Chapter 25: Branded…
Lucrecia surveyed everyone inside the safe house and was not pleased. "Perenelle if these are your most respected agents then I'm not impressed. At least he put up a decent fight until he was caught." She said as she picked off some non-existent dust from her robes. "So far the tactics you've all been using are effective but Voldemort has spies everywhere. All I can hope is that the end of this civil war doesn't alert the muggles about our world. It will be a slaughter much worse then the American Salem witch trials."
Tonks looked very skeptical at this new woman with a raised eyebrow. "You honestly believe that we would be hunted down? We can blend into the local population without raising suspicion." She was interrupted when Harry snorted. "And just what is so damned funny?"
"Since when have you been able to blend in with you tripping over your own feet and turning your hair every color under the sun?" He quickly stopped laughing when he was slapped behind his head.
Perenelle smiled but quickly vanished when she turned her attention to the vampire. "I agree with you Lucrecia when the muggles find out about our world except for the select few that do…this would be an even bigger event then World War II. This could be just one outcome and the future is never written in stone."
"But that doesn't mean that we should ignore this threat either. I have seen it through my travels and through prophecies that another war will break out. The muggles have much more advanced weaponry that would exterminate us."
Regulus had to venture his opinion. "Alright that's only one possible outcome and that is a big if the muggles find out."
Harry grew very bored over the next hour listening to the pointless bickering. "Are you old people going to be complaining about 'what ifs and contingency plans' about things that haven't happened yet? I thought the plan for now was taking one power infatuated figurehead at a time down?"
All three adults glared at the young lord while his surrogate sister coughed to hide her snickering. She gave him thumbs up and received a smack to the back of her head. "What was that for?! He said it not me!"
"You encouraged him, but he's right. Stopping Riddle is only the first and then Dumbledore is next. Now you young man have five minutes to get some rest before we use the portkey back to the Department of Mysteries." Perenelle said and smacked him upside his head. "That was for calling me old."
Lucrecia shared a small smirk and immediately scowled she caught Regulus looking at her. "I'm way out of your league Black."
He rolled his eyes at her comment. "More like I'm not into necrophilia." He muttered underneath his breath and earned himself a well deserved punch in the face.
Tonks yawned rather loudly. "So what's the next plan since we royally put a dent in the dark idiot plans? He's got no allies so he's all alone besides the Death Eaters."
"Knowing that moron he's going to try an all out offensive. The ministry is weak and it would royally piss off Dumbledore if he was beaten on his own ground. Must you yawn? It's contagious." Sirius's brother said while yawning.
Harry rolled his eyes and laid his head down on the table to get some sleep. 'I wonder what Blaisey is up to? I haven't gotten a post from her in a while.'
The vampire raised her eyebrow when she looked over at him. She walked over and pressed his head a little harder against the wooden furniture. "You had all that time when I held you captive to get some rest, but you were stubborn thinking that I would give your neck a new hickey."
"Damn…I guess I'll never find out what my blood type is. I thought you were the best guinea pig for the job and you let me down."
Regulus burst out laughing and quickly grabbed his head when Perenelle smacked him. "You two need to sober up immediately, and what did I tell you about being a smartass?"
"Better then being a dumbass." Harry said with a grin.
"On second thought Mrs. Flamel I will go with you to keep this one in line." Lucrecia said while extending her fangs at him.
He continued to grin and used his sister's technique to change his two canine teeth into fangs. "Is extending your fangs and hissing like a cat the best you can do? I guess being a vampire isn't as glamorous as people think."
Before he was beaten to a pulp by the angry woman they were separated by Tonks and Perenelle. "This is why Nicholas and I didn't have children…" She said as she felt a headache come on.
"I thought the Philosopher stone was the reason why you didn't have children but then again six hundred years ago they didn't have the muggle sport of golf since they were too busy trying to run away from the black plague…" Harry said before the wards went off.
Regulus swore under his breath and took a pair of omnioculars out of his pocket. "Is the portkey ready? Fenrir Grayback is coming with fifteen of his pack. He must be recruiting…"
"There isn't much that he can do since its mid afternoon and the full-moon isn't for another week." Tonks informed them.
