A/N: Sorry that this one is shorter than my average chapter length, but it felt like a good place to stop, and honestly, this chapter was really difficult to write, so this is it. Hopefully this means that my next update will be a lot sooner. Please review and let me know what you think/ want to see. Thanks.

Disclaimer: All of the beautiful characters and places belong to JK Rowling and not me.

CH.11

"Harry, we can't leave."

"No, No. We need to. DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?" Harry crossed the room quickly to the fireplace and threw the floo on the mantel into it. "THE BURROW!"

Nothing. Happened.

"THE BURROW!" Harry tried again, voice cracking tears slipping down his cheeks. "no,no,no,NO." he shook his head in frustration and denial.

Remus's hand pressed warmly on his shoulder in his attempt to comfort. "Harry…"

"We- we have to g-go!" Harry was mumbling as he sucked in deep breaths. Sirius's eyes were wide and pained, he wished that he was better at being comforting, sometimes being rash and funny just wasn't enough.

"Harry, it's only connected to Professor Snape. We can't go." Remus said softly, placating.

The desperation in Harry's eyes turned to determination. He would find a way to save his friends, his family. "Well, let's go there then! We can travel from there!" He struggled against Remus's strong grip. Now that there was an option he could take it! Sure, it was less than ideal… but considering the alternative…

A pale face flashed behind his eyes, he was gleeful in his assessment. His eye's fixated on the two middle-aged muggles in the kitchen. Harry knew he had the advantage. How did he get through the Wards?

"No. That's too dangerous. The Burrow is fine."

"NO! It's not!" Harry needed a plan. Maybe he could just make a run for it, he was fast… he could last until he could signal the Knight Bus…. Bad idea…Maybe…

Remus let go of Harry. Harry couldn't leave Shell Cottage after all, maybe he would feel in more control if he could move unhindered. "I sent a message to Professor Snape, he's probably checked up on everyone in the Order already." Remus stated directly and calmly. Despite past differences and grudge holding, Lupin trusted Dumbledore's word explicitly.

Harry clenched his hand against his forehead as if the pressure could improve the pain. Blood began to trail slowly from his left nostril, he could taste it in the back of his throat.

Voldemort laughed as the youngest Weasley was thrown across the room. "Where is Harry Potter?" He asked the room at large.

"That doesn't mean anything! Remus, He's there!" Said Harry, his voice rising again. "It's Snape! We need to go! You didn't see…" Harry turned, "Sirius, "he implored…Harry cut off as the door swung open.

Severus Snape loomed in the doorway.

Harry's head snapped up with the noise, dilated eyes focusing on Snape's face.

"Sir, we have to go! He's at the Burrow!" He ran towards his most despised teacher frantically, desperately. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand smearing blood across his face. He almost wanted to throw himself at the man to prove his seriousness, his blind desperation. He couldn't lose anyone else.

Snape regarded him seriously. This entire day and multiple people's futures were hanging on a thread. He should not have bought Draco, but then again… desperate times always called for desperation. Draco could not face a fate like his own, especially not under false pretenses of grandeur and familial pride. Even he had not been so deluded when initiated. Snape knew what the Dark Lord had planned for the boy. He would die. If Severus were honest with himself he would admit that having the blood of anymore innocent people on his hands would kill him too.

"Potter- What did you see?"

"Death Eaters, loads of them, they- they were all around, got through the wards, and…Please! Just go check on them!"

"What were the Weasley's doing?" It was important to know. A vision to Potter would seem real no matter what. But if what he saw was congruent with actual events, then they could have a real problem.

Harry sucked in a deep breath.

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger were there." Harry swallowed a deep breath and closed his eyes as if willing himself not to be sick. Snape looked very serious. The Grangers had been scheduled to arrive that morning. "They must have been there to pick up Hermione. Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen and Ginny was on the stairs. I don't know where Ron and Hermione were." Harry stopped, but Snape nodded urging him to continue. "Voldemort arrived, I don't know why, others were already there. It…Fred and George… This doesn't make sense! They're supposed to be safe! How would they get through?! Please, they're in so much trouble. They're hurt!" His voice broke on the last word.

Snape pulled out his wand and cast a Patronus. A doe emerged when Sirius let out an exclamation Snape shot him a nasty look before whispering to it. It leaped into nothingness. "I've sent it to Mad-Eye. I imagine he'll take Nymphadora, and Shacklebolt with him." He stared a second longer into the room, at Potter's tear and blood stained face and the weary and exhausted looks on his guardians. He shouldn't care. He doesn't care. But, if the Dark Lord was still actively attached to Harry than he needed to care if only for his own self-preservation. "May we come in?" He asked thin-lipped still in the doorway.

