Chapter 10: The Break-In to Azkaban
Malfoy Manor had, as of late, possessed a deathly sort of stillness whenever Severus visited. Currently Narcissa and Bellatrix were sitting across from him in the Malfoys' smallest tea room, and he could hear the ticking of a Grandfather clock three rooms away. Their half-finished dinners were in front of them, and although it was not the sort of thing Severus would say aloud, Narcissa was not the best cook. She was a rather poor cook, actually, and it was extraordinarily clear she was used to having a House Elf. He wasn't exactly sure what had happened to House Elf the Malfoys had had until a few years ago (Bobby, was it?), but it seemed to be a sensitive topic with Lucius, who angrily muttered something about Potter and the cost of House Elves nowadays when Severus brought the topic up.
"Thank you for dinner, Narcissa. It was delicious," Severus politely stated.
Narcissa gave a small smile. "It's Halloween, Severus. The least I could do is invite you over for dinner, especially with the Dark Lord's plans for tonight."
He slowly replied, "I know it's difficult, Narcissa, but you must try to not get your hopes up. We can't guarantee that tonight's Azkaban break-out will be successful."
"Oh, let her get her hopes up, Snape," Bellatrix interrupted, before smugly adding, "We succeeded once before, didn't we?"
"We're attempting to free several dozen more Death Eaters than last time. The fewer people that are being broken out, the easier it is," he replied coolly, before adding, "Why, I recall Sirius breaking out of Azkaban without any help, and that was something you couldn't do."
"How dare you compare me to that blood traitor!" Bellatrix exclaimed, and Severus watched with mild amusement as her face gained an angered flush.
By this point Narcissa was holding a hand to her temples, and an exasperated expression was gracing her otherwise delicate face. "Bella, please," she held up a calming hand to her sister. "I'm sure Severus didn't mean to compare you to Sirius."
Severus had actually intended exactly that, but he decided it wiser to stay silent for the sake of Narcissa and what was undoubtedly her highly-elevated blood pressure by this point.
"And, Severus," Narcissa wearily continued, "do be careful with how you phrase things next time."
"My apologies, Narcissa," he replied, feeling a dash of remorse for trying his hostess's nerves. Nearly every time Severus visited his old friend Narcissa, Bellatrix and him broke into an argument that became Narcissa's responsibility to extinguish.
Bellatrix gave Severus a sneering 'I told you so' sort of glare until her sister turned to her and said, "Bella, would you mind taking the dishes to the kitchen?"
Bellatrix's sneer became frozen with mild surprise at the unexpected request, before she grudgingly said, "I suppose."
Given the size of the Malfoy Manor, it would be at least five minutes before Bellatrix returned, and Narcissa gave a relaxed sigh as she settled back in her seat. "Severus, I don't believe you've been able to get a word in edgewise this evening. How are things at Hogwarts? Normally I hear about Hogwarts from Draco, but he doesn't write me as much as he used to. I don't even know anything about his classes or his friends this year."
Severus gave a sympathetic nod. "Draco's very distracted, due to the Dark Lord's mission for him, but he seems to be holding the other parts of his life together well." Truthfully, he didn't know very much at all about how Draco's life was going; all he knew was that Draco's level of rambunctious trouble-making had taken a drastic nose-dive this year. Saying that Draco was managing seemed the best thing to tell Narcissa, though, because she couldn't do anything to help Draco, and it would be pointless to worry her.
"That's good," Narcissa replied, clasping her hands together in a wringing motion suggesting his words did not completely assuage her worry. "How are you? You look tired, but I suppose that's to be expected during a war," she said, her voice possessing hints of a mothering tone.
"I'm fine," he said with a bored wave of his hand. Deciding he should move onto more important matters he continued, "About tonight, I must remind you that I'll try to assure Lucius safely reaches freedom, but it will undoubtedly be very chaotic, and you must be prepared for the worst."
