The two day wait to return to Hogwarts seemed to drag for Hermione. Even though she was able to spend time with Draco, she was still eager to get on with things so that Harry could return home and their pretence would finally be over. Even planning for what would happen when they would return to Hogwarts wasn't enough to really keep Hermione's mind occupied.
Finally the afternoon they would be returning to Hogwarts arrived, and Hermione and Draco excitedly gathered with the adults at Malfoy Manor. The same group of Death Eaters that had gone to Hogwarts a few days earlier were all present and ready to go. Only this time they would be accompanied by Severus, Hermione and Draco. Also this time, no-one was going in masks and robes. Everyone was proudly on display as supporters of Lord Voldemort.
"Hermione, sit down and stop pacing," Voldemort ordered as his daughter impatiently paced the floor in front of the vanishing cabinet.
"What time is the cabinet supposed to be activated?" Hermione asked.
"When your nephew can get away," Voldemort answered.
The gathered Death Eaters had been informed that Severus had a son, and that he was still in Hogwarts, but his identity was still a closely guarded secret. To be honest the group were still coming to terms with the fact Severus was Voldemort's son, and Hermione was his daughter. The revelations had taken the Death Eaters totally be surprise, and Voldemort hadn't been able to help building up the anticipation about who his grandson was. It was rather amusing to hear people speculating on who Severus's son could be.
"Maybe I should have stayed with him," Hermione muttered. "What if he's struggling with the cabinet?"
"He's not an idiot, Hermione, he'll get us back into the school," Severus said.
Like Hermione, Severus had been wondering if he shouldn't have stayed behind with his son. He didn't like being parted from Harry, even though he knew his son could handle himself. Luckily the last couple of days hadn't been totally unbearable as Rosmerta had been staying with the family.
"Besides, if you'd stayed behind there wouldn't have been much point in the twin visits," Beth pointed out. "We did it this way to strike a double body blow at the order."
"I know," Hermione replied with a sigh as she slumped down on the sofa where Draco was sitting. "I'm just impatient to get going."
"You've always been like that," Beth said with a laugh. "You were born nearly three weeks early, and then you had to do everything at top speed. You were walking and talking earlier than the average child. You also learnt to read pretty fast, and when you were younger you could often read books aimed at older children."
"We get it, she's a wonder-kid," Bellatrix muttered.
"Bellatrix," Voldemort warned in a low voice as Beth turned to glare at the other witch. "Keep a civil tongue in your head when you're talking about my daughter, or else you just might lose it."
"Sorry, My Lord," Bellatrix apologised, even though she didn't sound sorry.
"I thought you'd sorted her," Hermione whispered to her mother.
"It seems like Bella has a bad memory," Beth replied, her gaze still on Bellatrix. "Perhaps she needs reminding just where she stands these days."
"Yeah, right at the bottom of the pile," Hermione said with disdain.
Beth chuckled at her daughter, and giving her hand a pat, she turned to converse with her husband. With the adults chatting amongst themselves, Hermione turned her attention to Draco. Her boyfriend had been quiet all afternoon, and she suspected he was just as worried about Harry as she and Severus had been. Either that or he was nervous about going back to Hogwarts and facing everyone, but that really didn't sound like Draco.
"Hey, are you okay?" Hermione asked, taking hold of Draco's hand.
"I'm fine," Draco replied, giving Hermione a quick smile. "Like you, I just wish it was time to go."
"And then we'll have to wait around in Hogwarts instead," Hermione joked. The plan was pretty much a replica of last time, with them waiting until dinnertime, or in this case the time dinner would normally be held, before making their presence known.
"At least we'll be back and know nothing has gone wrong," Draco replied.
"True," Hermione agreed, leaning her head against Draco's shoulder. "But we just have to wait and trust he's got everything under control."
"He will have," Draco answered with confidence as she wrapped his arm around Hermione and pulled her closer. "He won't let us down. I know he won't."
Hermione nodded in agreement as the pair sat back to wait. There was nothing more they could do now. They just had to wait for Harry to do his part, and get them back into Hogwarts.
C.O.T.D.
After a pointless day securing the wards around the school, the Order seemed convinced it was well enough protected to avoid a repeat visit from Voldemort. Even though no-one had any real ideas as to how Voldemort and his Death Eaters had gained access last time, the hope was still there that they'd done enough to stop him from coming back. Of course, not everyone was as confident, and Harry knew Dumbledore was preparing to face Voldemort in a wizarding duel.
On the day Voldemort was due to return, Dumbledore gathered the adults in the Order and began to give instructions about what was to happen if Voldemort did indeed succeed in returning to the school. Even though Harry wasn't part of the group Dumbledore was talking to, he picked up enough to know that the headmaster had issued instructions that the Order weren't to fight unless necessary. He planned on duelling Voldemort, but if he lost, he wanted the Order to back off and make sure they all survived.
"As if that's going to happen," Sirius snorted, as he told Harry when Dumbledore was saying. "If the dark come looking for a fight, then it's a fight they're going to get."
"Even if it wipes everyone out?" Harry asked.
"It won't," Sirius replied, giving Harry a reassuring smile. "We'll outnumber them. Even if You-Know-Who can get back into school, he's going to be limited with how many people he can bring with him. I'm confident we can outnumber them and take the lot of them."
"Let's hope so," Harry replied, before he left Sirius to plan strategies with Remus.
