters when the meeting is over."
With a gleam in his eye, Sirius headed off towards his ambush spot moving effortlessly under the cloak like he and James had done numerous times during their years at Hogwarts.
Reaching the headmaster's office, Remus gave the password and when the gargoyle slid aside, he made his way up the stone steps and into Dumbledore's domain.
Albus looked up as the werewolf entered his office. He gestured towards the refreshments in the corner while saying pleasantly, "Please make yourself comfortable. Severus should be joining us soon and then we can begin."
Snatching a sandwich and drink, Remus made his way over to where Minerva and Arthur Weasley were sitting together. "May I?" he asked while gesturing to the empty seat.
"Of course, Remus." McGonagall answered warmly before saying, "You're looking well."
"Thank you." He answered while setting his food on the table and pulling up his chair. "I've been able to find a reliable supplier for the Wolfsbane Potion for the first time since I worked here and it's made a big difference."
Smiling, Arthur happily said, "That's wonderful. If you ever need a place to recover, Molly and I would be more than happy to have you at the Burrow."
Warmed by the generous offer, Remus said, "Thank you. If I'm ever in need, I may take you up on that."
~AQ~
Sirius had arrived at the ambush point and proceeded to cast every concealment spell that he knew to hide his presence before settling down to wait for Snape to make his way up from the dungeons.
Sirius didn't have to wait long before Snape rounded the corner up from the dungeons with his black robes billowing out behind him as he stalked towards the headmaster's office. The moment that the Death Eater passed his hiding spot, Sirius struck.
The resounding whack of the beater's bat striking Severus on the base of the skull reverberated in the corridor. For good measure, Sirius kicked him hard in the chest just to be sure he was unconscious. Sure that Snape wasn't a threat at the moment; Sirius trussed him up using a few of the zip ties that John Granger had picked up at the hardware store specifically for binding prisoners.
It took him a couple of tries to make sure that the ties were nice and tight before he hoisted the surprisingly heavy Death Eater onto his shoulder and making his way down the secret passageway. The plan was to avoid using any magic because they weren't sure what Dumbledore would be able to detect.
Fifteen grueling minutes later, Sirius was breathing heavily and covered in sweat. Finally clear of the wards, he apparated back to Grimmauld Place and unceremoniously dumped Snape on the floor. The crack of something breaking when the bastard hit the floor helped ease the pain in Sirius' tired muscles and put a smile on his face.
With a sigh, he flicked his wand at the bound and unconscious man and levitated him down to the cells in the basement. Once there, he vanished Snape's clothes and bound him to the chair, naked.
Sirius was a bit surprised at the sheer amount of items in Snape's pockets. Unidentified potions, a couple of knives, two wands, a miniature foe glass, and what appeared to be a necklace with a few strands of red hair in a locket.
Confused, Sirius carefully moved everything to the table without touching anything by hand. It wouldn't do to get killed now that he had his prey trapped by being lazy. Satisfied that the items were secure and that Snape wasn't going anywhere, he settled down to wait for Remus to return from what was sure to be a very entertaining meeting of the Order of the Phoenix.
~AQ~
Dumbledore was beginning to worry. He knew that Severus was in the castle as they had spoken to each other about an hour ago and it wasn't like the young man to disappear without letting him know somehow.
Rising from his chair, Albus made his way over to Minerva and quietly asked, "Would you please fetch Severus?" At her curious glance, he supplied, "He's late and that is most unlike him."
"Of course, Albus." Minerva said and rose from her seat to fetch their errant member.
Remus looked up at the headmaster and asked the question on everyone's mind, "Is everything all right, Headmaster?"
Staring into Lupin's eyes for a moment, Albus said solemnly, "I'm not sure, actually. Severus is always punctual so either something delayed him or he was called away unexpectedly."
Neither man voiced the other option that something bad had happened to the spy. Inwardly, Remus howled with laughter because this was confirmation that Sirius had succeeded in his endeavor and he couldn't wait to get back to headquarters and question their former classmate.
A bright white tabby patronus burst through the door and said in Minerva's anxious Scottish brogue, "I can't find Severus anywhere and there are no signs of a struggle."