"I know," Narcissa whispered, wringing her hands more urgently.
Severus felt as though he had barely completed his sentence when he felt a sharp burning sensation on his left arm. "Speak of the devil," he muttered.
Vaguely wondering whether Bellatrix would be Apparating at the same moment from the other side of the manor, Severus lifted his left sleeve and pressed his wand against his Dark Mark. He could just hear the start of Narcissa's worried words to "Be careful," and then the whirling sensation of forced Apparation ripped him off his feet until the nighttime sky and robed figures of the Dark Lord's inner circle swam into sight.
After the slight dizziness from the forced Apparation had disappeared, he quickly took stock of his surroundings. It seemed that a dozen or so Death Eaters were standing on a relatively small boat that was swaying and pitching in the choppy sea. The Dark Lord was regarding them from his seated position on one side of the boat, and there were over a dozen, neatly organized brooms opposite of him. Yaxley, standing next to Severus, looked as though he was going to be seasick, and Severus silently hoped he would go be sick somewhere else.
"Just a few more," the Dark Lord hissed as his red eyes flicked between the members of the assembled crowd.
Severus didn't know the details of the last Azkaban break-out, for that was during a time when the Dark Lord had decided Severus's position as a spy made him too valuable to carry out the mundane dirty work other Death Eaters carried out. He suspected, however, that the break-out was going to be more difficult than previously. While there were significantly fewer Dementors than last time, some of the Dementors had not left their posts as prison guards, and those that remained had been joined by large numbers of Aurors.
A few last cracks! broke the silence, indicating the arrival of all the Death Eaters who had been called. "After the mission is completed, we will reconvene in meeting spot 26A. For those of you with poor memories, that is the forest in southern Wales," the Dark Lord drawled, his eyes lazily glancing between the robed figures. "But let us not get ahead of ourselves. Snape, Carrow, Wormtail: you have two minutes. Go."
The thumping of Severus's heart against his ribcage seemed to second his thought that he would have greatly preferred to not be part of the first wave. Yes, if he was arrested it was likely Dumbledore would manage to secure his freedom, but if he was killed by an Auror Dumbledore couldn't undo that.
Amycus Carrow and Wormtail had already snapped up brooms from the boat's deck, and within a second Severus had followed course, the cold night air whizzing by his face as he pushed into the air. He idly debated hexing Wormtail off his broom and leaving him to drown in the stormy seas, but he grudgingly decided against it. It would have likely earned him some degree of punishment from the Dark Lord because a servant was a servant, even if that servant happened to be Peter Pettigrew.
As they continued flying, Severus quickly calculated that it should have been only ten minutes to Azkaban's island by broom, but the freezing wind tearing past his masked face and crawling through his bones seemed to freeze time in place, as well.
And now the cold was burrowing deeper than just his bones; it seemed to be encircling his soul itself, dragging it into the depths of the icy water he was flying over, because Why was he even doing this? and Why was he risking his life? and now memories of calling Lily 'Mudblood' and apologies in vain and—
Thirty seconds.
Severus whipped his head to look at Amycus, who likewise exchanged a look with both him and Wormtail. So they had all heard that thought, so rudely interrupting and in a voice clearly different from their own. Even if the Dark Lord couldn't extract thoughts from his followers at will, it appeared he had recently mastered inserting thoughts at will, and the idea of such intrusiveness left Severus feeling uneasy.
But was there really only thirty seconds left? They were supposed to arrive at Azkaban a full two minutes before the second wave of Death Eaters. Were they flying slower than they had planned? Or had they somehow flown over the island entirely, not noticing it in the pitch blackness of the night? Within a few seconds, Severus had an answer and he heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of Azkaban's jagged walls rising into the sky. A number of Dementors encircled the perimeter, and it struck him: Dementors. That was the source of soul-chilling coldness he had started feeling, the source of his thoughts about Lily's rejection. Closing his mind and focusing his strength on the rapidly approaching island, he bellowed, "Expecto Patronum!"
