26 | SECRETS UNRAVELING
Narcissa's information proved to be quite fruitful. The Death Eaters hadn't expected the demure pureblood witch to become a well of secrets, but after months of being her husband's confidant, she had enough intel to give the Order a considerable advantage.
The Prewetts took Narcissa straight to Moody, the group of them eagerly asking for details as they mapped out the plans for their upcoming raid. The Order had suspected a stronghold of resources and a hub for the Death Eaters' network was based out of Nott Manor- it was why the Prewetts were sent there on the night they were ambushed. Narcissa not only happily confirmed their suspicions, but she smugly told them exactly how to get in, the fortress's weaknesses, escape routes, and internal layout.
Fabian watched in respect as she wandlessly but magically sketched out neat and delicate blue prints of the manor onto spare parchment. He bumped Gideon in the shoulder, gesturing to the slowly growing layouts as if they'd just hit a gold mine. In a sense they had- this was precisely the information they needed to cut out the Death Eaters' legs from under them while minimizing their own losses.
When she'd finished, Moody gave her a rare but approving grunt of appreciation. Gideon was smiling gratefully while Fabian merely watched in slack-jawed awe. Her lips had quirked up at their reaction.
The young witch hadn't anticipated how much fun it would be to prove these wizards wrong of every misconception they had of her.
After nearly a week of careful planning and strategizing, Moody felt ready to call the Order together for the raid. If they managed to pull this off, this could be one of the turning points for the entire war. Voldemort was mortal once again- not that Narcissa knew any of that when she'd willingly revealed information.
"We need all capable Order members in this raid," Moody said sternly. "This is it. This is the night that will shape how the rest of the war will go. If we succeed, the war might be over sooner than we think. I need all your heads in this."
Headquarters was packed to the brim with a sea of nodding heads, everyone ready to go out and finally do something. Too long they'd merely been hiding, trying covertly to oppose Voldemort's influences in the Ministry. Too long they'd been forced underground and into hiding. The room was filled with Order members, aurors, strategists, healers, and allies alike.
Lily was the Order's main Healer in training, even though she'd seen more critical patients in the course of this war than most Healers during their entire career. She agreed to stay at Headquarters to coordinate a team for medical care alongside Madam Pomfrey, Amelia Bones, and Andromeda.
Nearly everyone else was recruited for combat. Even James, despite everyone's protests, had insisted he wouldn't sit idly by as his friends and comrades went into battle when he was perfectly healthy, and was good with a wand.
"Please watch out for him," Lily pleaded to the boys.
Sirius and Remus both dropped an affectionate peck to her head. "We always do,"
Everyone was assigned a partner, and they were told point blank that if someone was to get injured in the raid their partner was supposed to escort them back for medical treatment. The Prewetts were paired together. Sirius and James had immediately chosen each other, and Remus partnered with Hermione. The others paired off as well, but almost everyone left was wary of partnering with Severus Snape. Those who trusted him enough to have their back in battle were already paired. Hermione considered offering to switch when Mary calmly asked to be his partner. Her serene tone as she easily went up to Severus reminded Hermione a lot of Luna Lovegood.
"Let me go with you! I can help!" An irate Narcissa cried, stalking over to Moody and the Prewetts.
"You're grounded for this one missy." Moody said firmly. "One: we don't know if we can trust you in battle when you've been raised with these people. You haven't even earned your wand privileges back yet. Two: your knowledge is far too valuable for us to lose you to one raid."
Moody walked away, considering the matter handled.
"BUT-" she sputtered indelicately.
"Sorry Princess," Fabian shrugged innocently, though he agreed with Moody wholeheartedly. "It'll take some time before you earn a set of wings around here."
Narcissa bristled with anger, outright glaring at the tall wizard. Gideon, who stood nearby was staring at his brother in concern- judging by the hard glint in Narcissa Malfoy's eyes, she was not one to be trifled with. But Fabian seemed entirely unbothered as the witch nearly steamed with frustration.
