Chapter 12, The Long Night
She was escorted back to her quarters without further incident, a fact that both relieved and alarmed her. She felt strongly that it would be foolish to hope that the day's events would be over for her, that Voldemort would be satisfied with a brief rampage through her darkest thoughts and a short albeit suffocating kiss—especially in light of the anger she had roused in him. No, she thought, he is far from done with me. Peter Pettigrew closed the door behind her leaving her alone in the cold darkness to ponder what her punishment for this evening's defiance might be.
She did not have long to wait. Lanterns began to appear on the stone walls around her, filling the room with harsh yellow light. A desk appeared in the corner, identical to the one in her classroom. The door opened, and the tall, severe form of Lucius Malfoy entered. "Good evening, Minerva."
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Steady rain was falling, adding further chill to the late October twilight, soaking them to the bone as Harry, Ron, and Hermione waited to enter Headquarters. Dumbledore had arranged for them to arrive by port key instead of using the floo network as he had been summoned to a last minute meeting at the Ministry and he alone had power to allow access to the floo at Hogwarts.
The door swung open to reveal Ron's oldest brother Bill, a radiant Fleur at his side who immediately began fussing over a flustered Harry. They rushed to warm themselves by the fire where Molly stood ready with steaming mugs of cider and towels for drying. Harry glanced around the table at the seated members of the Order of the Phoenix. All were present, save Dumbledore and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Snape glowered at Harry from his seat in the corner, while Remus Lupin clapped him heartily on the back. But despite the smiles of greeting, he couldn't help but notice the atmosphere was even more somber than usual at 12 Grimmauld Place. Even Fred and George Weasley, only just sworn in as official Order members remained quiet and subdued, waiting for Dumbledore to appear.
Ash billowed out in a puffy cloud from the hearth and Kingsley Shacklebolt emerged from the fire, nodding hello while dusting his robes. He was soon followed by Albus, who despite his placid expression looked worn and weary from the tell tale dark circles under his eyes. He took his place at the table's head, deliberately not looking over at the conspicuously vacant seat at his right. He began without preamble.
"My friends, we are meeting tonight to discuss a course of action in order to free Minerva. After we have heard all of the intelligence thus far collected I welcome any additional comments or suggestions on achieving her safe return.
"Our suspicions as to Voldemort's whereabouts—and therefore Minerva's—have been confirmed. We know he is using the old Riddle Mansion, his ancestral home, as headquarters. However, a direct assault there would prove foolish if not impossible, which is why we have not acted sooner."
"Damn place is a fortress!" Alastor Moody interjected. "I've checked it over a thousand times—no way in."
"Alastor is correct, I'm afraid. There are anti-apparition charms in place around both the house and the grounds. Also, Severus has confirmed that there are monitor wards placed around Minerva herself, to detect and alert any alterations in her condition or location. We will have one opportunity to act, Saturday night. As you know, the three students taken from Hogsmeade were to be used for the performance of initiation rites for three new Death Eaters on Halloween night. As Minerva has taken their place, she will be present for the ritual.
"These initiations take place away from the Riddle house, held out of doors in a cemetery or a clearing deep in a forest where there is no chance of detection. There the pledges must prove their worthiness to Voldemort by performing the three Unforgivable Curses, beginning with Imperio, the Cruciatus, and finishing with Avada Kedavra. They then receive the Dark Mark on their forearms and swear an oath to the Dark Lord."
"Won't all the Death Eaters be present? How will we manage to get in there and get her out?" Tonks asked, intrigued.
"That is a good question, and we have a tentative plan. We do not know the location of the ceremony, as Severus himself will not learn it until summoned by the Dark Mark on that night."
Molly interrupted, concern in her voice, "We don't even know where it will be?"
"No, Molly, we do not. But we will. You see we have discovered the identity of one of the pledges."
"Who?" Fleur asked, speaking for the first time.
"Draco Malfoy."
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"Lucius?" Minerva questioned in surprise. He was the last person she had expected, and his presence disconcerted her.
"It seems the Dark Lord discovered an old memory, Minerva. Imagine my surprise to learn that it involved me." He approached her slowly, with his characteristic overly confident swagger.
Minerva felt her blood ice, and her palms began to sweat as she immediately realized the incident he was referring to. She forced herself to stand her ground, but he had seen the change in her and laughed softly.