The vampire snatched the omnioculars from Sirius's brother and looked at the pack. "The people with him …they're lycans. They don't need the full moonlight to transform and they are more dangerous then the common werewolf. We've been at blood war with these things for centuries, and if you don't leave then all of you will be turned."
Meanwhile outside of the safe house, Fenrir smelled something in the air and he broke out into a feral grin. "It seems that we have some fresh blood to spill."
Before he could take off to quench his blood lust, he was grabbed by the Lycan alpha male and thrown against a thick tree. "You do nothing without my approval!"
"We should satisfy the thirst that is driving us! Can you not feel the fear in the air? Can't you not feel the blood that is calling to us!?" Fenrir growled at the pack leader. "You deny us our birthright?!"
Damien Bourne's pack circled around the werewolf. The alpha grinned and backhanded his opponent to the ground. "Only the born purebloods like us have privileges to continue our clan by turning those who show the will to accept it. You on the other hand were turned and follow in the same ranks as common rabid dogs! The wizards and vampire that are in that shack will be leaving in the next few moments, and the next time you even think about challenging me again you will die. DO YOU UNDERSTAND!?" Damien roared with fury as his pure amber eyes bore holes into Grayback's head.
His pride took a major hit and bowed his head to the stronger alpha. 'I will kill you when you least expect it.' He thought as he assumed his role back in the pack.
"Capture the humans and do not touch the vampire. I will deal with her by myself!" Damien roared as they ran to the safe house.
Perenelle saw them charge and she knew they had to get away very quickly. She tapped Harry on the shoulder and gave him a silent order to evacuate. She grabbed Lucrecia's shoulder and they disappeared in a swirl of white mist. Harry ran forward and grabbed Tonks and Regulus's shoulders as the Lycan's burst in through the doors and walls.
Damien burst in through the window and snarled when he saw three people in gray cloaks disappear into black smoke. 'A mage here? It seems like Grayback will pay for his master's betrayal after I have to inform the elders.' He walked out of the shack and knocked Fenrir out. "Diezen and Caplin send this dog back to his master in a box."
His two pack mates grinned while they dragged their captive away by his wrists. "So what do you think… rocks, mud, and asphalt before he's put into the box?" Adrian Diezen asked his friend.
"Nice choices the rocks will break the skin, while the asphalt will infect the wound, while the mud closes the wound when it dries. I think we need to add some debris like wood, sewage, glass, garbage, and salt."
"I like that and we should see if there is anything rusty on the ground too." He grinned.
Damien rolled his eyes at his two sadistic members of his pack. 'There's something wrong with those two but it will take too long to figure them out…even after fifty years. The scents in this room are 4 magical human and one vampire, but her scent seems familiar. Where have I gotten that scent from? Blonde hair strands on the floor…Lucrecia DeRose. This is not going to sit well if the vampires are siding with the humans to swarm their numbers.' He pinched the bridge of his nose before addressing the rest of his pack. "Burn the shack down and we'll begin our hunt."
Back at Hogwarts, things haven't been progressing as Dumbledore had hoped. Ever since his blunder with Harry's arrest he had been trying to sort out a new target to take his place, but Neville Longbottom was refusing any acceptance of power or knowledge. 'Damn his grandmother for giving him a backbone. Now who can I get to become my next pawn to take down Voldemort? Weasley is too much of a hot head to take this task seriously. The only thing on that boy's mind is fame and fortune, but I would only use him as a complete last resort. Tom's attacks are becoming much more random as of late, and I still haven't found any leads of where his Horcruxes are.' He thought during one of his pointless staff meeting.
The rest of the staff except for Severus kept going on about constant complaints that would never be corrected. The potion's master rolled his eyes and kept checking the time on his watch. 'Idiots the lot of them…nobody cares about broomsticks and book selections for the next year when this one isn't even close to being finished yet!'
"Do you have something that you wish to mention Professor Snape?" Professor Sinistra asked with a very small grin on her face.
He narrowed his eyes at his disguised enemy's former fiancée. "No I have nothing that I wish to discuss other then the fact that it is too quiet around here without Potter causing some sense of stupidity in this castle."
Minerva McGonagall couldn't hide the smirk on her face after hearing his statement. "Severus, you actually miss Potter being here? Has anybody else had that sudden feeling that the end of the world is about to commence?"
