Broken Pawns
Chapter Three
Warnings: slight OOC-ness.
by sick-atxxheart

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Hermione knew every charm in the book, and Harry felt particularly... tingly as her wand waved quickly over him. Her mouth was muttering words Harry couldn't quite recognize, and with a slight turn of his head Harry saw Ron was just as amazed at Hermione's spell work as he was. When he thought about it, Harry figured that he really shouldn't be surprised at the efficiency of Hermione's magical ability; but even after practically living with her for so many years, her brilliancy still astounded him.

It had, of course, been her idea to apply heavy protection spells to them before they even attempted to make a plan for their meeting with Voldemort. Ron and Hermione were both obviously extremely nervous; however, Harry was rather excited. For one, he would finally be getting away from Dumbledore's grasp; and two, he would have a chance to actually make a difference on the side he wanted to.

Of course, he had to make sure that Voldemort didn't kill him first. That little fact alone was enough for Harry to consent to Hermione layering his body with the spells she deemed appropriate. He figured, after all, that she knew better than he did.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of a heavy book slamming open on the kitchen table of Grimmauld Place. When he looked up, Harry had to conceal a gasp when he saw the title of the book. Next to him, Ron was once again having a similar reaction.

"Oh, shut up," Hermione said indignantly, before either of them could get in a word; her wand was still waving, almost as if of its own accord, and her hand was flipping through pages of the book at near-lightning speed.

She continued her reprimand without looking up. "Like you two can honestly say you've never done anything illegal!"

Harry had to laugh at that and agree with her, despite his shock at what was printed in huge font across the book's cover.

The book was called Deeper Secrets: Unraveling the Secrets of Protection by Dark Magic. It's cover was adorned with rather gruesome depictions of ugly battles, which Harry immediately looked away from; in addition, the black roses crawling over the title letters seemed to almost give a warning. It was, in all reality, a rather intimidating-looking book.

Leave it to the Dark Arts to make even a damn book intimidating.

Hermione obviously caught Harry staring, and she shot him a look that obviously said Leave it, or you'll be sorry. Harry took the warning easily, but of course being Harry he couldn't resist commenting.

"Where did you get this book, Hermione?" He kept his voice light, but even with his non-confrontational tone Ron was shaking his head frantically. When Hermione shot him her own glare, he quickly stopped, looking down and sighing.

Harry sighed once again before Hermione could even begin. "Oh, never mind." It always seemed that although they three were closer than anything, the littlest things could always set them off. It was quite tiring, really.

Hermione sighed similarly before shaking her head. "Oh, it's all right, Harry. I know you must be curious. I'm not exactly proud of it, but-"

"Spit it out, Hermione!" Ron exclaimed, just as eager as Harry to hear the source of Hermione's Dark books.

"They were in the Grimmauld library!" She finally said, looking ashamed; her eyes were on the floor. The silence that followed was almost deafening, and Hermione glanced a look up at Harry. He looked slightly angry, but at the same time almost impressed.

"Well," Harry said after a moment, "you know I would have let you have them, Hermione."

She nodded briefly and waited for him to go on.

"I would have let you have them," Harry repeated, "So next time just ask... but still, it's pretty cool that all those books were so easy for us to get!"

Hermione nodded, smiling at him, before continuing to apply layer upon layer of spells. The grin on her face nearly made Harry and Ron laugh, before she sharply commanded them to stay still again. This time, they really did laugh.

--

Their plans were carefully laid, and Harry couldn't help but admit that these were easily the simplest plans they had ever made together. It didn't really make sense, after all, to make an elaborate plan to just get in to Voldemort's own little fortress; Harry figured that part would be easy. If his guess was right, Voldemort would have set his wards to allow Harry access. After all, he couldn't pass up the opportunity that his greatest enemy would just walk in, could he?

It was rather ironic, and Harry loved it.

Harry wasn't exactly quite sure where Voldemort's headquarters were; but he had a good guess, and he had learned from Dumbledore himself that relying on guesses sometimes got you very far. Using that knowledge, Harry thought that Voldemort was still hiding out at Malfoy Manor. After all, the accommodations were perfect- it had wards set up on it that had lasted for centuries; there were enough house-elves in the building to serve him and his minions; and, most of all, it was a convenient, easy location for Death Eater meetings. It all made sense, and Harry hoped to Merlin that he was right. After all, Harry wasn't extremely interested at waltzing in to the Malfoy family home, especially if he was wrong and shouldn't be there in the first place. They all knew that they would find no mercy at the hands of Lucius Malfoy, and maybe not even from Draco.

Harry preferred not to think about it.

The bigger plans were the ones that were made for actually ensuring that Voldemort didn't immediately torture and kill them. That was what the heavy protection spells were for, along with the addition of the invisibility cloak; while Harry doubted that their arrival would go unnoticed, every extra precaution was necessary.

Harry himself chose the time, and they left at seven o'clock in the evening that very day. It had taken Harry a while to decide if he wanted to arrive in the morning or the evening; what had finally made his decision for him was the hope that Voldemort would be more relaxed at night. It was a rather childish hope, Harry knew, and he had been grateful when Hermione and Ron had not disputed his logic; they all knew that regardless of the time of day they arrived, things most likely would not go well.

