Harry Potter and the Scrivenings of Slytherin

by Afterthought btw

AU 6th year PreHBP The pressure of the wizarding world upon Harry, will he crack? A Wizengamot trial, a suspicious DADA Teacher, Occlumency, Dark magic -is it?- not to mention Sirius' death and more pile on top of him. And the small matter of a Prophecy.

26. Death

Chapter 26: Death

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting quietly by the fire in the Gryffindor common room – Ginny had gone up to her dormitory almost immediately. The four of them had left the Hospital Wing at the same time, and Hermione had taken Harry aside.

"What did you and Ron hear?" She asked tentatively.

"The first bit." Harry said awkwardly. "We cast a silencing charm after that. And we swore we wouldn't mention it. Ever."

Hermione looked as though her eyes were brimming with tears, and she glanced ahead to where Ron was protectively guarding Ginny. Harry followed her gaze.

"Don't be too hard on him Hermione."

Hermione stopped, causing him to stop too, and quite unexpectedly she threw her arms around him, with an almost Mrs Weasley like hug.

"What?" Harry asked.

"You two…" She sniffed.

"Hey! That's my girlfriend Harry!" Ron said from in front of them in amusement, before clapping his hand to his mouth at his admission.

Hermione went pink.

"I think we'd worked it out already Ron." Harry told him dryly.

After that, the three of them had been quite content to remain silent, and Ginny had hardly said a word before going up the girls' staircase. The atmosphere inside Gryffindor Tower was muted; no-one quite knew how to react to the drawing of a Quidditch match. There wasn't the excitement of a victory, but there wasn't the misery of a loss, either. It was bound to change.

A wall of aggression seemed to appear out of nowhere as the portrait hole opened, and Dean Thomas stepped through. He was still dressed in his Quidditch robes, and made a dishevelled figure, but it didn't stop the jeers from sounding. He almost shrank back once more, but forced himself into the room, where he was confronted by Cormac McLaggen, a bullying seventh year.

"What the hell do you think that was?" He asked aggressively.

Harry had stood up before he'd realised it.

"Leave him alone." He said angrily. "So he had a bad game. So what? I don't remember you guys having a go at me after I got myself and the twins banned from Quidditch."

Everyone turned to look at him. Everyone except the Seventh Year.

"You were pathetic." Cormac continued. "I've never seen a Beater actually start helping their opponents before."

"Well you didn't even get into the team as a reserve, McLaggen, so imagine how bad you'd be." Harry retorted.

"You got a problem with me Potter?" He asked lazily, turning.

Harry slipped his wand out of his pocket. "Depends if you want to start something against another Gryffindor." He replied coolly.

McLaggen took a long look at him, and then obviously remembering Harry's prowess at duelling, backed down. He moved out of Dean's way.

Dean went up to the dormitories, without other incident.

"Is there anyone you won't stick up for Harry?" Seamus said in amusement, as the door closed, and Dean was out of earshot. There was a ripple of laughter.

Harry turned. Hermione was looking at him with an exasperated expression. "I know you meant well Harry, but I'm not sure that was the best thing to do." She told him quietly.

"What do you mean?" Harry demanded.

She looked caught in two minds for a moment, and before she could reply, Harry felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned; it was Seamus.

"Thanks mate." He said quietly, and moved on with a nod.

"At least someone appreciates me." Harry muttered.

"Oh, Harry." Hermione sighed.

She hesitated again, and then almost reluctantly cast her secrecy charm.

"Isn't it obvious? He's jealous of you, and sees you as a rival he can't beat."

Harry's face darkened, as it always did at the suggestion people might be jealous of him.

"Harry," Hermione started firmly, "you've been through a lot, more than most people realise, but they still know all about you. The things that have happened to you, and the things you've done are headline news. And the thing is…" She sighed. "You're a hero, Harry."

"Yeah, well they don't know the half of it." Harry said angrily.

"No, they don't." Hermione agreed soothingly. "But look at it from Dean's perspective. He's been through a lot too. He's never known his real father, he lives with his stepfather; Voldemort tortured his family-"

"Yes, I know Hermione, I saw it, remember. It isn't the kind of thing you forget." Harry cut in.

"I know Harry." Hermione stressed anxiously. "But don't you see? He's had these things happen, and he sees everyone dying in the papers, and he can't do anything about it. He feels useless. And then he compares himself to you, and he feels worse. And it doesn't help matters that the whole school knows his girlfriend – or ex-girlfriend now – had a huge crush on you."

"Has." Ron corrected helpfully.

Hermione gave him a withering glare.

"Which, as Ron has so nicely illustrated, means he has been feeling insecure in his relationship with Ginny for a long time, because he thought Ginny would rather be with you than him."

"And that means I shouldn't have stuck up for him because…?" Harry led irritably.

"Harry, an hour or two ago you pushed Dean in the chest to keep him away from Ginny." Hermione sighed.

"Well, yeah, but… He nearly… I mean Ginny…" He trailed off; all three of them knew that if it weren't for the overheard conversation he might have reacted differently when Dean walked through the door.

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X x X x X x X x X

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The wall of Death Eaters seemed to circle in even closer, as if they were attracted to the waves of agony extending from the woman and her children. The mother could no longer even reach for her daughter, as she was forced to watch her endure the Cruciatus curse. Another Death Eater decided that she should taste the treatment of her child. The two of them writhed and jerked this way and that on the floor, the third, the youngest child, lay motionless, unaware of the continuing suffering. The fourth was unconscious thanks to his head wound.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Harry watched from his raised dais, a cruel, mocking smile etched indelibly on his face as he watched the torture in front of him; the mother's head was rising, falling, hitting the floor with involuntary power, spattered by her own blood. He would enjoy the pleasure of power later. For now his followers could have their fun.

"Patience." He hissed to the snake beside him, as it curled, and its tongue flickered.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The teenage girl had been placed in a full body bind, but the strength of the Cruciatus curse was enough to force her limbs this way and that regardless. Her head was gently knocking against the floor, her body being pulled by two forces working in opposition to each other. The Death Eaters had begun making bets as to whose Cruciatus curse would successfully break the bind.

Thump. Tap. Thump. Tap.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Harry sat up noiselessly. He had long since perfected the art of waking silently from nightmares. He had had enough practice. The trick was in the way you settled yourself down to sleep in the first place, he had discovered. It had been a long time since he had dreamed of Dean's family.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Harry vaguely realised that he was awake, and so the tapping sound he could hear couldn't be coming from his nightmare. He slipped out of bed, picking up his wand fluidly as he did so, and shivering at the unexpected cold. He crossed to the window nearest his four poster bed; on the other side of the pane, tapping furiously with her beak, was Hedwig.

Slow and ungainly, she flew through the window that Harry hurriedly opened. There was something strangely awkward about her, and the way she was moving, as if she were a puppet on strings. Harry reached out for the owl, but she shied away, before almost reluctantly holding out her leg. Harry quickly removed the letter – barely more than a slip of paper.

As the message left her leg, Hedwig collapsed in a bundle of feathers. Harry could only make the most apologetic attempt to catch her before she fell to the floor with a thump. He bent, and scooped her up, the message held between his fingers, and carried Hedwig to his bedside.

He stroked her feathers lightly, and scratched her behind the head, but got no response. He even ruffled her feathers up the wrong way – a gesture that would normally have earned him a sharp nip – but there was still no reaction. Her tiny breast moved slowly in and out, but that was the only sign that she showed of life. Harry pointed his wand at the tiny body in front of him.

"Enervate." He whispered.

Hedwig's wide eyes snapped open, and then, with a loud screech, she found her feet and launched herself upwards, hitting the ceiling. Sleepy yells of alarm sounded from the other beds in the room – or rather, three of them – Ron continued to snore. A second screech, right above Ron's bed caused him to wake up with a jerk and an incoherent mumble.

"Jesus!" Seamus cried. "What in Merlin's name was that?"

A bolt of snowy white light shot out of the still open window, and Harry ran back to it, watching his owl fly away into the night in concern.

"Hedwig." He murmured anxiously.

"Was that your bloody owl, Potter?" Dean asked, annoyed.

A loud girl's scream rang out shrilly.

No-one moved for a split-second, and then Dean, Seamus, and Ron all scrambled out of bed, jumping to their feet. Neville attempted to do likewise, but unfortunately got tangled up in his hangings. Seamus, who slept closest to the door, took a few steps towards it, and pulled it open, allowing ever increasing sounds to permeate the room from outside. He reached back towards his bed, grabbed his wand, and started out the door.

"Come on." Seamus said urgently as he left.

Harry forced himself to look away from the vanishing dot that was Hedwig, and turned back into the room. Dean had disappeared, following Seamus; and Neville, who had just successfully extricated himself from his bed, was in the process of leaving too.

"What the hell just happened?" Ron asked groggily, swaying as he tried to blink the sleep out of his eyes.

Harry had no answer to give, instead he raised his hand to brush back his fringe, and remembered the piece of paper. He unfolded it. The type written note was short and to the point.