"Don't call me a Princess," she bit out.
"Looks like Princess, certainly acts like a Princess," Fabian grinned in amusement. "Must be a Princess."
She glared at him as he walked away chuckling. He'd never had so much fun riling someone up in his life.
Groups of them stood together in tight anticipation, waiting for Moody's signal. While some of them were meant to serve as an ambush and diversion, other groups were assigned to sneak in through passages that led to their private stores. It was an operation meant to be both covert and an attack all at once.
Hermione found Sirius's eyes across the room. She nodded to him and he tilted his head back at her. See you on the other side.
~o~O~o~
The raid was the epitome of organized chaos.
Moody had led most of the brute force fighters in through the most obvious weaknesses in Nott Manor's defenses, making their plan seem like a frontal attack. However once the Manor's wards had dropped and Moody and his team had the Death Eaters engaged, Hermione, Remus, Severus, and Mary had snuck in through secret passages to go find their supplies of potions, ingredients, looted riches, and endless documents of intelligence. Since Severus knew his way around the manor, they'd decided he'd lead the covert arm of the raid. It was best he stayed out of sight anyway so he didn't antagonize any of the Death Eaters. He'd have an even bigger target on his back than the rest of them.
When they arrived at a fork in the winding halls of the manor, they parted ways. They'd agreed to temporarily switch partners; Remus and Mary would go down to the dungeons to find and rescue their prisoners. Remus's elevated senses and fast reflexes would be perfect for the rescue operation, while Mary's intermediate healing skills would be necessary for helping the prisoners out of the place. Hermione and Severus were on the path to their supplies stores.
The room had been more like an entire hall. Hermione had been shocked to see the sheer scale of their operation. Potions lined the walls for all purposes. Fresh potions ingredients were categorized and alphabetized in neat shelves. There were enough parchments of intel to fill an entire library- information on all suspected Order members, information on their families, old spell books, and numerous contacts serving in high rank positions.
"How do we handle this?" Hermione asked in awe. There was way too much for them to quickly sort through.
"The potions ingredients will be helpful," Snape instructed confidently. "Collect all of them in that extendable bag of yours, as well as any of the potions you think will be useful. Some of them are curses or dark potions, I'm sure we could leave them behind."
Hermione barely had time to be fazed when he called her out on her extendable purse, immediately sorting through the potions stuff. Severus immediately started scanning the shelves of books, shrinking documents he deemed important while pulling the rest off of the shelves and to the floors.
It had taken them all of fifteen minutes to haphazardly get through the whole collection.
"I hope I got everything," Hermione said worriedly.
"We don't have time," Severus said practically. "We did the best anyone could do."
"What do we do with the rest?" Hermione asked nervously, looking at the remaining potions that had been more harmful than helpful and the tombs of dark magic and information on the Order members.
"We burn it." Severus said resolutely. "With Fiendfyre."
"That's too dangerous-" Hermione blanched.
"It's too risky not to," Snape argued. "Fiendfyre is the only way to ensure they can't restore any of these documents."
"I don't know..." Hermione hedged.
"You cast it," Snape instructed calmly. "Keep it gentle. I'll put it out when you tire out."
Hermione nodded in resolve. He was right- this was the best way to make sure no one could ever get their hands on this stuff again. They worked together in strained concentration as they set the room alight, struggling to put the fire out. But put it out, they did.
"Alright we have to go!" Hermione said breathlessly, headed out to where she knew the rest of the Order were keeping the Death Eaters busy.
Looking out onto the battle, her hopes were restored a little as she noticed the Order was winning, successfully felling many of the Death Eaters.
"Hermione! Severus!" Remus called out, jogging up to them as they stared onto the lawn filled with duels. They were still in the cover of the woods right behind the manor, right where the secret passages began.
"Where's MacDonald?" Severus asked immediately.
"She stayed behind at Headquarters to help with all the prisoners we rescued. Some of them were in bad shape."
