Chapter Eleven

'I have Summoned you here because I require your help, Severus,' the snake-like man hissed. 'As I am positive you already know.'

'My Lord?' Snape asked uncertainly. He was unclear as to why the Dark Lord had Summoned him in the middle of the night – on his own, no less.

'I have appointed you Headmaster of Hogwarts for a reason, Severus.' The red eyes shimmered dangerously.

'My Lord, I have done everything you commanded me to –'

'And you have done it well, yes.' Voldemort idly twisted his wand between his fingers. 'But that is not what I wish to speak to you about. Firstly, I must ask you to confirm that the body of Albus Dumbledore still lies within the tomb at Hogwarts.'

'I can confirm that, my Lord. No one has been near the tomb since the funeral.'

'Good,' Voldemort said, a smile appearing on his face. It was a truly horrible thing to behold. 'I want you to take me to that tomb.'

'To what end, my Lord?'

Voldemort narrowed his eyes at Snape, apparently seizing him up. 'There is something there that I desire.'

'Surely I could bring it to you, my Lord?'

'No!' Voldemort hissed, and Snape all but took a step back. 'I need to do this myself.'

'As you wish, my Lord.'

Voldemort gave him an approving look. 'Good. You will prepare yourself. We act Wednesday.'

'Of course, my Lord,' he said, taking a deep bow.

'Go, Severus,' the Dark Lord commanded. 'You are dismissed.'

'Yes, my Lord.'

He backed out of the room as quickly as his dignity let him.

Hermione watched as he shrugged off his cloak, the black wool damp with melted snow. He sat down on a chair next to her and regarded her with a serious expression.

'We can't wait much longer,' she said, not bothering with formalities. 'Voldemort will no doubt notice the absence of his Horcruxes soon. We have to kill the snake.'

'I know,' Snape sighed, resting his head in his hands. 'But we can't kill the snake too soon. If there is too much time between the moment we kill the snake and the moment we attack the Dark Lord, he will have had plenty of time to create more Horcruxes.'

'You think he would?' she asked incredulously.

'I think he's capable of it. And we would do well not to take any risks regarding the Dark Lord.' Snape stared at the surface of the table. 'Provided that we will manage to kill him, of course.'

'Yes, about that,' she said quickly, turning so as to get a better look at him. 'I think we need help.'

'Help?' Snape spat. 'Who would we ask for help?'

'The Order,' she replied confidently.

Snape let out a harsh laugh. 'As if they would believe anything I say.'

'Perhaps they won't believe you, but they will believe me.'

'They will not believe you either if they know I have something to do with it,' Snape protested. 'They will think I tricked you.'

'They won't.'

'Won't they? They were only too keen to believe I turned traitor.'

'Well, you did kill Dumbledore,' she said apologetically. 'Listen, I won't have to mention you at all. I'll just say I have a reliable inside source.'

'They will think it's me.'

'Let them think. I know they'll fight if I ask them to.'

Snape slammed his fist down on the table and she recoiled slightly, shocked at the outburst of anger. When he spoke, however, his voice was calm. 'You don't know them.'

'I do!'

'You may think you know them, but you do not. They have always viewed you as a child, and rightly so. Even now that you have reached adulthood, they will view you as a child still. Think of Lupin – he taught you in your third year at Hogwarts. Do you think he will ever be able to accept you have grown into a woman?'

'You taught me.'

Snape groaned. 'I also spent more time with you in the past few months than any of the Order members did in the last few years. They won't understand, Hermione.'

'I'll make them understand!' She knew she was being immature, but couldn't he see that they needed allies? There was no way they would ever be able to defeat Voldemort when it was just the two of them!

'You are naive,' he spat. 'You put too much trust in humanity.'

'And you are bitter,' she retorted.

'I have reason to be.'

'I have reason to trust them.'

'Fine,' he sighed. 'You are more than free to try and convince them. Don't come to me when they refuse to help you.'

She allowed a tiny smile to appear on her face. 'Seeing as the Dark Lord doesn't seem to want to show up in public too much, this doesn't seem like a problem we'll have to worry about soon.'

Snape's face turned dark. 'Actually, we do.'

'What do you mean?' she asked, baffled.

'The Dark Lord Summoned me today,' Snape began slowly. 'He told me he needed my help. He wanted to see the Headmaster's body.'

'Dumbledore's? But why?'

'He seemed to want to take something from him, though what, I do not know.'

'And you showed him?'

Snape shook his head slowly. 'No, I haven't yet. He commanded me to take him there next week Wednesday. You should know that I was Summoned alone.'