Headmaster and werewolf locked gazes again and Albus mumbled, "Damnation." In a stronger voice he said, "We will have to cancel the meeting and investigate this immediately. Time is of the essence."
Looking each member in the eyes, he said gravely, "Assume that Severus has been compromised at this point and take steps to protect your families accordingly."
As people began filing from the room, Albus stopped Remus and asked, "We could really use your assistance in this matter."
Remus paused a moment, sighed, and said, "Of course, Albus. I may not like the man but I respect his position and the sacrifices that he makes. What would you like me to do?"
Albus' eyes unfocused momentarily while he pondered the options most likely to provide any leads. He knew that time was of the essence if Severus had really defected or been captured by someone. "Please check Knockturn Alley, specifically the apothecary and Borgin and Burkes."
"I'll send word when my search is complete." Remus said before turning without a backwards glance at the aged wizard. Once he was clear of the wards, he apparated to the Leaky Cauldron and made his way to Knockturn Alley.
He figured that he should make an appearance in those areas on the off chance that Albus was having him followed. An hour later, Remus sent his patronus to Dumbledore stating his `failure' and began making a few random jumps to throw off any tails before finally checking himself for any tracking spells then apparating back to Grimmauld Place.
~AQ~
While the Order of the Phoenix was searching the castle and various parts of Great Britain for their missing spy, Nymphadora Tonks was sitting down to a light dinner with her parents and the Grangers, John, and Annabelle. They were actually eating at her parent's house for a change to provide the Grangers with more exposure to the magical world and its quirks.
After watching her daughter push around the food on her plate rather than inhaling it like she normally did, Andromeda said, "What's bothering you, Dora?"
With a sigh, Dora put down her fork and looked at everyone briefly before saying, "My boss knows that all of you are guardians for Harry Potter and wants to meet with him to talk about what happened at the school with Draco Malfoy."
Frowning in concern, Ted asked, "Does Dumbledore know that we have custody of Harry?"
Shaking her head no, Dora replied, "Not yet, but he will soon. He told Amelia to contact him to arrange for her to meet with Harry at the Dursleys."
John's chuckling brought everyone's attention to him so he cleared his throat and said cheerfully, "So what happens if she never contacts him? Do you think it will slip his mind or will he just figure that it is best to not remind Amelia about talking to Harry?" Seeing everyone contemplating what he had just said, he continued, "From what I know of Dumbledore, he really sounds like the type to prevent or delay that meeting anyway."
"That's probably true, he does have an unnatural interest in Harry and who can and can't reach him. Personally, I think it's related to that prophecy that we still have to get Harry to listen to." Dora said seriously.
"Why don't we just invite Amelia over for dinner here one evening and let her meet with Harry if he's okay with that?" Andromeda asked.
Nodding in agreement, Annabelle said, "I think that would work for the best and it will show her that we are involved in both aspects of his upbringing if John and I attend as well."
"That's a good idea." Ted said congenially while everyone else was nodding in agreement.
Checking her watch, Dora changed the topic, "Sirius should be back from Hogwarts by now with his `guest' if he was successful." She then proceeded to bring everyone up to speed on the events from the day and their plans to capture Snape and the wand maker from Knockturn Alley.
~AQ~
Harry and Hermione had said goodbye to their friends after the leaving feast and had Dobby and Winky bring them back home afterwards. They arrived to an empty house and decided that a quiet dinner was the perfect ending for a stressful day.
Once dessert had been polished off, they snuggled up on the couch in the library, with Harry reading over Hermione's shoulder. They were going over the book about Coatl's that Remus had given them when exclaimed, "Harry! Look at this passage!"
Moving his eyes to where her finger was indicating, Harry read the passage before untangling himself from Hermione and moving to the middle of the room. He shimmered for a second before he shifted into his animagus form stretching his wings tentatively.
Hermione had never seen his wings unfurled before so she sat down on the floor right in front of him. Very carefully, she reached out and asked, "May I touch them?"
Harry the Coatl gave her a nod of his scaly head and slithered a little closer to give her better access to his wings. Once she was done inspecting them, he waited until she had moved away and extended his wings to their fullest extent. Letting instinct take over, he flapped his wings a few times and rose into the air.