"You're supposed to stay with your partner," Hermione insisted to Remus.
"Mary's not hurt," he told her rationally. "Besides, they need us out on the field."
"Alright, we stick together then," Hermione said, both wizards nodding in confirmation.
They joined the battle, sticking together in a tight formation. The three of them dueled seamlessly, despite their turbulent histories. Hermione could glimpse Sirius and James dueling two Death Eaters head on across the lawn, both of them engaged in a dance of flourished wand movements and sharp jabs. It was rather beautiful in a haunting way.
Most of the Death Eaters she could recognize as younger versions of the people who'd been infamous terrors in her time. Luckily for them, she didn't see Bellatrix or Voldemort, and assumed they'd caught them at a time the stronghold was only filled with secondary Death Eaters and not their inner circle.
Hermione got caught in the lull of dueling, the spells coming more instinctively as she fought off one after another.
She was doing fine... until she saw him.
The last time she'd been on the end of his wand, she'd been but a mere child- despite what they may have believed at the time. The Department of Mysteries flashed through her mind as he caught sight of her, a predatory grin slipping over his expression.
Hermione's heart dropped.
She remembered back in her seventh year, Tonks had pulled her aside before Bill and Fleur's wedding. She'd warned her of the Death Eater's strange obsession with Hermione, telling her to steer clear of him if she had the option.
Dolohov prowled over to her, easily creating a path through the dueling witches and wizards. She couldn't tell what about her drew him to her every time, even though he'd never seen her before in this time.
His attack was blunt and powerful, not bothering with the niceties of dueling etiquette and fancy wand flourishes. Hermione held him off admirably considering she'd just handled large amounts of Fiendfyre. It was particularly easy at first because she'd anticipated the spells he'd cast- the typical crucio or stupefy- which made it easier for her to block. It was when he'd began shooting ambiguous curses her way that her shields began to weaken.
She could feel perspiration trailing down her neck as she struggled to keep her shields against his steadily oncoming attack.
"Snape," she bit out, a tinge of panic to her voice.
"What?" He grunted, busy holding off his own attackers.
"I-"
Hermione could see the next moment stretched into a million. Her shield had already thinned, and she knew she needed a reprieve soon. But before she could voice that to her partner, an inky purple light burst out of Dolohov's wand. She could see the spell shooting towards her through her shield, and could do nothing as the curse broke through her long sustained armor, hitting her squarely in the chest.
Hermione gasped, falling backwards from the force of the impact. Her flailing arms caught Severus's cloak on her way down, and he looked down at her in surprised alarm.
"Shit," he muttered. "LUPIN!"
"What?" Remus asked, glancing back. "Oh bloody hell, Hermione!"
Her breaths were shallow and wheezy, her vision rapidly blurring. A dark red bloomed across her blouse where the curse had hit, this time around hitting her with its full potential.
Severus managed to overtake the last of his attackers, taking a moment to study Hermione.
"Pur... purple curse," she wheezed out.
Severus's eyes widened in shock.
If this was the spell he thought it was, she should already be dead. Her organs would've been liquefied in minutes.
Wait.
Severus's eyes swept across the battlefield, his eyes landing on a distracted Potter who was struggling to hold off two Death Eaters while glancing back to his partner in concern. Sirius had collapsed.
Of course.
"Lupin," he commanded. "Take her back to headquarters immediately. Take her straight to Andromeda and Narcissa- they'll know what to do."
"What about you?" Remus asked.
"NOW LUPIN!" Snape roared. "She doesn't have much time!"
Remus paled, disapparating away with Hermione within the next moment.
For a moment Snape debated what to do. He could choose to not act, and Hermione would still likely live with the healing advantages she had from the bond she shared with Black. Merlin knows Black had done plenty to him to make him choose not to help him in this crucial moment. But as he surveyed the battlefield of impassioned Order members fighting side by side, he thought back to Lily and her excitement that they were finally on the same side. He couldn't disappoint her. Not again.