Hogsmeade test. Ministry danger.

"Harry?" Ron prompted.

"Get dressed." Harry told him, reaching for his own clothes.

"Why?"

"Just do it. And hurry." Harry told him.

He hesitated as he grabbed his robes, and instead pulled out the greyish-purple coloured vest in his trunk, and pulled it on over his pyjamas. Charlie was right; Graphorn hide was heavy. He quickly pulled on his robes and shoes, and forewent his hat; Ron did likewise.

Professor Dumbledore's voice boomed throughout the common room as they descended the stairs.

"All students must stay in their dormitories until told otherwise by a member of staff. I expect the Prefects and Head Boy and Girl to enforce this, along with any other student wishing to help. Do not be alarmed, these are merely precautions. The teachers and I shall be patrolling the grounds."

"What's going on?" Ron muttered.

Harry however, saw the crowd of people milling around the window, and Hermione looking agitated, and guarding the Portrait Hole.

"Voldemort's attacking Hogsmeade again. The Dark Mark's gone up over the town." He told Ron.

Ron looked more taken aback than alarmed. "How do you know?" He demanded.

Ginny stepped out of the girls' staircase at the same time that Harry and Ron left the boys' one. Harry nodded to her and then Hermione, and set across the room, ignoring the students who were milling around the room. Ginny and Ron followed. Hermione saw them, and took out her wand. Harry marvelled at the way they all seemed to know what was going to happen – with the possible exception of the still half asleep Ron. To be fair, he had just taken a lot of potions.

"You're not planning on going out there." Hermione hissed, as soon as she had performed the secrecy charm. "Not after Professor Dumbledore has just forbidden us?"

"Of course he is." Ginny said flatly. "So we are going with him." Harry opened his mouth, but Ginny prevented him speaking. "We're going with you Harry, or perhaps you've forgotten we promised not to let you do anything dangerous without us."

"Why do you think I told Ron to get dressed before we came down?" Harry said. "We don't have any time to waste arguing, I just got another note; we have to see Dumbledore."

"And how are we going to do that?" Hermione asked tartly. "Ron and I have to stop people leaving remember?"

"First of all you and Ginny are going to get dressed." Harry said. "If we end up fighting, you'll need to be able to move easily."

"Already done." Ginny said quickly.

"And then you and Ron, Hermione, are going to tell the other Prefects that you have to tell Dumbledore something important about the attack, and when you two open the door, Ginny and I slip out with you under the Invisibility Cloak."

Hermione still looked a little uncertain, and then she nodded. "But how are you two going to get under the cloak without anyone noticing?"

Harry grinned, and withdrew the cloak from his robe's pocket. "I have the greatest faith in your charms Hermione."

"I haven't tested it with something as big as people disappearing…" Hermione moaned, as Harry and Ginny slipped under the cloak.

"Get changed and we'll go, Hermione." Harry hissed from thin air.

"Are you sure this'll work?" Ron whispered out of the side of his mouth as Hermione disappeared.

"Of course," Harry replied confidently, "Hermione's a stickler for the rules, so no one will think twice if she says something is urgent enough for you two to find Dumbledore."

He could sense Ginny grin under the cloak – her breath tickled his neck.

To Harry's slight surprise, it really was as easy as he made it sound. He slipped the Cloak off them as the Portrait Hole closed, and they turned a corner.

"Now where?" Ron asked.

Harry hesitated. "Dumbledore's office I guess."

Hermione looked at him rather dubiously. "Do you really think he'll be there?"

"Have you any better ideas?" Harry asked, a little irritably – he wanted to do something, not stand around talking.

"You could always check the Marauders' Map." Hermione said patiently.

Harry blushed, Ginny giggled, and Ron snorted.

"Outside." Harry said gruffly a moment later, trying to conceal his embarrassment. "All the teachers are meeting outside it looks like – just in front of the main entrance."

"So what exactly are we going to do, Harry?" Hermione asked as they walked down the hall, and turned into a short cut behind a tapestry.

"We give Dumbledore the note." Harry told her.

"And then we help fight the Death Eaters." Ginny added firmly.

Harry looked at her and grinned. "That's what I was thinking, and seeing as you lot insisted on coming too, I guess that's what you were thinking too."

"Harry, I'm not sure if-" Hermione began, and then let out a sound of surprise as she walked straight into, or rather, through, Nearly-Headless Nick as she rounded the corner.

Hermione stopped, and Nick jerked backwards in shock, causing her to flinch from the cold a second time, and hastily take a step away.

"Hullo." Nick said, sounding momentarily preoccupied. "Hullo." He recognised the four of them and the preoccupation disappeared; he blinked in surprise. "What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be in the Tower?"

"We have to tell Dumbledore something." Harry told him.

"Something important." Ron added.

Nick sighed. "I might have expected to see at least one of you out tonight. You always seem to be out of bounds when Hogwarts is in danger. Professor Dumbledore is outside the front door."

He turned to resume walking, or gliding, or however it was ghosts moved, and then sighed heavily. "Make sure you look after yourselves – our numbers have been growing too quickly recently. Too quickly."

He sighed again, and shook his head, causing it to wobble violently as it threatened to break free of the confines of his ruff.

"We will Nick, thanks." Ginny said.

All four of them were acutely aware of the fact that Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington had made no effort to rebuke them for being out of bounds. Harry felt that that fact on its own was enough to tell them they were doing the right thing.

"What are you doing Nick?" Ron asked, before he could disappear.

"Me?" Nick asked. "I'm going to call a ghosts' council to see what should be done about those Death Eaters outside."

He floated away.

"What exactly are ghosts going to do about Death Eaters?" Ginny asked.

"Maybe set Peeves on them?" Ron suggested.

"Come on." Harry told them, tight-lipped.

The shapes of the Headmaster and teachers were visible in the moonlight even before they exited the open front door of Hogwarts. Blue shimmers of light occasionally lit the sky behind them, meaning that they seemed mere silhouettes.

Snape was the first to see them approach, and, unsurprisingly, his eyes narrowed, and mouth thinned. He said something sharply to Dumbledore, who swung around. Harry tried to read the Headmaster's expression, but those piercing eyes were hidden too deeply in the night.

Professor McGonagall, however, was easier to read. She marched towards them furiously, fixing them with a withering glare. Harry braced himself for the ensuing confrontation, but to his surprise, Hermione took a couple of steps forward so that she would be the person at the front of the group, and the most natural person to speak to.

The movement seemed to take Professor McGonagall by surprise, for she slowed, and wary curiosity started to replace the anger in her eyes.

"We need to see Professor Dumbledore." Hermione said without preamble, and then lowered her voice. "Harry got another note."

McGonagall's eyes narrowed reflexively. "Did he?" She fixed Harry with an intent gaze. "And when and where did you find this one?"

"Just before the announcement to stay in the dormitories. Hedwig delivered her, but something wasn't right about her."

McGonagall turned to look behind. "Albus." She said, the tone of her voice conveying a number of feelings: concern and urgency just a couple of them.

"I suppose it is pointless asking why the rest of the Gryffindor Prefects just allowed the four of you to stroll out of the Tower, Miss Granger?" McGonagall said without expecting an answer.

"Minerva." Dumbledore said courteously as he approached, Snape by his side, uninvited.

"It appears Mr Potter has just now received another note. It was delivered by his owl."

"And where is the bird now?" Snape demanded.

"I don't know." Harry said, speaking to Dumbledore. "There was something wrong about the way she moved, and then when I took the letter she just collapsed. I woke her up with the enervate charm, and she went crazy and flew out the window."

"Possessed." Snape summarised crisply. "If you had contained the bird, Potter, we might have been able to see who had sent the note."

"Severus." Albus Dumbledore said calmly, and Snape stopped talking. He turned back towards Harry and the others. "And naturally the delivery of the note required all four of you." He said, and Harry thought he saw an amused twinkle in his eye.

"We want to help." Ginny said suddenly.

"Yes." Dumbledore said softly. "Yes, I imagined that would be the case."

"Absolutely not, Albus." McGonagall said suddenly, sounding rather fierce. "Now that they have delivered the note, they-"

"Minerva." Dumbledore said clearly, silencing her as he had Snape, although he required the additional raising of his hand to quell the Gryffindor Head.

"Albus, you cannot be considering this." Snape growled. "Children would be liabilities in the field."

"We're not children." Ron interrupted angrily. "And we've fought Death Eaters before, we know what we're getting into."

Hermione gave Ron a glare which said as clear as day to hold his temper.

"I shall not rule out any possibilities until I am in possession of all the facts." Dumbledore said clearly. "If I could see the note, please, Harry?"

Harry handed it to him wordlessly.

The sound of hooves suddenly split the cold night air. The shape of a centaur was cantering towards them along the road leading up to the castle doors. He made straight for them, and Harry recognised him as he approached.

"Firenze." Dumbledore greeted. "Is it as we thought?"