'And that is unusual?'

'Very. The air of mystery surrounding the Dark Lord's actions leads me to believe I am the only one he has told about his desire to get to Dumbledore's body, and only because he needed me. Which means that next week Wednesday –'

'Voldemort will be on our territory with minimal security,' she finished. 'Oh Severus, this is perfect! We could lay an ambush for him right there!'

'Provided your Order friends are willing to believe you when you tell them this.'

She shot him a disapproving look. 'Of course they will. And I will begin contacting them now – starting with the Weasleys.'

Snape looked unimpressed. 'Do your best.'

Three hours later, Hermione found Snape's attitude to be a lot more justified.

'If you'd just listen,' she pleaded, looking at the people sitting around the kitchen table at the Burrow. 'I'm telling you Voldemort will be at Hogwarts next Wednesday. And he will have minimum protection! We have seize this chance!'

'No, we don't,' Kingsley boomed from the other end of the table. 'There is no reason whatsoever to believe that we'll be able to defeat Voldemort even if he only takes a few Death Eaters with him. We've never been able to win in the past, and it's unlikely that we will all of a sudden.'

'No, you don't –'

'Dear,' Mrs. Weasley interrupted sweetly. 'Kingsley is right. We don't stand a chance. Not even if your 'inside source' is correct.'

'He is!' she snapped. 'But you're completely missing the point!'

'Hermione,' Lupin said gently, 'I don't think you are quite able to grasp the seriousness of this situation. Voldemort –'

'Voldemort will soon be mortal again!' In her frustration, she had jumped up and slammed with her fist on the table. The group around her was staring at her with a mixture of shock and disapproval. Hermione took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. It would not do to turn into a blubbering idiot. 'Dumbledore left me a mission.'

'He left you a mission?' Kingsley asked incredulously. 'Why would he do that if he had the whole Order at his command?'

'Oh, he had several reasons,' she answered vaguely. She did not think telling the Order Dumbledore hadn't trusted them enough to tell them about the mission would help to sway them her way. 'The point is, he told me – and someone else, too – that Voldemort appeared to be immortal because he had Horcruxes.'

'A Horcrux?' Moody asked from the back of the room. His magical eye was moving like mad.

'Horcruxes, actually,' she answered, somewhat calmer now that she had the undivided attention of the Order. 'Plural.'

'What are Horcruxes?' Mrs. Weasley asked, looking from Hermione to Moody.

'A piece of soul hidden in an object,' Hermione quickly explained. 'It allows someone to stay alive even if their body is destroyed.'

'So you are saying that You-Know-Who had some of those –'

'Yes. Yes, he had six,' she breathed.

'Six?' Moody's magical eye appeared to be close to falling out of its eye socket.

'Yes, six. We've managed to destroy five so far. If all goes according to plan, we should be able to destroy the sixth one before Voldemort travels to Hogwarts on Wednesday.'

'Who is this other person you talk about?' Moody grunted suspiciously.

'I'm afraid I cannot tell you that,' she sighed. 'But know that Dumbledore trusted this person and that he picked them to bring this mission to a good end.'

'Dumbledore trusted Snape too,' Lupin said sadly. 'And look where that got him.'

'This is not like that,' she said firmly.

'What if you don't manage to destroy that last Horcrux before Wednesday?' Kingsley inquired.

'Well, then I'd say we'd at least severely weaken Voldemort,' she said slowly. 'And if we hunt him down immediately after that ... we should be able to kill him anyway. But I'm confident that we'll manage to destroy the Horcrux before Wednesday.'

Kingsley looked sceptical. 'I don't know. This plan of yours seems to have a lot of what-if's.'

Anxiousness once again took her over. What if the Order said no? She would never be able to take on Voldemort with only Snape as an ally.

A voice from the back of the room eased her predicament. 'I say we do it.'

She turned around. Moody was standing there, leaning on his cane, a fierce look in his eyes. She could cry with relief: if Moody was in for the plan, the rest of the Order would soon follow.

'Moody, are you certain?' Kingsley asked. 'This could be very risky.'

Moody let out a bark-like laugh. 'For your information, fighting the Dark tends to be risky.' His normal eye roamed over the group. 'From what Granger is saying, this may very well be our best chance to beat Voldemort.'

Mr Weasley, who had up until then listened quietly to the conversation, nodded slowly and said 'Yes, I do believe you are right, Alastor.' His eyes locked with Hermiones and she felt a rush of warmth at the look of support in them. 'We should do this.'

Lupin looked around the room. 'Perhaps we should take a vote?' he suggested. At the nods of the other Order members, he said 'All those who wish to execute the plan ...'

