The Mission
Harry awoke to an incessant tap-tap-tapping on the window closest to his bed. Somehow he managed to be the only one remotely disturbed by the noise.
Slowly rising onto his elbows, he took advantage of the increased visibility he had from his propped-up torso; he could vaguely make out the blurry outlines of the beds, trunks, desks, etc. in his dormitory, but without his glasses he could see and do very little else. He could hear snores emanating from the bed adjacent to his: Ron's. It seemed that Seamus was mumbling something to himself across the room about "cross-dressing leprechauns", but Harry wasn't the least bit interested in hearing anymore about that mind-blunder.
Having automatically taken a perimeter check, he blindly, but habitually, reached for his glasses on his bedside table. Immediately grabbing them from the place which they always resided when he took them off the night before, he noted that last night he was blessed with a relatively dream-less sleep.
Placing his true eyes onto his face and pushing them up the bridge of his nose, he proceeded to run his hands through his thick, bed-messed hair, waking himself up a bit in the process. After completing this routine, he peered over to his window when he realized that the tapping had ceased; the owl there had noticed that the previously sleeping boy had been roused from his reverie. Harry seemed to see a triumphant smirk grace the Tawny Owl's features, as if it knew that it had successfully awoken only its target.
Harry carefully padded his way over to the window, gently opening it so that the window's hinges would not squeak and wake his roommates. The smart owl hopped into the room, making sure to keep itself within the generally junk-free, and thus quieter, window area. Harry almost silently unlaced the letter from the leg of the creature, and the owl immediately made its departure without waiting or demanding treats, something that amazed the young man.
Not knowing exactly what time it was, but guessing it to be sometime around 4 or 5 because of the amount of sunlight in the sky, Harry figured that it would be best that he read the letter immediately. Were it not important, he would have received it during morning post, surely not at his window in the dawn.
The 16 year old boy nimbly unrolled the creamy parchment which held the elegant letters of the Headmaster Dumbledore.
Not needing to read the message twice, he stealthily dressed and summoned his Invisibility Cloak from his trunk, covered himself, and then made his way to the Headmaster's Office.
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Severus Snape had the habit of waking around 2, walking around the castle for a while, then going back to sleep around 4, then waking up again around 7. This was a new pattern, only just established during the fortnight that had elapsed since the beginning of the new term.
Strangely, this night, or morning technically speaking, had interruptions. During his very early-morning stroll, he happened across a less-distant Dumbledore.
"Ah! Severus! How great it is to see you!" Dumbledore greeted, "You are just the man I was off to retrieve, myself! This makes things much easier, I'd wager!"
Severus took a precautionary and suspicious look around, almost sure that this was a practical joke some ruddy First-Years were playing—surely this Dumbledore was not the reclusive man that Professor Snape had interacted with for the past manymonths since Cedric Diggory's death.
"Indeed it does, Professor," the paranoid Snape glanced around again. "Is there something for which you need my assistance, sir?"
"Coincidentally yes, Severus, you see, I have a task for yourself, Mister Potter, and the young Mister Malfoy as well."
Snape could not conceal his surprise at the mention of his godson. "Draco? Why ever would he be involved? Do you really need three of us? And please do not make me need to chaperone those two; if that imbecile Potter clearly makes slights against Draco I fear that my resolve and dwindling tolerance of the brat will fully run out."
"Well, Severus, you said that Mister Malfoy is eager to do something to prove his deviance from the Death Eaters, and I have the perfect opportunity for him. And yes, I do need the three of you: it will make a perfect check for all I expect to happen." Snape pondered at the last, vague response. Dumbledore continued, "And just for precautionary measures, I know your nerves are quite high these days, I suggest you bring on your person a very good amount of Calming Draught if you fear that you would snap at Mister Potter. In fact, bring thrice the amount you think you might need, just to be sure."
Snape nodded his head at the comment, taking it quite seriously; he wasn't even sure if it was a joke or not, but he probably would heed the Headmaster's advice.