He found it extremely difficult to hover so he began trying to fly about the room. It was surprisingly harder than it looked and very tiring trying to fly indoors. After a couple of minutes, he landed unceremoniously in a heap on the chair, too tired to transform back just yet.
Moving over to where Harry collapsed, she gently lifted the upper portion of his torso onto her lap while whispering how proud of him she was.
After a few minutes under her ministrations, Harry slithered to the floor and transformed back with a smile on his face. "That was brilliant!" he blurted excitedly.
"I never thought that I would see a Coatl in person, let alone one flying! I'm so proud of you, Harry!" Hermione said happily. "Now, you are going to be a good husband and tell me exactly how it feels to make the transformation." She told him while giving him a look that brooked no excuses.
Gulping slightly at the look Hermione was giving him, Harry nodded and proceeded to tell her everything that he experienced when he was changing forms.
~AQ~
Severus Snape regained consciousness and began taking stock of his surroundings without opening his eyes or even giving any hints that he was awake. It took exactly three seconds for him to realize that he was in serious trouble. He was naked, bound tightly to a chair, and his wrist was probably broken.
Realizing that he wouldn't get any more information without taking a look around, he opened his eyes and was quickly forced to shut them when a bright light shown directly into them.
Suddenly, a harsh voice barked, "There's no use struggling, Death Eater. In a few minutes, we are going to dose you with enough veritaserum to have you singing your deepest, darkest, secrets."
Unable to see the person speaking, Snape closed his eyes and waited patiently while he surreptitiously tried to free himself from his bonds.
Fifteen minutes later Remus entered the basement with a bottle of veritaserum, a recording quill, and a pad of parchment in hand. He joined Sirius behind the light so Snape couldn't see them and nodded once.
Seeing his friend nod that he was ready, Sirius silently stunned Snape and proceeded to force open the Death Eater's mouth.
Remus poured three drops of the truth serum down Snape's throat then stepped back behind the light. Once Sirius had joined him, he cast a voice altering charm on himself and sat down to begin the interrogation.
Sirius made sure that his glamour charms were in place and after receiving a confirming nod from Remus, he conjured a large tub of ice water and a bucket before proceeding to place Severus' feet into the frigid water.
Once he was satisfied that everything was set, Sirius began slapping Snape in the face until the man woke up.
Shivering and disoriented, Snape tried to focus on the face of the man in front of him but all he could see was shadows due to the bright light shining into his eyes.
Suddenly, a voice behind the light asked, "Are you a loyal Death Eater?"
Compelled by the potion to answer, Snape slurred, "No."
Somewhat surprised, Remus recovered and asked, "Where do your loyalties lie?"
"With Albus Dumbledore." Snape answered even though he was desperately trying to fight the effects of the Veritaserum.
Remus sat there mulling over what Snape had just revealed. As an Order of the Phoenix member, he knew that the man was a spy but had always felt that Severus was loyal only to himself.
Curious, Remus asked, "Why are you loyal to Dumbledore?"
Snape was now visibly struggling against the potion but it's hold was too strong and he gasped out, "Because the Dark Lord killed the only woman I've ever loved."
Putting the pieces together, Sirius yanked Snape's hair back forcing the man to look directly into the bright light and growled, "Who's hair is in that locket?"
"Lily's." Snape whispered as tears streamed down his face.
Disgusted with himself, and the man in front of him, Sirius quickly let go of Severus' hair and stalked over to the far corner to compose himself. With his back against the wall, he slowly slid down until he was sitting on the floor with his head hanging between his knees as he lamented the loss of his best friend and the women he loved as well.
Realizing that Sirius was lost to him for a few minutes, Remus returned to the questioning, "Why are you so hard on Harry Potter?"
Even under the effects of veritaserum, Snape realized who his two interrogators were. Compelled to answer the question, he looked up to where he knew Remus Lupin was sitting and said, "Because, Remus, Harry is a daily reminder of what I threw away in my anger."
There was a thump as Remus' hand hit the table in shock before his head followed. The only sound in the room for the next few minutes was the not so silent weeping of three men that had lost a woman that they loved from afar.
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