A sea of hands went up. Hermione felt oddly touched when she saw that every single Order member had raised their hand.

'Thank you,' she whispered hoarsely. 'You don't know how relieved I am to have your support.'

She shot a grateful look over her shoulder at Moody. For a moment, it seemed as though he smiled back. Then it was gone and she wasn't sure whether she had imagined it.

The other Order members got up from their chairs and began to leave the room. Hermione felt a gentle hand settle onto her shoulder. She knew without looking that it was Mr Weasley.

'If you … Well, I thought you might like to …' Mr Weasley appeared to have trouble finding the proper words.

'That I might like to see Ron?' she asked, sensing what he desired to say.

Mr Weasley nodded. 'Yes. I … He is doing well. There are still some scars, of course, but there's good hope those will fade with time.'

'And … what about his mental state?' Hermione asked cautiously.

Mr Weasley swallowed thickly. 'I would not say there has been a definite improvement. However,' he glanced around the room to make sure they were alone, 'he does seem to be a bit more … clear, as of late.'

Hermione nodded. 'I take it he is upstairs?'

'Yes.' Mr Weasley stepped aside, allowing Hermione to get up. She exited the kitchen, throwing one more look over her shoulder. Mr Weasley looked small and fragile as he stood there, clutching the back of the chair she'd just vacated.

'What if he doesn't Summon you in time?' she asked for what must have been the hundredth time – judging by Snape's exasperated sigh, in any case.

'We will lay the ambush anyway,' he repeated. 'And hope for the best.'

'But what if he manages to rise to power again? What if he creates more Horcruxes?'

'Hermione, calm down.' Snape rubbed at his eyes. 'He will Summon me in time.'

'But it's already Tuesday. What if –'

'Will you keep your trap shut for a moment?' Snape snapped, slamming his hand against the worktable. 'I am trying to think.'

She wisely shut her mouth. Snape bent over his notes once more. She should have known better than to disturb him while he was experimenting with a potion – he didn't tend to like being interrupted while he worked. Still, she couldn't help but fear that Voldemort would not Summon him in time – thus rendering their plan to kill Nagini ineffective.

For days she had been on edge, ready to jump into action at a moment's notice, and the constant vigilance (she repressed a snort at the thought of Moody) was starting to get to her. She carried a small vial with the hairs she had stolen from a Muggle woman with her at all times so that they could immediately be thrown into the Polyjuice Potion whenever they needed to leave. Harry's invisibility cloak never left her side. Flasks of Polyjuice Potion stood at stragetic intervals throughout the house.

Snape had said that they would have very little time to gather their things before leaving for the meeting, and she knew that when Snape said 'little time' he meant 'no time'. Thus, she was ready and waiting. Waiting for something that wouldn't come. She sighed deeply.

'Can I help?'

They had been brewing for hours – only occasionally taking a break to sleep in turns. The Potion Snape had been experimenting was almost done, and so far the cauldron hadn't exploded yet. Hermione took this as a very good sign. Snape was about to add the final ingredient when he suddenly clutched his forearm. The jar of leeches he had been holding fell to the floor and shattered.

'What is it?' she asked, dashing over to him. 'Is he –'

'Yes,' Snape ground out. 'Quickly. Get your things.' Snape himself accio'd his Death Eater mask from the other side of the room where it had lain waiting and fastened it on his head. She shook the few hairs into a nearby flask of Polyjuice Potion and drank the muddy liquid. It tasted better than Bellatrix, though not by much. Moments later she had transformed into a black-haired Muggle woman, who, fortunately, was about the same length and size as she was herself. She didn't know what she would have done had her clothes suddenly been much too large – or too small.

So many holes in this plan it's almost transparent.

She grabbed the Sword of Gryffindor and hid it beneath her clothes. She then took the invisibility cloak from her pocket and threw it over herself.

'I'm ready,' she said. Her voice, she was pleased to notice, was steady. Though she was very afraid of what was about to come, she was glad the wait was over.

'Come on then,' Snape said, and he motioned for her to follow him. They rapidly descended the stairs and quickly reached the front porch of Grimmauld Place. Then they walked, at a brisk pace, to the alley they had used several times to disapparate from. Once there, Snape held out his arm. 'Take my arm.'

She did as he told her to do and moments later they were spinning through limbo. Hazy images passed her by, the familiar sense of nausea threatened to overcome her – and then it was over and they were standing on a narrow lane. Snape set off at a brisk pace, and she followed him as quickly as she could while remaining hidden beneath the invisibility cloak. Soon they reached a heavy-wrought iron gate, and Snape paused. Just as she asked what he was about to do, he presented her with his right arm.