"It is." Firenze said, slowing to a halt beside them, not sounding in the least out of breath. "Men are sparsely hidden outside the grounds, keeping the spell in place, but nowhere does there seem to be enough to withstand even a minor attack."

"But why would they bother with such a spell?" McGonagall asked. "They surely cannot imagine themselves strong enough to confront the magic around Hogwarts."

"The spell is not to keep us in," Dumbledore said quietly, "but rather to notify Tom when I leave. Firenze," He said, turning back to the centaur, "are the rest of your herd still refusing to help?"

Firenze made a noise which sounded like a disgusted snort. "They do not believe the affairs of men to be any of their concern. You can not expect any help from the forest. Even the other creatures that otherwise may have been willing to help, such as the Hippogriffs, or even Hagrid's Acramantulae, are unlikely to rend assistance. Ever since Hagrid brought the giant, he has lost the centaurs' trust, and the forest listens to them."

Dumbledore sighed. "I fear Tom will not make the same distinction they do between those of us living in the castle, and in the forest. I am afraid I must ask you to try to persuade them otherwise my friend, for their help may be sorely needed."

Firenze nodded. "If I persuade the Unicorns of the danger they are in, then we may gain some help, for their influence is as strong as the Centaurs'. Finding them will be the problem, however."

"Thank you Firenze." Dumbledore said quietly. "Now, I pray you will excuse Minerva, Severus, and I for a moment, we have things we must decide before Hagrid returns."

The three of them retreated silently, and conversed in the shadows in noiseless voices.

"Harry Potter." Firenze said, turning to him solemnly.

Harry nodded, for some reason unable to speak.

"You must be wary tonight, for Mars is not the only planet that is bright. Uranus is moving through the twelfth house."

"What does that mean?" Harry asked, before Firenze could turn away.

Firenze regarded him softly. "Change and battle is in the air, Harry Potter." He wheeled, and set off towards the wood at a canter.

"So what does that mean?" Harry said, turning to his friends.

"A bit vague, isn't it?" Ron asked rhetorically.

"I told you Divination was a woolly subject ages back." Hermione said in a voice that suggested everyone else had only just cottoned on to something she had known for years.

Harry smirked. He couldn't help himself; he was remembering his first Divination lesson.

"What are you laughing about?" Ron asked hotly.

"Oh, nothing."

Harry grinned again, glad for the meagre cover of darkness.

Ron glared at him, and then turned to the two girls. "Do you reckon he's going to let us help?"

Hermione shook her head, as Ginny answered. "Well, he didn't send us back to the castle, that's a good start."

"I can't imagine he'll let us go." Hermione said in a tense voice. "It's like Professor Snape said, we don't have the practice at fighting Death Eaters."

"Do you want to help or not?" Harry snapped. "You don't have to be here, you can always go back to the Tower."

"Don't be silly." Hermione said nervously. "Of course I'm going if you are. It's just… Don't you see how dangerous this is?"

"That's why we're going." Ginny said impatiently. "We have to help. Fred and George were staying in Hogsmeade tonight, remember?"

Hermione wrung her hands, and looked around at the staff, who, apart from Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall, were talking in low whispers, and glancing their way every now and then. All of them reflexively moved back into darkness.

"I know, it's just…"

"What Hermione means," Ron interrupted, "is that we've got to look out for each other, and be really careful, okay? 'Cos one mistake…" He trailed off.

Hermione swallowed. "And no stupid heroics." She added, looking at Harry.

"I'll try not to." Harry said, in a slightly affronted tone.

"Oh Harry, you know what I mea-" Hermione's anxious voice was quietened by a rhythmic thumping sound, which got louder and louder.

The four of them turned reflexively towards the Forbidden Forest, as did most of the teachers. There, being led by Hagrid, was a dark figure that made him look like a child.

"Grawp." Ron said, as if scared to raise his voice above a whisper.

"That's a giant?" Ginny asked, taking in the grotesque features in horror.

"The big, friendly, giant." Hermione said with a touch of dark irony in her voice.

Harry caught the Muggle reference, but he doubted either of the Weasleys would have, even with their father's influence. It soothed him slightly, for Hermione's nerves had obviously not completely taken away her composure.

"Stay 'ere." Hagrid's voice said, in what sounded like a stage whisper, while the two figures were still some distance away.

As he approached, he caught sight of Harry and the others, and stopped. His face darkened, and he glared at them, until Professor Dumbledore's voice called him softly.

"Ah, there you are Hagrid. Is Grawp willing to help us?"

Hagrid tore his disapproving eyes away from them, and started walking towards Dumbledore again.

"Ah, yeah. Yeah, 'e is." He said, glancing back towards his half-brother and gave what was halfway between a grimace and a forced smile. "Well, I think 'e wanted the exercise as much as anythin'. I think I'd bette' stay close, like. 'E might'n understan' other people as well's me."

Harry and his friends shared glances.

"Do you think there's a single person who does want us to be around?" Ron whispered, as Hagrid got close enough to Dumbledore to talk in low tones.

"Aravenne doesn't look like he minds." Harry whispered, looking towards the edge of the group of teachers, where Professor Aravenne was standing alone, wand out, held casually in his left hand, and almost blending into the night, black hair and robes somehow shadowing his sculpted features.

"I'm not sure anyone can tell what he thinks." Hermione said.

"You are sure he's alright mate?" Ron asked, some of Hermione's nerves creeping into his voice.

"You're the one who kept telling me to trust him." Harry hissed, beginning to tense now himself, from the waiting. "I've been in the same room as him alone loads of times, and he hasn't tried to kill me yet."

"And he's been teaching Harry wandless magic. Why would he do that if he was working with You-Know-Who?" Ginny asked.

"Because then he'd be a crazy maniac like the fake Moody?" Ron muttered.

He wasn't answered. The other three of them had seen Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape begin to walk towards them. Ron turned, and joined them in scrutinising Dumbledore's face in an effort to discover whether they were allowed to go or not. The headmaster fixed Harry with his piercing stare, and spoke seriously as he joined them.

"You remember our conversation last Halloween, Harry?"

Harry pulled himself up a little straighter, as if he would look more responsible if he was an inch taller. He nodded. Dumbledore paused, searching his eyes, and then turned, first to look at Ron, and then the two girls.

"I must ask all of you to promise to follow my instructions to the letter, no matter what. If I tell you to retreat, then you must do so, no matter what is happening, or who is in trouble, is that understood?"

"Albus!" Professor McGonagall burst out in protest.

"You cannot be suggesting these children should accompany us?" Snape said in quiet incredulity.

"It is possible that Voldemort may be waiting for me to leave the castle before launching an attack on Hogwarts. If that is the case, then Harry is safest with me, and Hogwarts is in less danger with Harry elsewhere. While it is likely that the sender of the note is warning us against an attack against the Ministry, as you suggested Severus, we are not certain of the sender's intentions. It may be a trap."

"But that is still no reason for the others-" McGonagall began.

"Tom knows of their relationship." Dumbledore replied obliquely. "Regardless, it shall be of great use for us to have help from people who are aware of the Order. You must trust me Minerva, as must you Severus, when I say that I believe this is necessary."

Neither teacher looked convinced, but Dumbledore continued, as though the matter was resolved.

"Now, have I your word that you will all obey my instructions?" Dumbledore asked,

All four of them assented, Harry adding his voice to those of his friends.

"Good." Dumbledore said, before waving his wand, and plucking four pieces of material out of thin air. "Put these on." He instructed, giving one to each of them.

Harry looked at it, it was a balaclava made of what looked like white silk. He pulled it over his head, glasses and all, where it fitted as though it had been fashioned for his face in particular. He looked at Hermione, beside him. She had also pulled the garment over her head, but rather than seeing the white, faceless head he had expected, her features blurred, and blended into each other. He didn't know if he'd have been able to recognise her if he didn't know what had just happened.

Dumbledore waved his wand again, and the Hogwarts' crests that emblazoned their robes vanished, leaving them with plain black robes.

"If you walk quietly to the Greenhouses, Severus, Minerva, and I shall join you shortly."

"Just the three of you?" Ron asked in surprise.

Dumbledore studied his face. "My first priority is the safety of Hogwarts. We were not caught completely unprepared for this eventuality; we shall meet up with other members of the Order in Hogsmeade."

The four of them walked silently in the darkness, using only the light from the castle to show them the way.

"You don't think we've bitten off more than we can chew do you?" Ron eventually asked nervously.

"No." Ginny and Harry replied as one.

Ron sighed nervously. "I just thought there'd be more than two teachers coming with us and Dumbledore."

"Dumbledore's worth fifty teachers." Harry told him definitively.

"Why is it taking so long?" Ginny asked.

Harry shrugged; Hermione had the answer. "The blue light that keeps flashing in the sky is a charm to stop portkeys and flooing."

Her voice sounded more confident as she was able to show off her knowledge, as if just being able to show her worth made her feel happier.

"So everyone has to walk everywhere." Ron summed up.

"We'd better wait here." Harry said tersely as they reached the Herbology buildings.