The other teachers laughed when he glared at the Head of Gryffindor. "Well I will conclude this meeting so we can all enjoy the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Quidditch match." Dumbledore said with his usual twinkle in his eye. "Severus, would you stay behind for just a moment?"
The Potion's master mentally rolled his eyes and addressed his boss. "Was there something you wanted Headmaster?"
"Have you heard anything regarding Potter? Longbottom has been refusing to take up leadership against Riddle." He asked.
"I am no longer in favor of being in the inner circle anymore and I've told you this many times already."
Dumbledore put his hand to his chin in thought before popping one of his tainted lemon drops into his mouth. "What is the status of Miss Zabini's relationship with Potter?"
"I keep my business out of my student's affairs. Is there anything else that you wanted to speak to me about? My students need a last minute coaching advice before the match." Snape lied through his teeth.
Albus raised his eyebrow at his employee before answering. "What have I told you and Minerva about gambling on these matches? I'm not putting up with these childish acts anymore. You may leave."
Meanwhile down at the Quidditch pitch the students gathered to watch the 2nd meeting of Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Blaise wasn't in the best of moods when Daphne and Millicent dragged her to cheer on their house team. 'There really is no point of being here unless Harry is playing. He at least made it interesting…'
"How long are you going to be fantasizing about your loverboy in those hideous red and gold Quidditch robes?" Daphne teased her best friend.
A few of the other Slytherin girls who knew about their relationship laughed when she glared at all of them. "I certainly wouldn't mind if they were silver and green." She admitted out loud.
Millicent shook her head. "You really fell for him hard…the fates must've cursed us to have a friend who later turned out to be a fangirl."
Sally-Anne Perkins grinned at the sarcasm. "I don't think that she's a fangirl Millie. More like a recently obsessed stalker who likes to prove that all the other fangirls don't stand a chance with her."
"I am a prefect does not make me a stalker."
"There's a difference?" Tracy Davis commented before choking on her butterbeer from the glare that could melt ice she received.
"Why is all of your attention on me? Shouldn't you be drooling over that puff you daydream about?" Blaise sneered at Davis.
On the other side of the stands the Death Eater juniors watched their fellow classmate with narrowed eyes. "So when are we going to act Nott?" Goyle grunted as the Ravenclaw chaser scored.
Theodore Nott looked over at Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, and Harper. "Don't worry much about my plan. I'll let you know when we will act."
Pansy scoffed at him. "And you don't think that we should know about this idea of yours?"
Darrin Harper sneered at the idiotic blonde. "Idiot. The less people that know about it then you have a much higher rate of success."
She scowled darkly at him and started looking around for her blonde aristocrat up in the air. 'Why didn't you join our side Draco? Have you not shamed your father enough, but you still have that cute bum that I like though.'
The resident Potion's Master was grinning mentally with the amount of galleons that would be lining his pockets when his Quidditch team was about to win. 'With the amount that I'm about to win I'll be able to restock some of the ingredients in my private storage. Flitwick still hasn't learned and that cup will return to my office. Those idiots don't know that the bronze inside acts as a stabilizer for the rarest potions. I can't believe that I have to thank Potter for giving me the chance to gain a new level of achievement in the Potion Master's Guild.'
Professor Flitwick was rocking back and fourth on his soap box hoping for his seeker to get the snitch to save his reputation. 'I never should have put in a second year as the seeker…so much for getting Severus to grade all my test papers for the year.'
The Slytherin crowd watched in anticipation as Malfoy elbowed the Ravenclaw seeker in the ribs and snagged the golden snitch. 'Playing this sport isn't even a challenge anymore. Sadly enough I have to admit to myself that I want Potter back here…at least things were interesting.'
The blonde seeker liked the attention he was receiving but he was not looking forward to being groped by his annoying fangirl when the party started. Unfortunately he felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around his midsection. "Get off me Pansy."
"You should be used to this Draggie. Our families already agree to the arranged marriage agreement so you're stuck with me." She said with a predatory grin.
'And that's another reason why I hate my father with a passion. Why Parkinson of all people?! I wouldn't care what girl it was as long as she was a witch…although I prefer brunettes compared to blondes. She sure as hell is no trophy wife. Not all the muggle plastic surgery could fix that.' He thought as he pried her hands off of him and slammed the locker room door shut behind him.
