A/N: I accidently uploaded the chapter of another story of mine…Sorry for that…

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Harry returned from his morning run and found Susan waking up and coming to the living area. "Good morning," he said, a little out of breath.

"Good morning," she greeted him back. "Sorry I wasn't able to join you today. I was tired from our journey last night."

"It's alright," Harry said. "There's no rush. Hermione and Daphne will be coming today to train as well after lunch. Where's Sirius?"

"Still sleeping, I guess," she said when Sirius walked into the living area scratching his head and barely woken up. "Good morning," Susan said.

"Mornin'," Sirius mumbled before he slumped on the couch and let his body fall to one side. "Hmm," he sighed tiredly as he closed his eyes again.

"Wingardium leviosa," Harry said casually as he whipped out his wand towards the open window as some freshly fallen snow floated inside the room which Harry brought over to Sirius. "Wanna do the honors?" he asked Susan who couldn't contain her excitement as she grabbed as much snow as she could in her hands before she made some balls and threw them at Sirius who wasn't expecting this bombardment of snow balls, let alone on the indoors as he woke up haphazardly and looked around, panicked for a moment before he realized what was going on. He saw the floating snow which Harry had brought inside the living area and saw one snow ball in Susan's hand.

"You know that is not right," Sirius said in a serious tone before his demeanor changed as he grabbed some snow and threw them at Susan who screamed in excitement as she run away. "Come here, you little minx!" Sirius said as he ran after her with his hands containing multiple snow balls which he threw at her.

Harry just stood there watching all of this with a happy smile on his face. Both Sirius and Susan needed an excuse to let loose and be happy. They'd both lost someone who was very close to them…a family. If he could help them in any way then he would, no questions asked.

Suddenly then Temmie popped into the living area and took a look at the snow which was everywhere on the floor, melting and forming small puddles of water. "Sorry," Harry said. "I'll clean it up."

"No worries, Harry," said Temmie as she snapped her fingers and all the puddles were gone. "Breakfast is ready," she said as Sirius came into the living area with Susan on his shoulders.

"We'll be there in a bit," Harry said as Sirius put down Susan when Harry headed for the exit door. He stopped and turned to look at them. "Who's ready for round two?"

Both Sirius and Susan looked at each other and smiled. "I will be in Harry's team," she said immediately and ran outside. Sirius followed as well as Harry closed the door behind him. Temmie stood there watching the three with a smile on her face.

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Draco knew this feeling. It had been over three days since they had last heard from Snape. The man who contacted them daily had not been responsive and bad thoughts had started to appear in Narcissa's head. For Draco, it meant only one thing – Voldemort had probably found out about Snape's betrayal and if that was the case then there was a possibility that he might pull out the information from Snape that Draco and his mother were alive.

Draco knew that if it happened then it wouldn't be Snape's fault. Voldemort was known to torture for information and his style of torturing was one of the things which made him feared by everyone. Draco had seen it up close whenever Voldemort had tortured his father.

As Draco thought about Snape his eyes fell on the letter he had received from Harry. He was inviting him to visit a place of history which not many knew about and most of all it contained the information about the divine beasts. Draco owed him so much ever since Harry had him meet Selandra. He was sure that without her help Draco wouldn't be able to stand against Voldemort no matter how much he trained or how strong he became. With Selandra he had hope of taking down Voldemort in a one-on-one fight.

He wondered if Harry or his godfather had heard anything about Snape. He would probably ask him once he visits. For now it was just him and his mother.

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Hermione arrived at Potter manor with the portkey that Harry had given her. Although she had been here before it still took her breath away whenever she saw the manor and its elegance, standing proud and tall in the middle of the Potter estate which stretched to the far highlands.

She saw Harry, Susan and Sirius outside taking a stroll in the garden when Harry saw her. He waved at her and she waved back before she headed towards them.

"You're here," Harry said hugging her. Hermione hugged back before hugging Susan and Sirius as well.

"Are others here as well?" she asked.

"Daphne is and Draco will arrive by noon," Harry said. "Neville won't be joining us."

Hermione nodded, her lips pressed. She knew he wanted to stay away from Harry because of the Yayu. It was then that she saw Daphne coming out of the manor. Sirius left the kids to talk amongst themselves as he had some work at the ministry. Harry took the girls inside where Temmie had prepared some snacks for them to munch on.

It was close to noon when Harry sensed someone's arrival via the wards. "He's here," Harry said having everyone's attention. Sirius had returned by then as he, too, was curious to meet Draco. They all walked outside where they saw Draco coming towards the manor. The look on their faces said how shocked they were to see the boy in front of them. Even Sirius was shocked looking at Draco.

Harry walked forward and shook hands with Draco who smiled slightly looking at him before glancing over to the rest. "Can we talk?" he said. Harry wondered what Draco wanted to talk about but nodded.

A few minutes later they were in Harry's room, him, Draco and Sirius. "Snape has not contacted me or my mother in four days," said Draco. "I think Voldemort knows about him."

Neither Harry nor Sirius was ready for something like this but it sure didn't come to them as a surprise. After everything had happened, seeing how Voldemort had lost four inner circle members he had to grow suspicious towards someone within his ranks. But they didn't know how he arrived to the conclusion that it was Snape although Sirius had a theory.