No-one said anything as they waited, although Harry caught Hermione shaking her head, and muttering something which sounded suspiciously like: "this is insane', under her breath. It was not long at all before three figures appeared from the direction they had taken.

"Good." Dumbledore said. "Follow me."

He swept past them without halting, and they fell in behind the two Heads of Houses. He led them along a path – if it could be called that – which seemed to be rarely used, for they found themselves having to avoid whipping branches which threatened to buffet them as they sprang back from the previous passer-by.

"At present," Dumbledore began, speaking clearly from the lead, "the Order is divided into two groups: those fighting the Death Eaters, and those trying to lead the inhabitants of Hogsmeade to safety. Fred and George Weasley assure me they know a place where they can be hidden safely, without risking journeying through the village. The four of you will join the Order members there, helping to keep the hiding place secret, and, if needs be, keeping it safe from Voldemort's followers."

He was setting such a pace, that only Ron and Harry could assent. Hermione and Ginny were having to half jog to keep up with them. Snape and McGonagall both stayed silent, with the air of people that had been overruled and knew better than to continue to argue. It did not seem long before Dumbledore held up his hand silently in order to stop the people behind him. McGonagall and Snape moved to flank him, and Harry, Hermione, and the two Weasleys, crept behind them.

A shimmering blue light erupted in a sheet from the ground, fizzling upwards into the sky, and Ron nudged Harry, pointing ahead of them. Following the digit, Harry could barely make out the half-hidden form of a person, crouched, and muttering a spell, in the spell's brief illumination. Dumbledore made a circular motion with his wand, and began to fade gradually, as if the dark night was absorbing his colour. Soon Harry could no longer see him, and, in an effort to look more closely, made a slight scuffle as he moved forwards. Snape turned and glared towards him, but the figure did not seem to have heard. Still, Harry remained motionless.

The blue light once more rose from the ground, but this time a silhouette of a tall man could be seen as a large black hole. A loud crack filled the air, and the crouching person looked up, and with a start, and a slight swivel, disapparated with a second crack of noise. The blue light faded, and Dumbledore reappeared.

"Come on." Professor McGonagall whispered sharply, and she and Snape led the way forward towards the Headmaster.

The two teachers moved silently, and quickly, and the four Gryffindors attempted to emulate them. As they approached Dumbledore, he signalled for them to cross the area where the spell had been one by one. Not a sound was heard, or light was seen until Harry, who was the last, crossed. The blue light flared into being once more, and a third loud sound filled the air.

Snape scowled at him, but Dumbledore didn't say a word, or look displeased in any fashion. Instead, he turned to McGonagall.

"Minerva, you know what must be done, but do not inform Rufus about the note."

Professor McGonagall nodded, and disapparated with a soft 'pop'.

"It was inevitable that Voldemort would know once we left Hogwarts' grounds." He said philosophically. "Speed is now of the essence."

He waved his wand once, and a walking stick appeared out of thin air. Dumbledore caught it, and then offered it around.

"Everybody take hold of this." He instructed, and, after a brief second, uttered the word: 'Portus'.

---

X x X x X x X x X

---

Wand out, Harry struggled to keep his footing as they landed. Dumbledore and Snape had both already stepped forwards, towards the Dark Mark in the sky, ready to act if they had attracted attention. They had landed near to the path that led towards the cave Sirius had hidden in in fourth year, but, as far as they could see, there were no Death Eaters in sight. Dumbledore and Snape quickly became mere shapes in the slight moonlight, and Harry and the others automatically glanced around them, looking for people who most likely couldn't be seen even if they were there.

A silver shape shot out of Dumbledore's wand, and he beckoned the four students forward. He moved slowly, as if examining the thin air in front of him carefully before willing to move.

"Albus." Snape whispered from Dumbledore's side.

Dumbledore took another step forward, put out his hand, and then nodded. "I feel it."

"It is designed to cause pain to anyone who doesn't have this." Snape pointed to where the Dark Mark resided on his arm, and then walked through, the air shimmering like a puddle into which a pebble had been thrown.

"Wait there." Dumbledore instructed them, gesturing that they should take a few steps backwards; Snape moved forwards until he was directly facing Dumbledore, measuring the depth of the charm.

Harry glanced around, seeing shapes in the dark which weren't there. He stopped at one point, for he was sure he had seen a dark shape which resembled a man. He not only double-checked, but triple-checked the field behind them, but there was no sign that anyone had ever been there. He glanced at his friends, and was struck once more at how effective the balaclavas – for want of a better word – were. If it weren't for their respective heights, it might have been difficult to tell them apart.

"Quickly," Dumbledore's voice commanded, "pass through one at a time to my right."

Harry didn't hesitate, but slid through silently. Unlike when Snape had passed through, there was no reaction from the spell as he moved past the headmaster and teacher.

"How did the rest of the Order get through the ward?" Hermione whispered, as Dumbledore followed her through the gap in the spell, and it collapsed behind them as he and Snape ended their spell.

"They didn't." Dumbledore said simply. "They were already here. Now, follow me, and keep your wands ready. Severus, if you would take the rear?"

Snape grunted an assent, obviously still annoyed about Harry and the others' presence.

A brightly silver shape approached from the shadows of houses in front of them, and Harry tensed, but Dumbledore's hand on his shoulder reassured him. The shape of a scurrying squirrel appeared, and Harry recognised it as George's Patronus. It leapt over a fence, and jumped up onto Dumbledore's shoulder, where it half-faded into his body, half chattered in his ear. Dumbledore's face narrowed in concentration, and as the squirrel turned to sprint away, he started walking again, not as quickly as when they had been in Hogwarts, but at a pace that enabled Harry and the others to keep up and stay alert for enemies at the same time.

The sounds of explosions, cracklings of flames, and screams of pain, began to float across the night sky, and Harry gripped his wand more tightly. He glanced behind to see the pale face of Ron looking around nervously, and Ginny shiver violently.

Their first confrontation with Death Eaters started, and ended, quite unexpectedly. A child's shriek sounded from behind a wall of flames in front of them, and a woman's cruel laughter rang through the air. Dumbledore made a motion with his wand, and the fire in front started to splutter, as a strong wind began to quench it. The small back garden revealed was mere ashes, and the rear entrance to the house had been utterly destroyed. The flames had caught hold of the house itself, in spite of the wards that protected it, and belching black smoke was billowing out of the windows.

"Harry, Miss Granger, come with me." Dumbledore instructed, leading the two of them inside.

The purpose of the room they entered could only be guessed at, for now it was an empty charcoal shell, one of the walls of which had half crumbled, revealing a relatively large room in which a woman was lying motionless, a Death Eater was standing, and a child was being levitated tantalisingly close to the flames around it. Dumbledore's demeanour had changed; there was a cold, hardness to it now. The Death Eater looked up as they entered, and immediately let her levitation spell end.

"Avada-" She began, but a movement of Dumbledore's wand robbed her of her voice.

"Stupefy!" Harry yelled automatically.

"Congelipse!" Harry heard Hermione's voice cry at the same time.

The Death Eater grabbed inside her robes and vanished before Harry's spell could reach her. A slight movement of Dumbledore's wand released the woman from the full body bind, and he strode towards the child – for now protected by Hermione's charm – reaching into the flames as if they weren't there in order to pluck her out of certain doom.

"That was quick thinking." He said approvingly to Hermione, as he set the child – barely older than five – down.

It wasn't lost on either of them that he hadn't mentioned her name.

"Dumbledore!" The woman explained in a tone of pure awe and gratitude.

Dumbledore gave a slight bow. "If you come with us, we shall take you and your child to a place where you will be safe."

The woman nodded, suddenly mute, and bent down to take her daughter in her arms.

"The Death Eater?" Snape asked, as they rejoined them behind the house.

"Disapparated." Dumbledore replied curtly.

"Why can't we apparate or disapparate, if they can?" Ron asked.

"Oh we can," Snape replied, eyes glittering in the light from the flames, "but without the Dark Mark, you would need abnormal concentration in order to appear at your destination, even splinched, through the pain, or to keep hold of a Portkey."

Ginny shivered again, and Harry cast a worried glance towards her.

"Alright?" He muttered.

"I just feel so cold." She replied, teeth almost chattering.

Dumbledore and Snape both gave Ginny a searching look.

"I feel cold too." Ron agreed. "But I don't know why, what with the fire."

"Have you seen any Dementors?" Snape suddenly asked the woman urgently.

The woman just stood stock still, her frightened eyes flickering from one face to another. "Dementors?" She asked finally, terror in her voice.

"Stay close." Dumbledore said, leading them around the side of the burning house.

The woman remained stationary, rooted to the ground with fear. She looked in the direction Harry and the others had come from.

"I can take Ellen out that way." She said in a tremulous voice.

"That way is not safe." Dumbledore said firmly. "You must come with us, quickly now. Do not allow your Patronuses to stray too far away from you." He told them at large, by implication warning them that Dementors were indeed likely to be near.