She stiffened as he ran a long finger down her cheek, whispering, "I see you remember that day as well as I." She began to retreat in spite of herself, and it did indeed feel as it did all those years ago. "You had me at a disadvantage then, Professor. But now," he caught her tightly by the wrist and jerked her towards him roughly, "now the advantage is mine."
"That must make you feel most courageous" she shot at him sarcastically.
"Oh indeed, it does." He was slowly walking her backwards, an awkward dance that ended with her backing into the hard edge of the desk.
She thought back to that time, when he had unsuccessfully attempted this before. She had been teaching only two years, and Lucius Malfoy had given her nothing but trouble. In his seventh year, he had grown even more arrogant, his cocky good looks and family wealth and connections making him bold, and in his mind untouchable and above the rules.
She was only ten years out of Hogwarts herself, and she shrugged off the many appraising looks she received from her hormone-driven teenage male students. They both exasperated and amused her, and always when she caught them staring their faces invariably crimsoned and their eyes cast quickly downward, suddenly finding the floor more interesting to study than their beautiful Transfiguration teacher. There was one exception. Lucius Malfoy.
She had been meaning to speak to Albus about his lewd and often inappropriate behavior, but she feared sounding vain and silly, and didn't want him to think that she couldn't handle problem students on her own, so she'd said nothing.
Then one day as she sat in her empty classroom going over the next day's lesson plans he had slipped in unnoticed. As she turned to reach for her quill to make an additional note to her third years' application directions she saw him standing a few feet from her desk. "Can I help you with something, Mr. Malfoy?"
He watched her for a moment before answering, "I am having trouble with my Transfiguration essay."
"Well? What is the problem you are having?" She took a deep, calming breath, trying to swallow her dislike for the young Slytherin.
"I'm having trouble with a calculation. You see, I copied down the elemental charts, but I can't seem to get the timing right."
"Perhaps you made an error while translating it from the blackboard. Do you have the chart? Let me look it over for you."
He smiled at her and handed over the roll of parchment. He came to stand behind her, leaning close over her shoulder as she unrolled the paper. She shifted a little, uncomfortable at his proximity. Her eyes widened in horror as she looked at a diagram that was clearly a drawing of her in a profoundly crude position on her desk with another figure she presumed to be Malfoy. She pushed her chair back abruptly, knocking him aside and causing her wand to roll across the desk and onto the floor. Shaking with embarrassment and rage she rounded on him. "How dare you!" Her Scottish brogue becoming more pronounced with her anger. "How dare you!"
He continued to leer at her, unperturbed. "I was trying to calculate how long it would take me to get you into that position." He was advancing toward her, oblivious to the green eyes flashing daggers at him. "Care to help me find out?"
Where was her wand? The seventh circle of Hell would seem pleasant to the cheeky little bastard when she got through with him. In her fury she swung her hand at his face, striking hard across his jaw. He grabbed her hand, twisting her arm behind her shoving her face down onto her desk.
"You dare strike me? I am a Malfoy!" He crouched over her menacingly. "I shall have to teach you your place, Professor…" but she was gone. A striped silver tabby cat had leapt off the desk and jumped to the floor, a wand in its mouth.
The cat stretched and rose until a formidable witch stood before him. Her black hair had escaped from its bun and her ire was causing unbridled magic to ripple through the air around them, hair and robes blowing in the wind it was creating. Lucius Malfoy seemed to shrink in her growing presence, stepping back from her desk, and slowly retreating while she stood flashing gloriously like some grand Scottish version of the Roman goddess she was named for. She had hexed him. Hexed a student. He had such a case of boils head to toe, nether regions included—that it had taken Poppy three weeks to sort him out all the while vowing to expel the student responsible if ever she discovered who it was. Afterward he had scraped flobberworm dung by hand every night for a month in detention with Argus Filch overseeing. Neither had spoken of the incident since.
Until now. "You know Minerva," he was saying, "I remember clearly the way you looked, your hair undone, robes billowing around you, unrestrained magic creating an electrical storm in the classroom. I have never forgotten it. It only increased my desire, I have only wanted you more." She was trapped between him and the cold, heavy desk behind her. "And as you have no wand, I will at last teach you your place."
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"Draco? Lucius Malfoy's son?" Molly was aghast. "He isn't of age yet, Albus—would they really let him become a full fledged Death Eater?"