Two cries of "Expecto Patronum!" echoed behind him and then a doe, a raven and a rat were scattering the Dementors away from the entrance. The need to start the break-in by removing the Dementors was the only reason Snape and Wormtail, Wormtail of all people, had been chosen to lead the attack. Having both been members of the Order of the Phoenix, they had proven they could reliably conjure Patronuses. Even after training, the only other Death Eater who had been able to consistently manage such a feat before the break-in date was Amycus, whose silvery raven was currently chasing Dementors towards the expanse of open sea.
Out of the darkness, ten figures on brooms tore by, and they only slowed upon noticing the Dementors. "You haven't finished yet?" Bellatrix's voice shrieked from her position on one of the ten brooms.
"Until you can conjure a Patronus yourself, shut it!" Amycus snapped back as his silvery raven continued circling the grim-looking island.
"Fifteen minutes until the third wave, hurry up!" Yaxley's voice barked from the small group of additional Death Eaters.
Finally the last of the Dementors had been removed to the distant reaches of the ocean and now: to wait. Twirling wands, jiggling feet and constant glancing between the different masked members bespoke of their nervous energy until finally—
The main entrance to Azkaban creaked open, a puzzled guard poking his head out at the sudden change in atmosphere caused by the loss of Dementors. The procession of thirteen brooms flew towards the open door and exploded inside, much to the lone guard's shock, and Severus's senses were greeted with rows and rows of rusted jail bars and the reek of too many humans in too small of a space.
A barrage of multi-colored hexes cast by the Auror guards soared towards the invaders and the Death Eaters hastily began retaliating. Echoing battle cries were mingling with the yelled commands of Death Eaters, and a pudgy guard was being slammed bodily against one of the walls. Someone was yelling "Start with Cell Block D!" and a guard who was nearly seven feet tall was being sent crashing against the bars of a prison cell. Another voice was yelling "Cell Block J, now, charge!" and the prisoners were screaming, rattling their cell bars and waving their bony limbs in a hopeful attempt to be freed.
With theatrics and fire, Bellatrix had danced her way to the front of the assault, her open mouth suggesting cackling laughter as she sent curses towards three separate guards. A hand sharply grasped Severus's shoulder, and he turned to see Yaxley angrily gesturing towards Bellatrix. Severus, Yaxley, and Bellatrix were responsible for freeing Cell Block X, where the Death Eaters who had been at the Department of Mysteries were imprisoned.
To free Cell Block X, though, the three of them had to break through the line of guards to reach the other end of Azkaban's stretching corridors, and Bellatrix seemed immovable. If Bellatrix wasn't going to help them penetrate past the distraction of battle, they would have to find some other method to get to the deepest interior of Azkaban, and an idea suddenly struck Severus. It was one thing to try and run past the guards, but if they could somehow get over the guards—
"Accio broom!" he cried out, and one of the brooms they had flown in on whizzed into his hand. Within a second he was in the air, flying past the battle now below him to the other end of Azkaban. A few guards from the further cell blocks were sprinting towards the direction of the explosive curses near the entrance, and it occurred to Severus that he would need at least one guard around to deactivate the cells' security charms. A quick Imperius Curse helped one such guard start sprinting in the direction Severus was flying.
Yaxley touched down only a few seconds after Severus, having evidently borrowed his idea of flying. Only an additional few seconds later the individual guards they had both placed under the Imperius Curse obediently came running their direction.
A counterclockwise twist of the wand, followed by three short jabs, followed by seven clockwise turns, followed by…
Severus nearly lost track of the steps his imperiused guard was performing, until the rusted bars of the cell in front of him melted into sand and revealed a slightly worse for the wear Lucius Malfoy.
…
A/N: Next chapter will be a continuation of this chapter; they were originally one chapter, but it ended up being too long, so I split it into two chapters.
Many thanks to kci47 for beta-reading!