They followed him around the house, onto the street, and immediately saw more Death Eaters. One of a pair was holding a man under the Cruciatus curse, and his limp body was being thrown this way and that.

"Dumbledore!" His companion shouted as soon as they came into sight. He cast a hex wildly in their direction, and Harry deflected it with a shield.

"Pulmelido!" The first Death Eater said, loudly enough for them to hear every crisp syllable.

The air around the Death Eater seemed to contract around him, holding him motionless, but the curse had already left his wand. It hit the limp body of the man full on, and the Death Eater Dumbledore had disabled watched his victim retch for breath that couldn't come.

The second Death Eater dodged the curses Ginny and Hermione had sent his way, and then disappeared as he clutched inside his robes.

"Expecto Patronum!" Ron said from behind Harry, and he turned around.

Ron and Snape were both looking in the other direction to the Death Eaters, and Ron's great big dog Patronus was bounding forward. The two Dementors which had been gliding towards them veered away towards a fire which seemed to disappear at their approach, and allow them to pass. Obviously remembering Dumbledore's instructions, Ron called his Patronus back towards him.

Snape sent a curse towards the fleeing shapes, but it dissipated harmlessly against a tree. The Potions teacher turned towards the woman and her child, who were huddled against the wall, unwilling to come out.

"Quickly." Snape said sharply, causing her to flinch. "Stay in the middle where it is safer. You can shield yourself or dodge." He added, as she looked even more terrified at the thought of casting spells against Death Eaters.

Despite her fear, she crept out from her hiding place, clutching her daughter to her. Ellen looked too frightened to even make a noise, despite the pain she must have been enduring from her burns.

Harry followed Dumbledore forward as he approached the immobilised Death Eater and body, mimicking the Headmaster in keeping a watch for other Death Eaters or Dementors. Dumbledore knelt by the fallen man, and gave his body a cursory glance, before confirming softly what they already thought.

"Dead." He turned towards the Death Eater, and with a flick of his wand, unmasked him. "Rupert." He said sadly, shaking his head.

With practiced economy, Dumbledore stunned him, and, placed a button – obviously a pre-made Portkey – on top of him. The Death Eater vanished.

Dumbledore turned to the five of them, plus two refugees. He divided the four students in two with his hand, and, gesturing to Harry and Ginny, motioned that they should fade into the shadows around the seemingly abandoned house the Death Eaters and man had come from, while he checked inside. Snape led the other two across the street, where he did the same. The woman and her child followed Harry and Ginny.

"Who are you?" The woman asked in a whisper as Dumbledore entered the building.

"People who don't want to see V- the Death Eaters win." Harry said, hoping his slip, and near mentioning of Voldemort's name would be unnoticed.

"Albus wants our identities to be kept secret." Ginny said, pointing to her jumbled features, as the woman turned her way.

"Albus?" Harry mouthed from behind the woman's back.

He imagined, rather than saw Ginny's mock-angelic grin – the balaclava prohibited that. His own rolled eyes, and rueful shake of the head were most likely disguised as well, so he turned, keeping a weather eye out for trouble. A group of four Death Eaters came into view, laughing in such a way, that Harry could only wonder what the Order members that were supposedly there were doing.

Two of their wands were pointed upwards, and to Harry's horror, there was a child dangling high in the air, well above the chimneys of the houses that had remained undamaged. The woman between Harry and Ginny screamed, and suddenly the Death Eaters mocking attention was directed towards the end of the street, in which, to them, only a dead body lay.

"Inside." Ginny hissed to the woman, and gave her a half shove after Professor Dumbledore.

"Tarantallegra. Stupefy." Harry said quickly from the shadows.

The first jinx caught his target unawares, and as the legs began to dance in an uncontrollable fashion, the stunning spell was powerful enough to force him or her to fly backwards. Hermione and Ron cast their own curses from the shadows, as Ginny continued to push the woman to safety.

By this time however, the three remaining Death Eaters had cast defensive shields, deflecting the curses away. The boy hanging in the sky plummeted, hitting the ground with a sickening crunch. A mixture of anger and nausea filled Harry.

"Falxiardor!" He cried, pointing at the nearest Death Eater, still a good twenty yards away.

The spell cut through the Death Eater's shield, who had obviously been expecting a less aggressive curse. He raised the hand in which his wand was held in a futile gesture of warding, and the spell cut into the hand, splitting the wand itself in two, and sending the masked man to the ground in burning agony. His scream sounded through the air, eerily similar to the ones Harry had heard from the Death Eaters' victims. Suddenly the screams were cut off, and the man lay stationary, his body continuing to burn. One of his companions had finished the job.

Harry felt, rather than saw, Dumbledore's presence beside him, and suddenly the fighting stopped. The two remaining Death Eaters had vanished. Without thinking, he ran forward towards the child's motionless body.

"Harry!" Ron cried from across the road. "Wait!"

Across the road, Snape cuffed Ron around the head, and said something quietly, yet sharply as Ron turned to confront him. Before Harry knew it, Dumbledore was beside him again.

"You have already discovered the benefit of being in shadows." He said quietly. "Allow me to go first."

Harry glanced behind, to see where Ginny was, before following him. Ginny, for her part, had obviously become tired of forcibly moving the frightened woman and her child wherever they needed to be, and had sent them across the road to the others, before lightly catching up to Harry.

"Albus?" Harry said again.

"Well, we're trying to pretend we're not students, right?" Ginny answered.

Harry followed after Dumbledore, his raised eyebrows unseen. Albus Dumbledore knelt by the body of the fallen child, and made more than one complicated motion with his wand.

"He lives." Dumbledore said quietly. "Barely. We need Poppy's ability here rather than mine I am afraid. I shall cast spells to keep his body in a stasis, but we need a Healer's aptitude. Harry," he continued, removing another button from his pocket, "place this upon the stunned Death Eater's chest."

Harry took it from him, avoiding the charred body of the other Death Eater as much as possible, although the smell of burnt flesh and hair invaded his nostrils. He placed it on the chest of Voldemort's follower – a woman – and with a word from Dumbledore, the body disappeared. He raised his head, as he thought he caught sight of a shape in the distance, but there was nothing there. It did however serve as a reminder that he had to be on the lookout for enemies.

"One of you must carry him." Dumbledore said eventually. "There is nothing more we can do for him here, and he must be taken to safety. It is not far from here."

"I'll take him." Ginny said immediately, reaching out for the body, which Dumbledore carefully placed in her arms.

"Do you have your Invisibility Cloak Harry?" Dumbledore asked softly.

He nodded.

"Give it to Miss Weasley, for she will be a target holding a child, and unable to defend herself."

Harry reached into his robes, and carefully draped Ginny with it. As she disappeared from view, her disembodied voice sounded in question.

"Where are we going?"

"The Three Broomsticks." Dumbledore said in answer, turning back to where the others were still sheltered twenty yards away.

His Patronus shot out of his wand, and flew towards Snape, and he turned, to lead Harry and Ginny between two houses, without seeing if it reached him or not. Harry hurried after him, and an additional sound of footsteps was the only thing that suggested Ginny was with them. They moved through alleyways and abandoned streets in a zigzag pattern. Despite the fact they seemed to be approaching a large confrontation, they met no-one, enemy or otherwise, as they walked carefully onwards.

They eased themselves from an alleyway adjoining a burning building, to see curses flying from one building to another and dark shapes in the street taking cover and then adding their own spells to the attack. With the sudden dawning of orientation, Harry realised that they must be outside the back entrance of Madam Rosmerta's bar. Dumbledore took a step back, causing Harry to duck out of sight as well.

"Wait here." Dumbledore said quietly. "An open, sprawling, battle is not the best place to utilise your talents, especially when you are trying to keep an innocent child safe. Miss Weasley?"

Ginny's voice sounded from the air behind them. "Yes sir?"

"Hide the child under Harry's Invisibility Cloak, but make sure that you can leave at short notice. If things do not proceed in our favour, the two of you must take him, and hide in one of the abandoned houses. I shall attempt to provide you with a free passage to the inn, but if things do not go as planned then neither of you may attempt to come to my aid."

"Yes sir." Harry promised without thinking, and watched as Dumbledore moved out into the street.

Ginny shivered once more as she removed the cloak, and laid the child down gently, resting against the wall; as she shivered, a sudden wave of nausea struck Harry, and he recognised the feeling as someone attempting to perform Legilimency on him. He looked around for his assailant, until a second shiver from Ginny caused him to realise what it was.

Dementors.

They were attempting to invade his mind and leech away his happy memories. His Occlumency techniques obviously helped shield him from their effects.

"Expecto Patronum." He whispered, delving into his memories himself.

The large silvery-white form of Prongs galloped out of his wand, and cantered forward the way that Harry, Ginny, and Dumbledore had come.

"Protect us." Harry said quietly.

The stag turned, pawed at the ground, and then trotted in front of them, its large eyes looking this way and that for anything that might cause harm to Harry or Ginny. Its very presence seemed to calm Ginny, and remove Harry's nausea.