"They're Death Eaters, Molly, not Sunday School Teachers!" Moody reminded her sharply.
"I'm sorry to say it is true. Harry overheard him bragging to some of his friends that he would indeed become a Death Eater Halloween night. He even has the preliminary markings on his forearm. Fortunately for Mr. Malfoy, he will not be attending and therefore will not be able to fulfill his pledge."
"One of us will take his place. He cannot apparate to the site, it would be detected by the Ministry as he is underage. Therefore, he is to meet another Death Eater outside of Hogsmeade where a port key has been set up. We will follow him there, disarm them, and take the port key to the ceremony. A tracer will be placed and the rest of us will be able to follow shortly via apparition."
"We need two volunteers, one to impersonate Draco Malfoy, and someone for the Death Eater sent to meet him." He held his hands up to silence them, as everyone began to speak at once. "Understand, this is very dangerous. Especially for the one taking the Death Eater's identity. You will be wearing the cloak and mask, and it will be difficult if not impossible to distinguish you from the others should battle ensue.
"Furthermore, whoever passes as Draco must be prepared to perform any tasks required of them until the other Order members arrive for reinforcement. This could likely include performing acts of torture—possibly on Minerva herself. It is imperative that anyone undercover not give away their true identities before the appropriate time. If cover is breached, the entire mission will end in disaster."
Remus nodded. "I will play the role of the Death Eater."
"Then I will go as Malfoy!" Tonks added immediately, taking Lupin's hand in her own.
"I'm afraid we need a young man, Nymphadora," Dumbledore said kindly. "Draco will be called upon to speak, it is certain, and we need to make his double as plausible as we can."
"I'll do it!" Fred, George, Harry and Ron spoke at once.
Professor McGonagall had always been the twins' favorite teacher, despite their knack for mischief and her strict punishments.
"Headmaster, if I may, I feel that Potter is the best choice." All eyes turned to Snape in shocked surprise.
"Go ahead, Severus, we are listening." Albus said, quietly. He too felt, Harry the best choice, but his instincts to protect the boy warred with his reasoning.
"Potter has had the most interaction with young Malfoy, and although his skills at occlumency are minimal at best, he has had some conditioning against legilimens. He has also been face to face with the Dark Lord more than once, and managed to keep his head."
Harry looked at him dumbfounded. Thought perfectly willing to accept any mission that Dumbledore may assign him, he was not prepared to receive what was in all appearance a compliment from Severus Snape. He met Dumbledore's eyes. "I can do it, Professor."
"Very well. The rest of us will follow the tracing charm I will place upon the port key. We will divide into two teams. The first will arrive slightly outside of the meeting site, while the second will attempt to apparate directly into the ceremonial ring itself. As soon as we have Minerva safe and secured, I shall cast a Patronus signaling everyone to return to designated safe areas.
"We need to have a third team waiting at the return site to help provide cover upon the return from battle, in case anyone is followed. Once everyone is back, we will immediately retreat inside the gates of Hogwarts, and safety." He stopped and waited for questions. When no one spoke, he continued.
"Remus and Harry will take the portkey to the Initiation site. Alastor, Bill, and myself, will attempt to infiltrate directly, while Nymphadora, Fred and George will assault the perimeter.
"Kingsley, Molly, Fleur, and Hagrid—I would like to act as guards around the school gate, to provide any necessary protection for those returning to the school. I will need everyone to meet at Hogwarts Saturday evening in my office. I will arrange for access via the floo network—"
"Excuse me, Professor Dumbledore, but where would you like Ron and I to be?" Hermione interrupted. She and Ron were looking at him expectantly.
"Yeah, no way we are going to sit around while Harry and everyone else goes to fight." Ron chimed in.
Dumbledore smiled at them. "No, I don't suppose I could keep you from coming along if I tried. The two of you may help guard the school gates." His eyes regained their customary twinkle for the first time since Minerva's absence.
"Now then, we have a great many details to work out."
It was very early morning when the weary Order members left Grimmauld Place, their plans and minds determined.
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Minerva clutched at her abdomen, lying twisted and bleeding on the cold stone floor. She felt as though her insides had been shredded and ripped from her body. Lucius had taken her with a cruel brutality she had not yet experienced even from Voldemort himself. When he had finally left her naked and quivering in agony in the darkened cell she could taste the blood from her bleeding lip when he had beaten her into a humble submission.