Still, the plans were made. When Hermione, Ron, and Harry all found themselves huddled under the Invisibility Cloak, ready to Apparate, the fear jumped in Harry's heart and he gulped painfully.

"Are you ready for this, guys?" He said, and at their nod of assent, they all Apparated away.

--

Thankfully, the Invisibility Cloak was still covering them when they arrived in the entrance hallway of the Manor; Harry was grateful that small fact, but he still had no doubt that their appearance had been noticed. Aside from the resonating BANG that had issued with their arrival, all three of them had been positive that there were Anti-Intruder magics on the house that would alert the owner at any intrusion. Besides those, Harry wouldn't have been surprised if Voldemort would know if he was in the vicinity. That was one of the downfalls of having a bond with your arch enemy, Harry thought to himself wryly- it really wasn't that easy to sneak up on the person. It wouldn't be long before someone found them.

They were right, in fact. Almost immediately a masked Death Eater came scuttling into the hallway, looking both alarmed and rather stupid, even through his mask. An unspoken agreement led to Hermione quickly taking care of said Death Eater with a quickly muttered curse, that left him shuffling away, muttering something about "Nothing wrong, my Lord..."

Harry grinned underneath the Cloak, and all three began to slowly walk together in the direction of the sounds they heard from deeper inside the Manor. It was quite difficult for all of them to travel together under the Cloak, as Harry, Hermione, and Ron were all much taller now than they had been when they first started at Hogwarts. As a result, the small group had their backs bent over and their heads low, in order to allow the Cloak to cover their feet.

They had made it quite a long way down the large hallway when another figure came towards them. Hermione had just been about to similarly magic this Death Eater away from them, when Harry stopped her, raising his hand quickly. "Wait," he whispered slowly, looking at the tall man coming towards them. "It's-"

"It's Snape," Ron breathed, almost inaudibly. He was almost surprised to see their teacher here, in Malfoy Manor, wearing the Mask that symbolized everything they were working against...

He really shouldn't have been surprised, but he was.

Ron was brought out of his thoughts by Hermione's sharp, quiet gasp of "No!" Quickly looking up, he was just in time to see what had startled Hermione so much. Harry had slipped out from under the Cloak, revealing himself to Snape. The two still beneath the cloak were both hoping with all their hearts that Hermione's protective spells would work.

However, as it turned out they were unneeded as of yet. Snape's shocked look, even through the Mask, revealed that he had clearly recognized Harry, and was unsure of what to do.

Harry simply stared evenly at him, waiting calmly for the man to speak. Both Ron and Hermione admired his courage and bravery, but inwardly cursed his hero complex. They really would have to talk to him about that, later of course.

It seemed to be ages later when the silence was finally broken by the Potions Master. His voice was both exasperated and shocked, and his words surprised all three teenagers. "What are you doing here, Potter? Are you even more self-centered than I thought? You're going to get yourself killed!"

Hermione and Ron both waited, holding their breaths, for Harry to respond. They both loved their friend dearly, but even they couldn't deny that he had a tendency to be hot-headed and passionate about things going on around him. His response to Snape, they knew, would determine how the rest of their "visit" turned out.

The friends were amazed when Harry's answer was calm, cool, and collected; in fact, it was very unlike him.

"I'm here on purpose, Professor," Harry said, with almost a touch of respect laced through his voice. "I'm here to see Voldemort."

Once again silence reigned, until Snape took the bait once more and said something. "Are Granger and Weasley here with you?"

Hermione and Ron both looked at one another, fear in their eyes; how had he known? But Harry just slightly inclined his head and said, "Of course."

Snape heaved a deep breath, shaking his head slightly. "Of course they are. Of course… Potter, you do know how foolish this is, correct?"

Harry didn't respond to that, save for a small nod. Snape shook his head and immediately spun on his heel, his robes billowing out behind him. Harry followed, smiling slightly. He was amazing himself with how polite he was being; it was quite strange for him, really. Nevertheless, his mind had told him as soon as he had seen Snape that talking to the man would be the best option here. And what was more, he had to be kind.

Harry hadn't been particularly pleased with the plan his mind had presented him with, but it looked as if it had paid off. He was being led to Voldemort himself, and all three of them were as of yet unharmed. It was the best he could hope for, Harry supposed.

Harry quickly looked backwards and nodded his head slightly. Immediately Hermione and Ron pulled off the Invisibility Cloak. Working together, they stuffed it into the small bag Hermione had on her back. Snape didn't notice, which Harry was very grateful for.

Harry stopped for a few steps, allowing Ron and Hermione to catch up with him. Not feeling the least bit embarrassed, Harry reached out to take their hands. They were ready to walk in to see Voldemort- they had their magic swirling around them; their wands were protected with special spells; and their minds were carefully guarded with newly-learned Occlumency.

They were ready to walk with the enemy.

--

My deepest apologies for not updating sooner. I hope this chapter is good- I'm sorry that the confrontation isn't in here, but this seemed like a good place to stop. I know it's kind of short, but it's an update, right? :)

Thanks for all your reviews. Please leave another review- oh, and what should Voldemort's reaction be?