"Should I cast a Patronus too?" Ginny whispered.

Harry shook his head. "No. I don't know how easy it is to duel while conjuring a Patronus."

"I wonder how Ron and Hermione are doing." Ginny said tensely.

"Hopefully as well as us." Harry said, trying to sound positive.

Chaotic sounds broke out from the street, as yells and sounds that seemed to have nothing to do with casting spells reached their ears.

"Well, I hope we're doing well." Harry added.

To his surprise, Ginny bit back a laugh.

"What?" He asked.

"You hate the whole leadership thing, don't you?" She whispered.

"Yeah." Harry admitted, wondering if his blurred features prevented the heat in his cheeks from being seen.

The fire beside them started to die down, as if it was running out of oxygen, and for the first time they could see through the fire and smoke into the building itself. The inside of the house had been gutted by the fire, but their attention was drawn past the embers to the open front door where they could see the body of a man half in, half out of the house. The charms of the door seemed to have held the longest, for half of the body was merely scarred by the fire. The other half-

Harry looked away, and heard Ginny being sick beside him. Before he could think to move away from the window, in case they were seen from the street, his Patronus flashed in front of him. It slammed into a Dementor as it tried to round the corner towards them, and the creature let out an inhuman sound between a shriek and a growl as it flew backwards through the air. Another Dementor appeared further out in the street, and the stag moved towards it before Harry gathered his wits.

"Wait!" He shouted. "Defend us!"

His Patronus turned, and moved out of view, another shriek suggesting a collision with another Dementor. In a flash, the Patronus returned to guard them, and the Dementors fled, chased by the phoenix shape of Dumbledore's Patronus. Harry watched them glide past, avoiding the alleyway where they were hidden. The ghostly phoenix stopped as it passed their hiding place, and, flapping its wings lazily flew gracefully through the air to Harry's shoulder.

As it alighted, as clearly as though Dumbledore was standing beside him, he heard his voice. "Come, quickly."

Harry glanced behind to see if Ginny had heard – which she obviously hadn't – and by the time he had looked back, the Phoenix was gone. The fire beside them started to flame once more.

"Come on." He said urgently, stepping forward to where he had seen Ginny cover the boy with his cloak, his own Patronus disappearing.

He retrieved his cloak, and picked up the child roughly without even realising it. Ginny looked a little confused, and Harry elaborated.

"Dumbledore said to go. Come on."

He crouched out in a run, trusting to Dumbledore that it would be safe, holding the boy in hands which had become enveloped in the cloak, and vanished; and bent over, to give the child the scant protection his body could offer.

Hands reached forward, as though to haul him into safety, and he allowed them to pull him away from the doorway. As he looked around in the darkness, he saw a man with a wooden leg – Moody – pushing Ginny in his direction as well.

"Who's this Albus?" Moody demanded of Dumbledore who was standing outside.

"Harry, release the child to Fred Weasley's care." Dumbledore said, not answering the question directly. "Fred, this child needs a Healer's attention, but until we can obtain it, and he can be far removed from a battle zone, he should be taken to the place of safety you spoke of."

"It used to be a passage to Hogwarts, but the tunnel caved in." Fred said. "Blimey. Harry? Mum's going to have a fit."

"Mum's just going to have to deal with it." Ginny said.

Fred almost looked weak at the knees as he heard Ginny's voice. "Gin- Merlin, someone else is telling Mum."

"Go on Weasley, take the boy." Moody growled. "Once your brother manages to break the ward, we'll be able to Portkey people out and Molly can lodge an official complaint if she wants to then."

"Could do with a little help!" Tonks' voice sounded from another room.

Looking around, Harry realised that they must be in the kitchen of the Three Broomsticks. Tonks was probably in the main bar.

"Alastor, Marina, Ignacio, Tom, go." Dumbledore commanded.

Four shapes disappeared quickly, Moody's wooden leg sounding the way.

"Hestia, I want you to keep a close eye out for any sign that they are regrouping upon this side, Harry and Ginny Weasley here will aid you. Severus should be here soon with two others, and a mother and child we rescued."

She nodded.

"Two 'others'?" Fred groaned. "Mum's going to have kittens."

"Mr Weasley," Dumbledore said sternly, "if you could pass the boy to your mother's care please, and then return to assist Hestia."

Fred nodded, and with a twirl of his cloak Dumbledore left to help the others. Fred finally took the boy from Harry, and, carrying him in one arm, faced a picture on one of the bordering walls. He pushed one of the taps on the painting of the bar in the next room, and it slipped open to reveal some doors going to the cellar.

"Rosmerta's ale cellar." Fred explained. "There's another secret passage in here…"

"Go." Hestia Jones said with an explosion of breath.

She sounded nervous, and with curt words told Harry and Ginny to stand watch by two windows as the picture closed the way to the cellar once more and Harry shoved the cloak into his pocket.

"Stay in the shadows." She added unnecessarily – not that there were much in the way of shadows, all light in the room was coming from the fires outside.

Harry felt his heart rate increasing, and took a few deep breaths to keep his nerves in check. It wasn't helped by seeing the shape of a motionless body rested against a wall close by when he looked down, or the sounds of spells being cast elsewhere in the building.

The slightest change in light signified a figure moving well down the street. He hesitated, unable to see whether they were friend or foe.

"Over there." He said quietly, as two more figures came into view.

"How many?" Hestia Jones asked, without moving from her vantage point.

"Three. No – six." Harry raised his wand.

A flash of light illuminated the night briefly, and a curse flew towards one of the figures. They were wearing white masks. The figure flew backwards, and the other Death Eaters replied with hexes of their own. Explosive hexes, it sounded like.

"Someone hit them with a spell." Harry said, tensing himself up to help.

"Probably one of our groups that went looking for survivors." Hestia said. "Stay." She added, trying to sound authoritative as Harry moved towards the door.

"But we've got to help them." Harry told her.

"No. They are probably trying to keep them away from here. They know what they're doing."

"Yeah, we know what we're doing. I don't know about the Death Eaters though." Fred said from behind them.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked in a voice that was still shaking from the sight of the corpse, as he moved beside her.

"It's as if they haven't got a plan, or at least a back-up plan." Fred said. "They're moving in small groups, and wasting time torturing innocent people as much as fighting those of us who fight back. And when Dumbledore came, they disappeared with hardly a fight."

"Maybe that is their plan." Harry said suddenly, as the Death Eaters moved out of sight once more, drawn away from the Three Broomsticks.

"Hermione and Ron are coming." Ginny interrupted

"Get them to hurry Hestia." Fred said, and Harry noticed he had assumed command. "I'll warn you if anyone's coming."

He slipped out of the door, and Hestia Jones followed, making urgent gestures in the direction of the four people on foot.

Ron entered the room first, his height making the question of his identity academic. Hermione half pushed the woman inside as they followed, and, as if the girl felt it was safe enough to wail now, Ellen burst into frightened sobs.

Fred needed just a short look in order to decide what needed to be done. "Come on. We'll get you somewhere safe, and we've got people there who'll look after you."

The woman turned towards Harry, as though still in shock, and, just as Snape stepped through the door, asked: "He called you Harry… Are you… Harry Potter?"

"Come on." Fred repeated, and then half pulled her towards the cellar.

"Imbecile." Snape snarled towards Ron as the wailing started to disappear into the distance. "Let me see your ankle, Miss Granger."

Harry noticed that she was leaning against a wall. Ron, who was looking towards her anxiously, conjured a chair, which she slipped onto gratefully.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked anxiously, turning towards her.

"Keep your guard up Potter." Snape spat angrily. "You're supposed to be watching for enemies."

"I just sprained my ankle." Hermione said. "I trod on some… one, and fell in the dark."

"That should be fine." Snape said. "Stand up."

The sound of steps announced Fred's return. "Met Mum coming up. Managed to keep her away," he added, looking at the four blurry faces, "but she says Bill is still having trouble keeping an open portal in the ward, and wanted to know if Professor Dumbledore had any ideas as he's here."

"I shall inform Albus." Snape said.

"Careful in there," Hestia Jones said, "there's a group of Death Eaters attacking."

"I gathered." Snape said acerbically.

Harry saw Fred roll his eyes in Hestia's direction as Snape turned.

"What were you going to say earlier, Harry, about the Death Eaters' plan?" Fred asked.

"Oh." Harry said. "Um. It's just, you said they were acting really chaotically, right? And that they disappeared when Dumbledore came? Well what if they're just trying to keep the Order busy here, chasing them, while Voldemort does something else."

"So they leave at the first sign of trouble." Ginny said from her vantage point at the window.

Harry scanned the street in front of him, and nodded.

"And then the attacks here are meant more to stop us doing anything than to hurt us, and they're just playing hide and seek with us." Fred summed up, nodding.

"A possible hypothesis." Snape's voice said from beside the door. "The six of you remain here."