Blaise shook her head when she saw the rest of the Slytherin team head to the showers. "I almost pity Malfoy."
"Why would you feel sorry for him?" Sally-Anne asked as the group of Slytherin girls were walking down the long trek back to their common room.
"Because anybody who would be forced to marry her would end up needing their memories removed. Imagine what the kids would look like." Millicent shuddered at the thought.
"Thanks for the mental images Bulstrode." One of the Ravenclaw purebloods said as they passed them.
Throughout the next five hours the 3 school houses at Hogwarts had to endure the Slytherin's tormenting about their win during dinner that night. Blaise was practically getting sick and tired of her house boasting about the Quidditch match like rabid five-year-olds. "I'm going back to the common room. I'll see you guys there."
Her friends watched her go and returned their conversations. Draco put down his utensils and got up from the table until Pansy grabbed his forearm. "Would you let go of me!" He hissed at her.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Since when are you keeping track of my moments? Merlin knows when you're going to start bottling my bodily fluids next." He said before walking out of the Great Hall.
Pansy glared at everybody who was laughing at her embarrassment. 'I'm going to kill him after the marriage contract has been signed…'
The Malfoy Heir silently fumed as he exited the secret passage to enter the Slytherin common room. He saw Blaise sitting infront of the fireplace staring at the resonating flames. "I know you miss Potter but you shouldn't be so obvious to show it to everyone."
"What do you want? Shouldn't you be with Parkinson right now?" She said without even turning to acknowledge him.
He walked over and sat down next to her on the couch. "Don't remind me about that poor excuse of a witch. Listen I want you to be careful and watch your back. I have a feeling that you'll be used to draw Potter out of wherever he is right now."
"And how do I know that you're telling me this out of good faith Draco?"
He unbuttoned the cuffs on his shirt and showed her his unmarked forearms. "I wasn't initiated because I rejected my Father's way of being a slave to a mass murderer. He was going to sell my mother into prostitution just to continue funding the Dark Idiot's war."
Hearing this information actually was a shock to her. "If this is true then why didn't your father disown you?"
"I'm under the guardianship of my godfather so he cannot disown me without suffering someone's wrath. Although if he did disown me then that would certainly cause his aristocratic pureblood status to plummet in the rankings. I've known you since we were kids and I have a feeling that something might happen tonight. Like I said…watch your back from now on and keep a group with you just in case." He said as he buttoned his sleeves again.
"If I didn't know any better I would say that you've changed, but I know there's a hidden agenda."
He smirked at her. "Let's just say that I owe Potter a favor and consider this a repayment of that debt."
She raised her eyebrow before a smirk appeared on her face. "You do know that doesn't have anything to do with it. What did he do for me to get this charity?"
He sneered at her as he got up from the couch and levitated a few more logs into the fireplace. "Potter legally annulled my parent's marriage and he brought her back into the Black family where he can protect her as his charge. Who said that it was charity?"
"When Harry and I get married you are not calling me 'mum'."
Draco looked like he was about to choke on his own spit. "I'm not even going to dignify myself in coming up with a witty remark for that statement. I guess we should be ready for the party that will take place in less than five minutes."
Blaise looked at her watch and sighed. "Oh yes a good way to waste time and beliefs in other Quidditch matches. I'm going to just stay in my dorm while everybody else gets drunk enough to pass out."
Later on that night, Blaise was getting incredibly bored from doing all of her homework assignments while her friends were trying to drag her out of the dorm. She was worried since she hasn't heard from Harry in a long while. 'If he doesn't get back to me soon I will begin hunting him down and won't let him leave my sight!'
She walked out of her dorm and proceeded to leave the common room to begin her prefect duties. Instead of patrolling the first floor and the dungeons she decided to go up to the 7th floor to begin her rounds. As she was rounding one of the corridors she heard voices coming from the direction of the Room of Requirement. As she was approaching the doorway she heard a loud argument that didn't sound like students voices. Not wanting to go in blindly she took out her wand and sent out a small flare spell to attract the attention of the Head Boy and Girl. 'Something isn't right here…'
After a few minutes of waiting the prefect students approached the Slytherin prefect. "What's going on that you called us up here Blaise?" Head Girl Cho Chang asked.