"We?" Black responded as Lupin made a small welcoming gesture. Snape stepped forward and Draco appeared behind him. His pale face impassive.

"I thought you were supposed to be dead, Potter." Chaos erupts.

"WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING HERE?"

"WHY DID YOU BRING HIM?"

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA THE REPERCUSSIONS OF THIS?"

"OH NO, I'M SEVERUS SNAPE, ULTIMATE DOUBLE-CROSSER. NO RULES APPLY TO ME?'

As Sirius and Remus turned on Snape and each other Harry walked up to Draco.

"Malfoy," he greeted him coolly. And then punched him squarely on the nose. He didn't know what quite possessed him to do it, but it was so satisfying. He felt a little like Hermione. It just wasn't fair that of all the people to be let in on the secret it was him.

"Argh," Malfoy doubled over holding his now bleeding face. Snape turned around at the noise and Sirius and Remus followed his gaze just in time to see Malfoy look up at Harry and swing his fist. They both ended up on the ground. They stopped when the wand suddenly pressed against Harry's neck went flying across the room and Snape, his face puce in anger, pulled them apart. Two black eyes and a split-lip later they were sat down on the couch. Three angry adults at on chairs across from them.

"This is ridiculous" Sirius muttered. "You're still pissed about fifth year, so you endanger the life of my Godson!" he muttered under his breath.

"This endangers my life as well, you fool." Severus replied in a half-whisper.

"Well, it's not like I asked to be here!" added Draco.

Severus glared sternly at Draco in an expression most often reserved for Harry.

Remus cleared his throat and handed the boys ice packs.

"So, Severus, why did you bring Draco?" Remus asked, always the mediator.

"Well, if someone had properly concealed the message I wouldn't have had to."

"Draco read the message?" Remus was pale.

"He thought it could've been from his mother, and then when it wasn't, decided that sneaking was an acceptable option."

Draco had the decency to look slightly ashamed.

"I recognized your hand-writing." His eyes met professor Lupin's. "I didn't know why Sev would still be talking to you."

"I generally have a cooler head. I thought I had concealed it, but I must have forgotten in my haste." Remus's eyes were large, his eyebrows rising up in the middle. His face had continued to pale considerably… If Draco had been anyone else, the consequences could have been much, much more dire.

"I- I don't… I don't Understand Severus. Why are we here at all?" Draco cut in again. He looked towards Harry, "Why does everyone think you're dead. I read the story in The Prophet, what really happened?" he asked accusingly.

Snape sat up straight and serious. Remus rose to grab mugs of water for the group. Sirius moved and scrunched down next to Harry throwing an arm over his shoulders in a show of support." Snape looked like he was repressing the urge to roll his eyes.

"Drac-" Snape had begun to speak when a Patronus appeared in the room. It had Mad-Eye's voice.

"The Burrow was attacked. Malfoy, Dolov, and Carrow have been apprehended. The rest have not yet been located. We have three casualties. Voldemort has been confirmed, press are coming. Dumbledore has been contacted. Await further news." Moody's voice was very tired.

Harry sank deeper into the couch cushions as Moody's voice faded. Three casualties… Aurors, Family, did it matter? If only he had insisted they leave sooner, had done something faster, had died last year in the graveyard, none of this would be happening.

"Harry! Harry!" fingers snapped in front of his face causing his eyes to cross before focusing of Sirius's worried eyes.

"They got help… They're going to be okay."

Harry nodded numbly, but despair had already had set in. This was not alright. Nothing would be alright and they didn't know who was and was not okay.

Sick was bubbling up his throat, hot and sour. He stood grimacing and headed to the toilet Sirius following him, placing a fist against the door when Harry shut it in his face.

"Let me in… C'mon, Harry"

Remus gazed down the hall in sympathy before returning his attention back their guests. He sighed deeply running his fingers through his tangled hair. It took him a second to realize that Snape was staring at Draco with worry and deep-rooted concern. The boy had not so much as moved after Moody's situation report. But, ah, Malfoy had been one of the ones caught. Well, maybe it was providential that he was at the cottage when it suddenly seemed quite likely that his family would be needing a very low profile.

"Sev," Draco looked up, vulnerability shining from his eyes. "What are we going to do?" he glanced down at his hands that had twisted together and Remus felt, suddenly, like an interloper. "I still don't understand why we are here." Draco had noticed Lupin again and paused, pressing his lips shut and exhaling sharply through his nose.

Severus ran his hand across his forehead as if to iron out the wrinkles that had developed over the past six years.

"When Potter returns we will have a lot to discuss and then some decisions to make. This time there will be no fighting." He looked exasperated and exhausted. "I am a spy, but for Dumbledore, and not the Dark Lord. The story is long, and it involves both you and Potter."