The shock of Snape actually agreeing with something Harry said was slightly nullified by the contempt he managed to somehow instil in his voice. Snape was gone before he could think of anything to say.

"Merlin, I hate that man." Hestia Jones said, voice trembling.

"Don't we all." Fred said, almost casually. "Don't worry Hestia, he's just a natural slimeball."

"I'm a Healer, not a soldier." She added.

With that, Harry realised that Dumbledore had put them in the place danger was least likely to be. He wasn't sure why he was surprised. The sounds of fighting stopped from the other room, and Hestia Jones sighed in relief. Another peek out of the window showed curses being thrown in the distance, and Harry briefly wondered whether it was the same group of Death Eaters he had seen earlier involved.

An explosion of green light shot up into the sky, separating into the emerald green pattern of the Dark Mark; the snake that was where the skull's tongue should have been was raised and ready to strike. It drifted higher and higher, joining the original one in the sky.

"Another Dark Mark!" Harry said, louder than he had intended.

"What?" Fred asked. "Where?"

He came to Harry's window, and looked out. He swore loudly.

"Hestia, tell Dumbledore or Moody – whoever's closer – that another Dark Mark has gone up near the Hog's Head."

"Why's that important?" Ron asked nervously.

"George is in there. We knew something was happening tonight, but not what, so we tried to get as many people as possible into the pubs, especially the kids. We promised special promotions of some of our products, made a real party of it. We had the passage here, and the wards at the Hog's Head are really strong. But if the Dark Mark is there…"

He trailed off.

"Weasley, where is the entrance to the passage?" Snape's voice said brusquely from behind them.

Fred turned with a scowl, and walked over to the painting once more.

Snape looked at the four of them scornfully. "Stay here." He said. "Professor Dumbledore will tell you what to do shortly."

They waited, all four of them peering out into the street anxiously.

"You two okay?" Ron asked, as he moved to the vantage point Hestia Jones had occupied.

"We're fine." Ginny said, and they lapsed into silence again.

"Mum's gonna kill you four." Fred said from behind them. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"Same thing as you." Ginny retorted. "That we can help save people's lives."

"Ron shouldn't even be out of bed after that crash." Fred pointed out. "And you-"

"And I what?" Ginny challenged angrily. "I'm a girl and younger than you, is that it? Well I fought Death Eaters before you did, and I did okay, didn't I?"

"I was going to say that a few hours ago you were really upset, Gin, and this is hardly the best place for you to be, but now that you mention it-" Fred looked skywards, and sighed. "Look, let's just save it for later."

"I'm fine." Ron grunted, peering outside again, and then glancing around worriedly towards Hermione.

Hermione, who had been very quiet, spoke up irritably. "I'm fine too Ron, stop looking at me as if I'm going to disintegrate."

"Sorry." Ron muttered, looking away. "It's just, I felt ill just by looking at – the body."

"It's one of the reasons we had to come." Hermione said, sounding as if she was finding refuge in logic. "Better we see what its like when we have people like Dumbledore around to help us, then if we're on our own."

"Better you don't see it at all." Fred muttered.

"We're not just kids anymore, Fred." Ron told him.

"Where's Charlie?" Hermione asked quietly.

"In the Hog's Head." Fred said. "He and George are there, Mum and Dad are in the passage, and Bill's trying to get through their spells. Percy is the only one who isn't in this fight, now that you four are here. Damn it, why aren't we going to help the others!" He burst out.

"We will, Mr Weasley." Dumbledore said from the door. "However, before I can consider leaving here, the inn must be made as safe as possible. The charms there are still holding at the moment; I have heard from Aberforth. Unfortunately, the charms preventing apparition and Portkeys here are wavering, and one of the two exits must also be sealed in order to make the building more defensible. I require silence please."

He stepped forwards towards the door, and motioned Ron away. Taking a crystal out of his pocket, he began a quiet incantation. All five of them stood back to watch, as, after a short time, Dumbledore levitated the crystal above the door, and it fused into the wall. Taking another crystal from his pocket, he repeated the process above the windows. Watching him, Harry realised just how little magic he knew, and how much there was that would never be taught to any Hogwarts student in just seven years. It drove home just how difficult his task of defeating Voldemort was.

The sounds of footsteps came from the cellar, and the painting drew back once more as two figures climbed the stairs. One of them was Snape, the other had a dark hood covering his face. They stopped as they saw Dumbledore working, and said nothing. As the final crystal fused into the wall, he turned and acknowledged them.

"Good. You have a stable window through?"

Bill's voice sounded from beneath the hood. "It's holding. I've told Dad what to look for in case it starts to break down, but I'd better stay here in case something happens. I just needed a little help from the other side, as you thought."

"Molly and Arthur Weasley have begun transporting people out." Snape said.

Dumbledore nodded, and then turned to the wall and flicked his wand. A viscous blue substance began to seep down the wall, forming a curtain. Another flick of the wall, and the blue substance began to harden and grow paler, extinguishing all light as it did so. When Dumbledore restored light by creating a bright lamp which hung from the ceiling, the wall had turned into solid rock.

"Follow me." Dumbledore said, moving towards the door which led into the pub itself.

Harry looked around. There were no tables or chairs, nor was there a bar counter, and the light was coming in the main from fires outside. All that was there was a large empty room, filled with barely a dozen people, all of whom were keeping watch for any further signs of Death Eaters. Harry recognised a few faces – Tonks, whose voice he had heard earlier was there – but he didn't know many. Remus wasn't in sight, but nor, thankfully, was he one of the motionless bodies on the floor.

Dumbledore split them into three groups, signalling Hestia Jones to join Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and Bill, and taking command of one of the other two groups, leaving the rest to Snape and Moody. Tonks did not look impressed for the split-second when she discovered she was to work with Snape, but quickly covered it.

"You seven will stay here, guarding the entrance to the inn. Do not engage anyone unless absolutely necessary, and if you are in trouble, then retreat to the passageway without allowing any Death Eater to see either secret entrance. Understood?"

Harry nodded, along with the six others.

"Bill, the defensive charms need strengthening. They are unlikely to attempt to apparate inside, without knowing the current layout, but we can take nothing for granted."

Harry got the impression that a plan to aid people in the Hog's Head had long been established, because Dumbledore said nothing about their tactics, and not a single member of the Order looked like they needed to be told.

---

X x X x X x X x X

---

"So, why the mask, Bill?" Ron asked as he peered out of the window; it hadn't taken long for Bill to strengthen the wards around the inn.

"My face isn't a very pretty sight at the moment." He said ruefully. "It's why I'm not out there with the rest."

"What happened?" Ginny asked.

"Someone set off a curse as I was in the middle of breaking it." Bill said. "Dad and I were in the way. I needed my skin re-grown all over my head, and lost all my hair." He shrugged, as if that was no big deal – and, perhaps, for a curse-breaker it wasn't. "Mum's finally got her wish – I lost my hair, and the earring doesn't go without it."

"Speaking of Mum," Fred said, "one of us ought to check if they've got rid of everyone yet. We can't exactly retreat if they haven't, even if we are outnumbered." Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione looked towards him, and he continued. "Not one of you four, Mum would have a fit."

"She knows you're here." Bill said. "Snape told her. Still you'd better not go down, she'd do everything she could to stop you coming back."

"I'll go." Hestia Jones said. "If they are gone then we have more people to help."

Bill shook his head. "No, we need them looking after my counter-spell." He waited until Hestia left the room and lowered his voice. "Plus Dad shouldn't be here at all. He got hit worse than I did by that jinx, but we're short on manpower and he wasn't going to sit at home and do nothing."

"Then again," Fred added, "you four shouldn't be here either, but if you weren't I don't know who'd there'd be left to help us try and hold this."

"There's movement." Hermione said from the window she had been vigilantly watching through.

Bill instantly came alert. "Where?"

Hermione pointed, and Harry vaguely saw two shapes moving down the road. One must have been badly injured, for it was half limping, half being carried by its companion. As they grew closer, Harry could see their faces were covered in soot, and their ragged clothing was also black. He wasn't sure if they were men or women from the light given by the burning building across the street, but it was obvious they weren't Death Eaters.

"Merlin, straight down the middle of the road." Bill said in disbelief. "They need to get into the shadows, or they'll bring Death Eaters straight here."

Fred swore, and then, with a quickness and quietness gained from his many years of pranking, slipped out of the door, and waved frantically towards the two people, trying to tell them to get into cover.

The two refugees sped up, obviously taking Fred's gestures as instructions to hurry, rather than find safety.

"Oh sh-" Ron began, pointing in the opposite direction, before glancing at Hermione, and amending his word. "-oot. Dementors."

Harry didn't need to be told twice. He followed Fred out of the door, and wordlessly cast his Patronus, in an effort to keep the Dementors from approaching the inn. The stag erupted out of the wand, and cantered forwards, before lowering its head, and charging. A large, sleek, silver, feline followed, and Harry glanced to his side to see Ginny standing beside him.