"I've been hearing multiple voices inside the Room of Requirement and pardon me if I didn't want to go in blindly." She remarked. It was obvious that she didn't particularly like Chang for toying with Harry's emotions for the last two years.
"What kind of voices were you hearing?" One of the Hufflepuff prefects asked.
"While my house was continuing to celebrate in their Quidditch win I decided to start my rounds starting on the 7th floor and working my way down. I thought to investigate the voices and I called all of you here."
The Head Boy nodded and rubbed the non-growing stubble on his chin. "Good idea but keep your wands out. The Ravenclaw's and one Hufflepuff volunteer will come with us into the room. Meanwhile I want you three to get your head of house up here immediately."
When the three extra prefects went to do their jobs everybody but Blaise shared a glance before storming into the Room of Requirement. Blaise was very uncomfortable being stuck infront of the group, but she did her job anyway. "Wands down and turn around slowly!"
The four unknown people raised their hands and quickly turned their wands on the students. "Put your wand down little girl. You're poorly outnumbered." One of them said as he showed his bone white mask covering his face.
Shock and fear were the only emotions that made her eyes wide. 'HOW DID THEY GET IN HERE!?'
Alecto and Amycus Carrow removed their masks and flashed their rotting teeth at the half-Veela. "The Dark Lord will be very pleased at getting Potter's lover." Alecto sneered.
Blaise didn't like where this was going, but she felt a wand at the base of her neck. She turned her head and saw her fellow students sneered with their wands pointed at her as the polyjuice potion started wearing off. Her eyes narrowed as Cho Chang turned back into Pansy Parkinson and the other Death Eater children resumed their normal appearances. "What's the matter Zabini? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Of course you would since we have them in the school idiot." She snarled at her. Her emotions were getting the best of her and in her opposite hand she could feel intense heat building in the palm of her hand.
Theodore Nott felt his father take off his mask and put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Good work my son, and the Dark Lord is expecting us."
"Yes Father. Do us a favor Zabini and surrender because you're impossibly outnumbered. Without Potter here you're weak."
The heat from her hand grew into a fireball and she threw it at Amycus. The Death Eater was unprepared as her robes burst into flames. Blaise quickly fired off a spell to that painfully knocked out Goyle Jr. that was blocking the door. She heard several spells being shot at her and she was lucky that the Cruciatus curst just grazed by her hair. 'Damn that was close! I have to hide somewhere to stall.'
She dove behind some useless trash to avoid more spells and curses. "Come out Zabini! You can't hide forever!" Pansy barked out.
Crabbe really didn't have any real instinct when it came to firing spells in school, but his fellow Slytherin classmates were shocked to see him casting the levitation spell on useless junk to hover over Zabini's location and cancelled the spell. "Since when did you ever have any talent for spell work?" Nott asked as he was thinking of a quick strategy to flush their target out.
Vincent Crabbe grunted in response as he continued his assault until Blaise shot a spell directly at his wand and exploded in his hand. He grunted louder as the splinters dug into his skin, but it didn't stop him from grabbing loose items and throwing them at the pile.
Nott Sr. was getting tired of this child play but he had to dodge an exploding spell. He quickly got back to his feet and heard creaking. The large pile of broken trunks fell down directly on top of him. Theodore saw red when he saw his father get buried. "Parkinson and Crabbe get around this shit and take her down!"
Amycus Carrow and her brother followed their own plan, but she wanted her revenge for her destroyed ceremonial black robe that her master gave her. 'That bitch will pay dearly! Nobody tries to set me on fire!'
Blaise knew that she was losing ground quickly when she threw another fireball only this one was made out of the hottest flames that appeared in her hand directly into the mask of Alecto Carrow. She banished the screaming Death Eater into the wall and fired off multiple stunners at Parkinson and at the other Carrow. Quickly she looked around and had to run as the pile of junk infront of her started toppling over. Without stopping to duck for cover she sprinted to the door.
Theodore smirked because he knew that would be her next objective. He and Pansy surprisingly worked together as a team. She fired off a tripping spell and a mild pain curse while he fired off an exploding curse that blocked her path to the doorway.
'Damn it! He knows I'm trying to get out of here!' Quickly she started banishing some of the old junk in the way of the spells coming right at her as she was trying to find another way of getting out of this room.