'Hold on tightly,' he said, not looking at her. 'Very tightly.' She took a firm grip of his arm, squeezing so hard she was sure it would leave marks on Snape's arm. He held up his left arm and they passed through the gate. It was a curious sensation: cold and wet, yet when she emerged she was warm and dry as ever. She quickly released Snape's arm. 'From now on no more communication. You are on your own,' he said from the corner of his mouth. She nodded, then remembered he couldn't see her and instead decided to follow him quietly.

The gravel crackled beneath their feet as they hurried on, soon reaching the front door. As they approached it swung open of its own accord. Snape rushed inside and she followed quickly, afraid the door would close on her because she didn't carry the Dark Mark. She allowed herself a second to acknowledge the beauty of the hallway they had just entered; it had a polished stone floor and an expensive-looking carpet. There were portraits on the wall, all of them featuring pale, blonde wizards and witches. Their eyes followed Snape as he passed them by and she felt a lingering sense of unease.

Then they had left the hallway and were standing in front of a wooden door. Snape turned the knob and opened the door. He went through it, allowing the door to remain open a heartbeat longer than strictly necessary. She passed through. The door fell shut behind her.

'Ah, Severus,' a hissing voice came from a high-backed chair near the fireplace. 'I was worried you would not join us.' Hermione looked at the speaker and had to repress a shiver. Voldemort was sitting at the head of the table, still as pale and horrible as he had been in the Ministry several years ago. His eyes seemed even redder than they had then, and they had a greedy gleam to them. The snake was curled around his shoulders.

'My Lord,' Snape said, kneeling down in front of Voldemort, effectively baring his neck in the process. Hermione silently admired his courage. (And his neck, though she wouldn't quickly admit to that.) 'I apologize for making you wait.'

'See that it doesn't happen again. Now, sit down.' Voldemort waved carelessly at the chair next to him and Snape sat down. Hermione inched towards the head of the table. The invisibility cloak caught behind something on the floor. She froze immediately, but apparently the snake had noticed something, for she lifted her head and stared directly at where Hermione was standing. Apparently seeing nothing, she returned to her original position. Hermione was hard-pressed not to sigh with relief. The Death Eaters had begun discussing other things.

'Where is Dolohov?' Voldemort asked icily, looking around the room. 'I would expect him to not be so careless, seeing as he recently had the nerve to try my patience.' Voldemort looked at Lucius Malfoy, who stared back, speechless and horrified. Hermione marvelled at how different he was now from how he had been in the restaurant a few weeks ago. Being in Voldemort's vicinity did nothing for his looks and charm.

'My Lord,' Lucius said so softly Hermione had to strain her ears to hear him. 'I don't know where he is.'

'Of course you don't know where he is,' Voldemort hissed dangerously. 'Lately, you seem to be as clueless as those very Muggles we have been fighting so hard to erradicate. Still, I suppose this time the blame lies with Dolohov – who is late yet again.'

'Yes, my Lord.' Lucius looked extremely relieved to be reprieved of Voldemort's wrath. Hermione edged closer to Voldemort's chair. She had no idea how she was supposed to kill the snake if the animal was curled up around Voldemort's shoulders, unless, of course, she also managed to kill Voldemort in the same strike. Somehow, this seemed unlikely. She passed a hand over the pocket of her jeans, checking whether the portkey was still in place. It was. Snape had discreetly taken measure of the security on his previous visits, but though he had assured her that the portkey would work, she could not shake her nerves.

'Yaxley,' Voldemort said. A tall man at the end of the table looked up. Hermione automatically felt her gaze drawn to him.

'Yes, my Lord?' The man's voice was steady, but Hermione thought she could detect a trace of fear. Once again she wondered at Voldemort's power. Most of his followers seemed to either hate or fear him, but they remained by his side nevertheless. This led her to believe they were more afraid of Voldemort's wrath if they fled than they were of serving him. She felt a fierce rush of pride at Snape. He might not have left, but he had turned spy, and he had managed to pull it off so far.

'About the Ministry, why –'

Voldemort was interrupted by the opening of the door. A man stepped into the room. Hermione recognized his face from a mug shot in the Daily Prophet: it was Dolohov. She used the distraction his entrance created to walk the last few steps towards Voldemort's chair. The snake looked up again and stared directly at her. Hermione held her breath, but she feared the beating of her heart might give her away at any second.

'Yaxley,' Voldemort's high voice came from in front of her. 'You are late.'