~o~O~o~
It was all going well until all of a sudden, it wasn't. James and Sirius hadn't had the chance to duel side by side since he'd been shuffled into hiding. They'd found their flow together seamlessly. They were fighting McNair and Goyle, and they were winning.
Until Sirius dropped to the ground.
Sirius felt an overwhelming pain hit him like the Hogwarts Express, and he dropped to the ground like a brick. He couldn't breathe- he could scarcely see past the pain. James looked back at his seizing friend in alarm, struggling to keep up sufficient shields for both of them.
"Sirius!" What the bloody hell? He hadn't been hit by anything, he was sure!
Out of nowhere, a second wand joined their fight as the last person he'd expected emerged. Severus Snape stood alongside James Potter, helping him stun his two opponents.
"What the hell?"
"He's going to die," Snape said urgently, referring to Sirius.
"What the bloody hell happened? I didn't even see a spell hit him!" James panicked.
"Long story, Potter. He doesn't have much time." Snape grunted, hoisting Sirius to his feet. "Are you going to help or not?"
James grabbed Sirius's other arm, lifting it around his shoulder. He was barely conscious by now. Snape immediately apparated them back to an unfamiliar house.
"Where are we?" James asked suspiciously. "This isn't headquarters."
"I know. Wait here- I can't do this alone. I need help."
"Snape-" James began to argue, but Severus had already apparated away.
He landed back at headquarters not a moment later, which was buzzing with all the returning Order members. He spotted the person he was looking for, huddled around Narcissa and Andromeda working diligently over Hermione.
In the midst of the chaos, he was easily able to walk over, closing his hand over her wrist before pulling her away from the crowd.
"Severus?" Mary asked in confusion, pulling against his hold.
But instead of answering, he pulled her to the abandoned hallway before apparating them back to Spinner's End.
James watched in confusion as Snape returned with one of the other Order members he'd seen occasionally. Mary, was it?
Mary looked at Sirius in surprise, who was suffering from the exact same- if not more extreme- symptoms Hermione had displayed.
"What in the world?" She exclaimed.
"Dolohov cursed them," Snape said briefly, jerking off his cloak and hauling a potions chest out of a nearby trunk. "It's disintegrating their organs from the inside out."
"Dolohov cursed them both?" She asked dubiously. "With the same curse?"
"We weren't anywhere near Dolohov." James said in confusion. "And who's the other person?"
"Long story." Snape bit out, jerking out potions he'd hoped would be helpful. "I need you to administer these potions and keep healing the internal damage as I try to siphon the curse out. One won't work without the other- we need to move fast or he'll be dead within minutes."
James froze, looking to his best mate in horror. "What can I do?"
"Stay out of the way," Snape said callously, trying to focus. "Go back to headquarters, the others have returned."
"No way-"
"Potter now is not the time for your immature stubbornness!" Snape snapped. "The others can't know what's wrong with Black because he asked to keep it a secret. If you don't go back and confirm you're alive, they'll send search parties out. So go back, hold them at bay. We'll take care of this."
James hesitated, his gaze flying from the impatient wizard to his best friend. He had no reason to trust him to Snape- they hated each other. Yet a part of him knew he was right, and for whatever reason, Snape seemed to know more about the situation than he did at the moment.
"Go," Mary said softly. "We'll take care of him."
James felt slightly more reassured knowing Mary was with them. She seemed like a reliable Order member. Surely she wouldn't allow Snape to something stupid like murder Sirius in cold blood? With a brief nod, James apparated away.
"Focus, MacDonald," Snape commanded authoritatively.
"Right," she murmured.