Crabbe was pissed and very hungry. Without his wand he was nothing more then a common muggle, but he wanted to make his father proud by completing his objective by capturing Potter's girlfriend. He ran over to barely alive Alecto Carrow and took note that his mask had completely melted to his face. He grabbed his wand and started fired off pain curses that his Father taught him at his target.
The Zabini heiress was slightly relieved as she found a way around the broken garbage and was within reach of the door handle. Just as she gripped the door handle her vision started going dark and slumped to the floor completely unconscious.
The Death Eater children and Amycus Carrow sneered as they approached their unconscious target. "Wake that fool up and bring her to the cabinet. The Dark Lord grows impatient with you screwing around!"
Pansy rolled her eyes and revived the other gorilla. "Since you're so weak and slacking you can carry her."
He grunted in disgust and did as he was told. 'Merlin I hate that bitch.' He picked up Blaise and slung her over his shoulder like a ragdoll. 'I think Draco is going to go insane when the arranged marriage begins next year. I feel sorry that he has to produce an heir with her.' He thought as he followed his friend Crabbe and the annoying pug-faced girl through the vanishing cabinet.
Amycus walked over to her brother and she noticed that he was barely breathing. "Sorry dear brother of mine, but you have become dead weight. I'll see you in hell…AVADA KEDVARA!" The sickly green spell shot out of her wand and struck her brother in the chest. She held a deep grudge against him since he was the primary reason why they were caught and thrown into Azkaban.
Theodore never really held any real love for his father since his mother's death, but even he deeply wanted his father to die by his hand. 'You deserved this old man. It was because of you that my mother died, and you don't deserve to be buried next to her.'
The last Carrow grabbed Nott's shoulder and directed him to the cabinet. "He died because he was weak. You will be rewarded with the Dark Lord's mark and carry out his orders."
Lord Voldemort was very frustrated when he received Fenrir Grayback's head in a box. 'Damned fool! He deserved a worse fate than a beheading!' His brooding was interrupted by Amycus Carrow and the children of his slaves except for Draco Malfoy. "You are traveling light Carrow…"
She dropped to her knees before her master. "I beg for your forgiveness my lord, but my brother and Nott fell behind. We have brought the girl here."
It had been a while since his brooding mood but he went inside of his robes and pulled out his wand. A dark grin full of malice appeared on his face and put the Death Eater infront of him under the Cruciatus curse. "You killed your brother and didn't lift a finger to save Nott Sr. You are lucky that your mission was successful. Take her downstairs into the dungeon."
She whimpered and did as she was ordered to do. "All of you have proven your worth to work as a team. Step fourth and bare your forearms in pride as you bestow my mark." The Dark Lord stated.
"We bind ourselves to your cause milord and forever will the mudbloods shudder in fear of your wrath." They all repeated in unison as they presented their unblemished forearms to their new slave driver. All of them admired the dark mark before bowing their heads.
"Go back to that wretched school before you are discovered to be missing. No doubt that fool Dumbledore has been notified."
"Milord, what about Zabini? We're not going to witness her be tortured?" Pansy asked.
Lord Voldemort narrowed his eyes at the young Death Eater. "CRUCIO! YOU DARE QUESTION ME PARKINSON!" He released the unforgivable curse after a minute.
She struggled to get to her feet and her breathing correct. "I-i-i'm sorry milord."
"Get this weakling out of my sight." Riddle snarled as he sat back down in his throne like chair as his new recruits dragged her out. 'Now what shall I do with my prisoner…I'm not going to kill her but how and when can I draw Potter out of hiding…ahh yes that will do nicely. Killing two birds with one Avada Kedvara curse by drawing out Potter and Dumbledore at the same time.'
Meanwhile a very cold chill ran up Harry's spine…
A/N: Yes it's been a long time and a lot of things have been delaying me from finishing this chapter. The story will be ending within 2 or maybe 3 more chapters, and I cannot give any of you a definte answer when the next chapter will be coming out. Personal issues are big factors and not to mention jobs getting in the way. I'll go back through the last few chapters and figure out what corrections need to be made. Also thanks for the support and I'll start writing soon. (I think I might have rushed this one but at least it's up there...)