Harry thought he caught a sign of movement from close to the burning building opposite them, and yelled for one of the others to watch it. Bill began muttering quietly, and the whole area around them seemed to become darker, as if a black fog was surrounding them. Harry glanced behind him, and noticed the two refugees had stopped, the injured person had fallen. Returning his attention to the Dementors in front of him, he noticed that firelight was dimming from a building between them and their respective Patronuses. Realising what that meant, he willed his Patronus to turn around.

"They're not going to make it without our help, Fred." Ron said suddenly. "Come on."

Harry felt a hand on his shoulder, it was Hermione. "I'll take over here. Make sure Ron and Fred are alright." She continued urgently as he hesitated. "Go! You're the best at duelling – if they're followed by Death Eaters…"

Harry nodded, and turned, feeling a slight loss of orientation as his Patronus disappeared so far away from him. He crouch-walked his way past Bill, and scanned the street behind Fred and Ron, but could see nothing in the darkness. He pointed his wand straight down the street.

"Solas." He thought.

The spell could barely be seen as it sped through the air down the other end of the street. Finally, it hit something, and a large area fifty yards away burst into light. Death Eaters were coming their way, but paused as the area lit up around them, and put themselves into defensive positions, unsure of where the spell had originated from.

"Hurry." Harry hissed.

Bill broke off his muttering, and the dark mist around them cleared slightly. "Get everyone inside Harry, we have the wards to protect us there." He resumed his incantation.

"Hermione, G-"

"We heard, Harry." Hermione said, sounding breathless, as if she was feeling the strain of holding the charm.

Harry noticed that the Dementors had managed to gain a few yards. One of them was trying to brush Ginny's Patronus aside, which fell as though struck, but then found its feet, and attempted to charge the Dementor again. He turned back towards Ron and Fred to see a curse heading straight towards them. They reached the shroud of darkness – both Weasleys carrying the injured man, and a woman hobbling in front of them – just before the curse could hit them in the back. Before Harry could even attempt to shield them, it entered the dark haze, and disappeared, flying out from the other side of mist, straight towards the Dementors. It hit a Dementor full on, causing it to stumble, and then lit the area around them and the Patronuses.

Harry took a few running steps forward, urging the Weasleys to move more quickly, and tried to think of a curse that might delay a large group of Death Eaters. Inspiration wasn't forthcoming, and he glanced around. Catching sight of a large piece of burning debris, he concentrated, and banished it down the street, hoping it would slow them down at least.

A gasp sounded from behind them, but Harry could only spare a brief look. Ginny had fallen to the ground, and her Patronus had disappeared.

"Rejicia Maxima!" Harry yelled, hoping it would hit a building somewhere and provide more obstacles for the Death Eaters.

He turned and took a couple of steps towards the door, suddenly feeling the Dementors inside his head. One of them was a matter of yards away now, sweeping away Hermione's Patronus with a swipe of its hand, and reaching forward.

"Bill!" Harry yelled, distracting him from his spell.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry yelled, seeing the motionless husks that Ginny and Hermione would become if the Dementor sucked out their souls…

Fine white mist emerged from his wand and disappeared. Harry shook his head, but the Dementor was upon Hermione now, he didn't have time to try again.

"Falxiardor!" He screamed.

The spell missed Hermione by inches, and struck the Dementor in the face. It recoiled, pushing Hermione away, rather than bringing her face closer, and she crashed into Bill. The dark cloud began to disappear. A faint flicker of light sparked on the Dementor's forehead, where the spell had hit, but the fire was put out by the creature's cold before it could even begin. Despite the large gash to its face, the Dementor glided forward once more, bending down towards Ginny this time.

"Reducto! Farcio! Quassossis!" Harry yelled in quick succession, but despite the sounds of bones cracking, the Dementor simply teetered slightly, and then returned to its descent towards Ginny.

Rage, fear, and desperation rose up in Harry, and he felt it swell up into his head, from his fingers and toes, knees, elbows and stomach, it flowed like pure power. A green lightning bolt flashed in front of his eyes, and he let out a roar.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The green light shot out of his wand, and struck the Dementor in the chest. A sound between a sigh and a scream sounded, and suddenly it collapsed into a pile of ragged robes and dust. Harry stumbled, and he felt a hand lift him up. It was Bill.

"I'm fine." Harry gasped. "Get them inside."

He stumbled forwards, and felt, rather than saw, a great dog bounding past him towards the Dementors that were left. He forced himself upright, and turned, remembering the Death Eaters behind them.

"Sæptus." He gasped, but the cushion of air he cast to absorb any incoming spells was weak, and he knew it.

"Come on Harry!" Fred yelled.

"Get them inside!" He yelled back, knowing they weren't yet safe by the sounds behind him.

He only had to hold on a bit longer…

A curse hit the shield in front of him, and the air visibly buckled.

"Effringo!" He yelled, spotting the light of a second curse coming towards him.

The two jets of light met in mid air, and disappeared.

"Come on Harry!" Ron yelled.

Harry glanced around. He was the only one left outside now. He took a step backwards and flew off his feet.

He had been struck by a curse into his chest, and been sent into a large piece of rubble which had fallen from a nearby building. He groaned, and tried to push himself upwards, and clear cobwebs out of his head with a shake. He could hear muffled voices from his left, but was unable to understand them. A loud mocking laugh sounded from in front of him, and Harry raised his eyes to see a burly looking man, hidden in his Death Eater uniform.

"Crucio!"

The spell hit Harry in the chest again, and he was filled with pain, although not as much as he had expected. Somehow, in his foggy, pain filled, state of mind, he realised that the thing sticking into his bottom was his wand, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move his hand towards it.

The curse lifted.

"Who the hell are you?" The Death Eater asked. "Killing a Dementor like that."

He strode the couple of yards between them, and reached for the mask covering Harry's head. Harry's head fell as the silk covering left his head, and disappeared as it did so. The Death Eater looked at his empty hand in surprise, and then pulled Harry's hair to get a good look at his face.

Another voice swore, and Harry heard the crack of somebody disapparating in a panic.

"Potter." The Death Eater's voice said, with a manic sound.

Harry saw the punch coming, and managed to roll with it, barely avoiding the worst of the blow, and slumping to the ground. He was pulled up roughly.

"You killed my brother, Potter." The maniac said, a crazy glint in his eye.

He removed his mask, revealing the scarred face of Rabastan Lestrange. His face looked permanently twisted, probably from his spell in Azkaban. He punched Harry again, and he vaguely wondered where the others were, as he fell once more to the ground. Blood ran down the side of his head, and he was roughly pulled back into a sitting position.

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this, Potter." He snarled, drawing his face close to Harry's, and then slamming Harry's head back against the rubble behind him.

A white shape jumped at him, but passed straight through him, and Harry saw Ron's dog Patronus trying, but failing to hurt the Death Eater. Rabastan laughed out loud.

"Keep those others trapped in there." He yelled behind him. "I want them to watch the destruction of Harry Potter. And keep those damned Dementors away too!"

Lestrange reached forwards, and grabbed Harry's head, forcing him to look towards the Three Broomsticks. Spells and fists were slamming into invisible barriers which wouldn't give way, and panicked faces were looking at him. Harry struggled, but the Death Eater forced him to take in the scene. Harry could see the images of Hermione and Ron's blurred faces screaming, but couldn't hear a word they said.

Ron's Patronus shot through Lestrange's back, and landed half in Harry. It turned and growled loudly – the first time Harry had heard a Patronus make a sound – causing Lestrange to laugh once more. He stepped back. Harry's mind started thinking again, as though Ron's Patronus had flicked a switch in his head. He still had his wand – he was sitting on it. If he could reach it, then…

"Don't die too quickly now Potter." He grinned, taking a few steps backwards. "Falxia!"

Harry felt the spell split his robes, and then felt himself pushed into the stone behind him. His fingers grasped upon his wand as he fell sideways once more.

"No, no, you're not going to die yet." Lestrange said, and with a flick of his wand, Harry felt himself being raised upwards.

The force manipulating him stopped, and he staggered as he found his feet.

"Wh- What?" Rabastan said in disbelief, looking at Harry's stomach, where the curse had hit.

"Farcio!" Harry gasped, the word inaudible through his pain, but the wand motion perfect.

As the light from his curse struck Rabastan Lestrange, it was joined by a second light from the side, which glowed green as it connected. Lestrange was sent backwards as though struck by a wrecking ball, but the expression on his face was unmistakeably that of someone who had just been hit by the killing curse. Harry staggered forwards, and took in the shocked poises of five Death Eaters. A sound came from the end of the street, and all five Death Eaters disappeared.

Harry just swayed there for a few seconds, looking at the burning building, when he felt hands grab him, and carry him away. He blinked, and when he opened his eyes again, Hestia Jones was standing above him, making motions with her wand.

"He just took the curse, and…" Fred's voice said in disbelief in the distance, "A cutting curse, and it didn't do anything!"

"Remind me to thank Charlie for saving my life." Harry said weakly, as Hestia removed his robes, showing the Graphorn skin vest to the world.