They worked over Sirius together. The expanse of his chest was ingrained with a fresh, jagged purple bruise, which was bleeding around the edges. His breathing was weak, as was his pulse. They worked for over an hour, Snape slowly but steadily siphoning the dark magic out of the wound. Mary worked to heal the extensive damage, shoving potion after potion down Sirius's throat. What baffled her was how extreme the curse exhibited itself in Sirius. Hermione was supposedly hit by the same curse, but she was still conscious as Narcissa and Andromeda treated her. They'd taken one look at the raw purple wound on her chest and immediately known what to do. Yet while they were able to stabilize Hermione easily enough, Sirius only seemed to get worse and worse.
"Why isn't he healing?" Mary asked in concern.
"The dark magic was all funneled to his body," Snape murmured. "Until I get the last of it out, his wounds will keep reappearing until the curse accomplishes its objective."
Mary paled, quieting immediately so Severus could focus. But she didn't miss the curious phrasing he used. The magic was funneled to his body? From what? Hermione? How? Why?
~o~O~o~
James arrived back at headquarters with questions still swarming his mind. He wasn't prepared when his wife flew into his arms.
"James! I was so worried!" She pulled back, looking over him for injuries.
"I'm fine," he assured.
"Hermione was hit," Lily gulped with tears in her eyes. "I don't know with what, but Narcissa and Andromeda seemed to know. They didn't have high hopes."
She took him by the arm, pulling him over to where Remus waited with Hermione. James followed intently, his mind putting the pieces together from the mumblings he'd gathered from Snape.
Hermione had the same jagged mark across her chest as Sirius did. Though while Sirius's kept darkening and pulsing with blood, Hermione's seemed to be slowly but steadily fading. Apparently Dolohov had cursed her, but he'd been nowhere near Sirius and James.
"Impossible," Andromeda whispered as she watched the dark black veins twisting along the purple bruise fade. "I haven't even tried to siphon it yet," she muttered to herself.
"The healing is working," Narcissa said happily.
While everyone let go of a deep breath, thanking Merlin for the miracle, Andromeda's expression scrunched in confusion. Merlin had nothing to do with it- this sort of dark magic didn't simply heal or disappear.
Hermione herself, barely on the brink of consciousness, shared the same confusion. She'd barely lived the last time she'd been on the receiving end of this curse- and only because she'd been fortunate enough to mute the effects by silencing Dolohov. She shouldn't even be alive, much less healing so quickly. But the edges of her consciousness darkened as the pull of sleep dragged her under.
"Where's Sirius?" Lily asked James, finally noticing who they were missing.
Andromeda caught the exchange, looking up at James questioningly. He didn't have answers for either of them, but he knew they'd never accept that.
"James?" Lily asked again, the concern in her voice growing again.
Andromeda excused herself, allowing Narcissa and Madam Pomfrey to take over the actual healing process for Hermione. She made her way over to the Potters, looking at James expectantly.
"Where is my cousin, Mr. Potter?"
James looked back and forth between the two witches watching him expectantly. "He's with Snape," he admitted, running his hand through his hair tiredly. "And Mary."
"Why?" Lily asked in confusion. "Why not bring him here? Is he hurt?"
James hesitated, not knowing how much to say nor the truth of the reality. But Andromeda's eyes widened in suspicion.
"Take me to my cousin, Mr. Potter." She said in a stern voice.
Lily glanced at Andromeda, surprised by the tension in the witch's voice. "James?" She was so confused.
James sighed, holding out both hands to either witch. "It's a long story," he shrugged, citing Snape. "I'd like to know the truth as well."
He disapparated away with them, knowing Snape wouldn't appreciate the intrusion on his private space. In the middle of the post-battle chaos, no one even noticed they'd left. Those who did had already seem them and assumed they went home.
~o~O~o~
Hi lovelies!
I know, this was a fast update. I've had a burst of inspiration this past month. I promise I publish as soon as I have the chapters finished. So if it's ready, I won't hold out on you for no reason :)
If you like Marauders Era stories, please please please go check out my other story "Hiraeth" which is a James Potter romance. It's my current passion project, and I must say I'm quite proud of it.
~ silverstorme