"Now, what you must do is go fetch Mister Malfoy, get that Calming Drought, make sure you all have your wands, and arrive at my office within the next half an hour, please."
"Yes, sir."
Dumbledore gave Snape a happy smile, then went on his way back up from the dungeons. Snape spun o his heel, making his robes billow effectively behind him, and then swiftly made his way to his personal potions stores, gathering the calming draught, thrice the amount he thought he would need, then heading to the Slytherin common room and dormitories, specifically the prefect's dorm to get his godson.
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A firm hand on his shoulder and a persistent shaking woke Draco and he looked into the face of the newly appointed Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor and his godfather. It only took a few seconds to registered what Snape was saying but even then, all he could hear was "Potter…Dumbledore…Office…now…dress…mission…prove yourself."
Upon hearing the urgent words of his Head-of-House, Draco expertly leapt out of bed and flew around, getting himself dressed as quickly as possible. Having put on his black slacks with a classy ivory turtleneck shirt and a matching ivory, black, and green Slytherin blazer, he fixed his hair, cast a shaving spell, then quickly examined himself in the mirror, pleased with the results.
He found Snape impatiently pacing in the common room, and once the older man had heard Draco announce his own presence with a gentle cough, the two briskly headed out of the Green and Silver Chambers.
It was only when the cool morning air of the dungeons permeated Draco's lungs that he thought to ask what time it was.
"4:15 am, now no more questions, just move," was Snape's curt answer.
Draco did just as he was asked: no questions, just moving.
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After the three unlikely men had convened in the Headmaster's Office, Dumbledore appeared to inform them of why they were there.
"Something has come up, a curious situation which calls for you three to be present. Draco, you will have this opportunity to prove your alliance to the Order, I am trusting you to play your part well, and to rise above any obstacles to ensure that the mission is complete."
"Yes, Professor, I will do whatever you ask, just make sure that my mother is safe."
Not only was Harry appalled to find that his childhood enemy was invited to this shindig, but then he found the Snape of all people was there, too. However, when Harry heard those words emit from Malfoy's mouth, he would not have believed them if someone had drank a gallon of Veritaserum and quoted it word-for-word. A part of him felt sorry for the bloke, realizing that the blond-wizard actually seemed to have a heart. He was clearly willing to do what it took to make sure his mother was safe. Harry would have done the same.
To add insult to injury, Harry sort of felt some sort of accepting for the blonde merely because Dumbledore seemed to actually trust Draco with whatever information that would be gathered and relayed during this mission.
"Harry, this will test your emotional capabilities, and I ask that you do all that is in your power to maintain control over you emotions and to understand and accept any surprises that should come your way."
Harry nodded his head in understanding, fighting the urge to roll his eyes at the Headmaster's most blatant understatement of the year.
"And, Severus, this is the place to which you three will be going. Be careful not to be seen, the people there would not be too accepting of your appearance or kind." Dumbledore handed Professor Snape a picture and a muggle baseball hat, Harry presumed it to be a portkey; Draco wondered what the hell the thing was that was the portkey.
"Draco, one more thing, please come here."
Dumbledore made a motion for Draco to come away from the other two men, and Snape and Potter receded towards the door, noticeably staying as far away from each other as possible. When Draco had come to Dumbledore, the old man cast a Silencing Charm around them, at which point Dumbledore said quite seriously to the pureblooded wizard:
"You are to hold the secret of this mission; it is for you only to know until the time is right. You are to fetch a young girl of about 15, her name will be Persephone Tole, and …"
As Snape and Harry looked on, they noticed the pale Draco seemed to lose all color, then look anxiously between them. The two men silently wondered what it could be that he should know, and that they must find out as soon as possible. As Harry was thinking of merciless plans to force that information from Malfoy, he also felt that the world had gone topsy-turvy if Dumbledore were to trust this Pompous Pureblooded Prick to actually carry out this mission when he hardly debriefed the other two mission-ers. Harry was extremely scared of what was to come… "it will test your emotional capabilities"…Harry was most worried about this, it was well known that his emotional capabilities were severely deficient.