Harry was rather relieved that Dumbledore hadn't seemed to have told anyone about his grandfather's Horcruxes. Clearly the Order didn't know that they couldn't actually kill Voldemort. Dumbledore obviously thought telling them to back off and not to cause trouble would be enough if something happened to him. Then again, he was probably counting on Harry to step forward and warn the Order that Voldemort was invincible until they could destroy his Horcruxes. Sadly for Dumbledore, Harry would do nothing of the sort and by the time the headmaster met his maker, he would be back with his family on the dark.
With everyone distracted at the prospect of Voldemort returning, Harry found it easy to slip away to the secret room where the vanishing cabinet was located. Even though it had been Hermione and Draco who had activated it the previous time, Harry knew what he was doing as his father had made sure to teach him. Clearing a pathway to the cabinet, he pulled out an apple from his pocket that he'd nabbed at breakfast and placed it in the bottom of the cabinet. Shutting the cabinet door, he rubbed the handle three times and stepped back as the cabinet began to glow.
Less than five minutes later the cabinet began to glow again, and when Harry opened the door he found the apple had returned, minus a small bite. Quickly grabbing the apple, he shut the door and waited for the first person to arrive. When the glow appeared again, he didn't even have time to reach the cabinet before the door swung open and his father emerged.
"Harry," Severus cried, shutting the door to the cabinet behind him before he embraced his son. "How have you been?"
"I've been fine," Harry replied. "But it's great to see you."
"It's good to see you too, son," Severus replied with a smile, as he pulled back and checked his only son was physically okay.
"I hope you haven't been too worried," Harry said with a chuckle as out of the corner of his eye he saw the cabinet open up again, and this time Beth emerged.
"Harry!" Like Severus before her, Beth rushed over to Harry and swept him up in her arms. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Harry replied as he hugged his step-grandmother.
"We're all so proud of you," Beth said, giving Harry a peck on the cheek. "You've done great, getting us back in again."
"And no-one suspects a thing," Harry declared with a proud grin, just as the cabinet lit up again and this time Hermione emerged.
Hermione also greeted Harry with a hug, as she checked he'd been okay on his own. While Harry was catching up with Hermione, Draco arrived and it was them time to catch up with his best friend. Unlike the others, who'd immediately checked Harry was okay, Draco played it cool, but Harry could see the relief in his friend's eyes when he spotted that he was unscathed.
"And is then where I meet everyone else?" Harry asked, as his grandfather made his appearance from the cabinet, and like the rest of the family checked Harry was okay.
"It is," Voldemort confirmed, placing a hand on Harry's shoulders as they waited for the first of his Death Eaters to arrive.
The first Death Eater to emerge from the cabinet was Rodolphus Lestrange. The wizard was visibly stunned to find Harry standing next to Voldemort, and he still hadn't regained the power of speech before his brother, Rabastan, put in an appearance.
"The Potter boy?" Rabastan frowned. "Am I missing something?"
"It's not Potter," Harry answered as he removed his glasses. "It's Snape."
"Bloody hell," Rodolphus whispered. "You look just like a teenage Severus."
"How has no-one spotted that?" Rabastan questioned.
"The same way, you hadn't," Harry replied as he put his glasses back on. "A pair of glasses and the name Potter, and people see what they want."
The next batch of Death Eaters all had a similar reaction to the Lestrange brothers, shocked at first, but amazed that they hadn't spotted it sooner once they really saw the resemblance between Harry and Severus. One of the last to arrive was Bellatrix, and the instant she spotted Harry, she had her wand out and had it aimed at his throat. At the time of her arrival, Voldemort was talking to the Carrows, and wasn't at Harry's side, but he was there in a flash when he spotted Bellatrix pull her wand.
"You might want to remove your wand from Harry's throat, Bella," Voldemort said in a low voice. Around him, Severus, Beth, Hermione and Draco had all pulled their own wands out and they were aimed at Bellatrix.
Bellatrix glanced around at the wands aimed in her direction, and her obvious confusion grew deeper as Lucius stepped from the cabinet and immediately joined the others in pointing his wand in her direction.
"What is going on?" Bellatrix demanded. "Why are you threatening me when the Potter brat is standing right here?"
"Watch who you're calling a brat, Bellatrix," Severus spat.
"And I am not a Potter," Harry hissed as he raised his hand and shoved Bellatrix's wand away from his throat. In her outnumbered position, she just let her hand fall to her side when he pushed it away.
"You're The Dark Lord's grandson," Bellatrix whispered as understanding dawned on her.
"I am," Harry replied. "And next time you threaten me, you'll regret it."
"Sorry," Bellatrix muttered as she slid her wand away.
Once Bellatrix was unarmed, the others also put their wands away and backed away from the apologetic witch.
"No harm done," Voldemort said, attempting to relieve the tension in the room. "Now you all know who Harry truly is. And I will tell you the same thing, I told you about Severus and Hermione. Harry is family, and if anyone dares to cross him, they will feel the wrath of the entire family. You will treat Harry with the respect he deserves, and if you don't, you'll suffer the consequences."
Voldemort was silent for a minute as he let his words sink in, before he turned to his grandson and checked everything was in place.
"We're all set," Harry confirmed. "Dumbledore still thinks you're going to show up, but a lot of the Order think there's no way into the castle for you. Everyone will be in the Great Hall at the allotted time."
"Very well," Voldemort replied with a nod. "Thank you, Harry. You should go now to make sure no-one starts questioning you. We'll see you in a few hours."
Harry quickly said goodbye to his family and Draco, before making his way to the door. "See you soon," He called, before disappearing back to the Order to spend his last few hours pretending to be someone he wasn't. The end was nigh, the final revelations were just hours away, and Harry couldn't wait.