She did not even raise her head when the door opened once again and a faint light appeared from the hallway beyond. She lay there hoping whomever the tormentor was would believe her dead or unconscious and leave her in peace until morning.
"Minerva?"
She opened her eyes at the familiar voice. "Severus?" she questioned, her voice weak and hollow.
A light appeared on the far wall, and Severus inhaled sharply at the site of her. Minerva lay naked in the fetal position, her pale skin covered with bruises and drying blood from numerous cuts and what appeared to be lash marks.
He rushed to her side, took off his cloak and wrapped it gently around her trembling form. She attempted to pull herself into a sitting position, but dropped back sharply, gasping in pain, her hands clutching at a spot below her ribcage. He gently lifted her off the floor and drew her into his arms. She shocked him by laying her head into his shoulder, sobs drenching his robes. He held her close to him, seated on the floor in this way for what seemed an interminable amount of time, as her shaking body slowly calmed and her tears stopped. He rocked her gently like a child, unfamiliar with how to go about soothing her pain. It was not a task he was comfortable with, and he was relieved when she quieted and whispered a soft "Thank you."
She had not meant to fall apart this way. But she had not felt the comfort of a friend in such a long time and hadn't thought that she ever would again. She had taught herself to accept and endure torture unflinchingly, but then Severus's unexpected and simple act of kindness had overwhelmed her battered spirit so that all of her bottled up pain and fears rose up overflowing, and she was powerless to stop it. "I'm sorry, Severus. I didn't mean to carry on so."
She raised her head a little off his chest, but did not pull away from his arms. She felt so fragile to him, and that struck him somewhere deep inside, for he had never before thought of Minerva McGonagall as fragile. He knew that she was not as strict and unyielding as she liked people to believe she was. He had seen her cry before, many times. He had seen and heard many kindnesses she had performed or spoken when she thought no one knew. He had been witness to her standing boldly and alone in defense of the truth, in representation of the weak. He had watched her defy the Dark Lord, never breaking, even under countless applications of the Cruciatus Curse.
He had always had the utmost respect for the Transfiguration Mistress, though he would not have admitted it to many people. She swept through life with a certainty and ease enviable to a man who had never quite fit. She was confident, capable, and consistent. Consistent. That was the word he was looking for. Minerva was as solid and dependable as the foundation of Hogwarts itself. A woman of profound strength and unshakable character. Holding her now he felt extremely unworthy to be the one from which she sought solace.
"I don't have much time, Minerva. An hour or so is all. I have a message from Dumbledore."
"Albus? He must be so angry with me," she sighed softly.
"On the contrary, but he is rather lost without you. He said to tell you he is coming for you. He wants you to hold on."
"He can't come, Severus. Tell him not to come. He'll be trapped here. I don't want him hurt, I don't want everything we've worked for lost because of me…"she was crying silently again.
"Minerva," he said firmly, "We are going to get you out of here. There is a plan, you will be out of here soon, I promise."
"I'll be ready. Severus?"
"Yes?"
"Tell Albus I'm sorry. And that I love him."
He nodded, his arms still wrapped tightly around her. "May I have a look over your injuries? I could try and heal the worst of them."
"No. He would know and it would only be worse. Just stay here with me until you have to go."
"Minerva what did he—"
"Don't ask me, lad. It is soon enough that I will relive it in the morning. Suffice it to say I believe I might rather endure another night of the Cruciatus Curse than one hour with Lucius Malfoy."
"Bloody bastard. Minerva…I…the other night when…well I was one of them to hit you with—"
"I know. You were the last to perform the curse. You had to, Severus. It's all right."
"You knew who I was? How?"
"Your mask looked a bit more sullen than the others," she said dryly.
"Oh. I am sorry."
She just nodded.
He shifted her away from him gently, and pulled a vial from a pocket inside his robes. He handed her the potion. "I need you to drink this."
"What is it?"
"It will cause the Dark Lord to believe that I harmed you tonight, when he performs legilimens."
Obediently she drank the vial's contents and handed him back the empty tube. She felt exhaustion overtake her, and lay back against his shoulder. "Tell Albus I don't know how much longer…" he heard her say as she drifted off to sleep.