Yaxley hastened to kneel down in front of Voldemort. 'My Lord, I apologize, I –'

But Voldemort had already extracted his wand from his robes and had pointed it at Yaxley. 'Crucio,' he hissed.

Yaxley screamed and began writhing on the floor. Hermione felt a stab of pity for the man. A savage smile had appeared on Voldemort's face, and he looked more terrifying than ever. The snake slithered from Voldemort's shoulders and Hermione quickly stepped back to allow her passage. Nagini was headed towards Yaxley. She had to act now: who knew when the snake would leave Voldemort's side again? She fumbled with Gryffindor's sword beneath the Cloak, and then, deciding to rid herself of the garment all together, pulled it off.

Several Death Eaters shrieked as she appeared in the room but she paid them no heed: to them she was no more than an unfamiliar woman. She had no time to waste thinking about them. Instead, she quickly brought the sword up above her head, and with one swift motion slashed the snake's head off.

For the space of a second, her eyes locked with Narcissa Malfoy's, and she thought she saw recognition in the older woman's eyes.

Voldemort, who seemed to have realized what was happening, howled with outrage and pointed his wand at her. Hermione was momentarily overcome with fear – what if she didn't manage to escape? But her hand had already found its way into the pocket of her jeans and had closed around the ring inside it. The last thing she saw before falling into the blur of colour were Narcissa's cold blue eyes, still looking into her own.

She collided with a bang with the drawing room floor and let out a shaky breath. She left the Invisibility Cloak and the sword of Gryffindor on the floor and stood unsteadily. Hermione walked up to the furthest wall and stood in front of the mirror. The face of the unnamed Muggle woman stared back at her. Hermione carefully twisted her head, looking for any sign that might have given her true identity away. There was none. The Polyjuice Potion had worked as it should.

Then why had Narcissa Malfoy seemed to recognize her? For that fleeting second, Hermione had been absolutely sure that Narcissa knew exactly who she was – yet how could she have? Had she guessed? Had she known that Hermione hadn't truly left with her family as she had made out to have?

Giving up the scrutinization of her face in the mirror, she stumbled backwards and collapsed onto a leather couch, facing the tapestry with the Black Family tree on the wall. She couldn't help but let her eyes glide over it – the burned hole in the tapestry where she knew Sirius' name had once been, the other hole where Andromeda should have been, and, of course, the still completely intact names of Bellatrix and Narcissa. Narcissa's name was connected with a double golden line to Lucius', and another line between them led down to Draco's.

She wondered where Draco was; he hadn't been at the Death Eater meeting. Would he have returned to Hogwarts? She figured he might as well have, what with the Death Eaters being in charge, but then again, he had seemed pretty fed up with school in her sixth year. Though that, of course, could have been due to the prospect of having to kill Dumbledore.

'That was quite the show,' a voice came from the door opening, and Hermione's head snapped up. Snape was standing there, leaning against the door frame. She sagged back into the couch.

'It wasn't a performance I'd like to repeat,' she answered gloomily. Snape raised an eyebrow.

'Why not? It went, by all means, perfect, did it not?'

'I think Narcissa Malfoy recognized me,' she whispered.

'What do you mean?'

'She ... she looked at me, and I just ... I just ... she seemed to recognize me.'

Snape walked into the room and sat down next to her on the couch. 'If she did, she did not show it,' Snape said slowly. 'From what I gathered, no one suspected the person to have come in and killed Nagini to be you.'

'I'm still not convinced,' she muttered, staring resolutely at the tapestry.

'Well then, you will be glad to hear that the Dark Lord has decided to continue his plans of coming to Hogwarts tonight.'

Hermione did look at Snape then. She had almost forgotten Voldemort's scheduled trip to Hogwarts was tonight, and she hadn't even considered that he might have a change of heart because of what had happened to his snake.

'And he's going to check his other Horcruxes first?' she asked, a touch of fear in her voice.

'I do not think so,' Snape drawled. 'He will not have time to visit them all before night falls, and he appeared very set on getting to the Headmaster's body as soon as possible, even despite what has happened to his snake.'

Snape allowed his gaze to wander to the large windows. The sun was already beginning to set.

'You should rejoin the rest of the Order,' he said curtly, abruptly getting up. 'I will go back to Hogwarts and prepare a few things for the arrival of the Dark Lord. Make sure you hide yourselves well – it won't do to have the Dark Lord discover you before he is close enough to be in any danger.'

She nodded mutely and watched as Snape left the room. Now that the end was near, she suddenly felt incredibly tired.