"If that is true," said Sirius, "what you say about Snape being held by Voldemort, do you think he got suspicious of him because Snape is working as a double spy?"

"I don't know but this is not good," said Draco. "If Voldemort has him then he will make Snape tell him everything. What if he knows about us…me and my mother? If he comes for us right now I won't be able to protect us. I am not ready yet."

"No one's ever ready to face their destiny, Draco," Sirius said placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Sure, you've been prophesized to challenge Voldemort but we don't know when. It might be years from now or even tomorrow. Either way, if you think you are ready to challenge him then you will find yourself wrong. One is never always ready to face their destiny." Draco said nothing as he looked at Sirius.

"You know where his base is," Draco said, "yet neither you nor Kingsley raided it. Is that the reason why?"

Harry looked at Sirius with wide eyes. "You know where Voldemort's base is?" he asked.

"Snape told me," Sirius said. "And even though I know about its location it doesn't matter. We don't have enough manpower to conduct a raid. Even with all the new auror recruits it's not enough. If this is the base of Voldemort's operations then the death eaters in there won't be like what the aurors have been facing right now. We will be going in short-handed in both our number and man-power. It will be suicide."

"When will we ever be ready?" said Draco. "It doesn't matter how many aurors or 'light' witches and wizards you have on your side its nothing compared to the army that Voldemort has. We will always be short-handed and low on man-power when it comes to facing against him. The only way is to rip off the snake's head. That way his army will be disbanded and then we can nab them all a few at a time."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" asked Harry. "How do we cut off the snake's head when he's surrounded with his army and a dozen layers of wards and barriers?"

Draco didn't say anything as he just sat there. Sirius sighed. "Look," said the man, "if Voldemort really has Snape then he will be held in the Riddle manor. If that's where he is then I am sorry but I don't know how we can rescue him."

"He had Amelia there as well," said Draco taking Sirius off-guard. "Would your answer be different if she was still alive and was held captive there?"

"Draco!" Harry said.

"Harry," Sirius said in a calm and collective tone. "I am afraid to say this but yes, I would have no choice but to leave her there. If it was up to me and me alone then yes, I would've gone ahead without thinking about my own life but it's not about me or you or anyone else in particular. You and I both know that if we are going in there then we won't be alone and it is for the sake of those people who will be following us inside that hell that we have to decide the more rational, more logical thing. Can I do it? Yes. But can I endanger the lives of those who are willing to fight alongside us in this battle knowing that they will lose their lives in this meaningless raid? No. Doing that will make me no different than Voldemort."

"So we do nothing?" asked Draco.

"I am afraid but right now…yes," said Sirius." Harry said you all planned to utilize the winter holidays for training so do it. Make yourselves stronger so if and when the time comes you can look that man in the eyes and face him with enough confidence that he will be forced to acknowledge your defiance against him."

Draco said nothing but nodded once. Sirius smiled at the boy seeing how different he had turned out but the reason behind that was equally saddening. Losing someone you loved or someone who was your family tended to change you. In that flow of change you could either become stronger or completely broken on the inside. Draco had chosen the former and Sirius felt proud of him for doing that. Despite his dislike for Lucius he still cared for Narcissa and Draco was her son which made that boy Sirius' cousin.

Draco was family and Sirius wanted to be there for him.

"But the question remains," Harry said after a minute's pause, "can we do nothing?" Suddenly he stopped and sat straight.

"Harry?" Sirius asked looking at the boy's weird reaction.

Harry turned to look at the locker where he had kept the book. He had charmed it with an alert charm to notify him if the book had anything new for him. He had done so after he'd realized that the book wasn't giving him instructions or information on a daily basis.

He stood up and walked over to the locker as Sirius and Draco watched him with in confusion. Harry took out the book which was glowing, an indication that it had something new to tell him as Harry opened it and looked at the page. He stood there for a moment taking in what the book had told him before he closed it and looked at both Sirius and Draco. "I know what happened to Snape," he said slowly.

"What?" Draco asked standing up.

"You were right," Harry said. "Voldemort found out that Snape was betraying him. Right now he is under Voldemort's captivity and…"

"And?" Sirius said.

"Voldemort had Fenrir turn Snape into a werewolf," Harry said.

It was like a punch on the face of both Draco and Sirius when they heard it. "How…How can you be so sure?" asked Draco.

"You read it in there?" Sirius asked looking at the book in Harry's hand. The boy nodded. Sirius had realized the power of this book that Harry had found. Unlike before he, too, now trusted it mostly because it was because of this book that Harry was where he was today. "He's telling the truth," Sirius said to Draco who was still confused as to how Harry knew about it.

"I think it's safe to say that Voldemort won't be killing Snape anytime soon," Harry said despite knowing how bad it sounded. "He plans on using Snape as a weapon like he did with Remus. But I was under the impression that Fenrir only turned small children."

"It is rare for adults to survive a werewolf bite," said Sirius. "While it is as much dangerous for the werewolf to turn an adult into a member of his pack, for that person it is much more risky. There's a 50-50 chance that he will either succumb to the bite or turn into a werewolf. Do we know about Snape's condition?"

Harry shook his head.

"So he's still under the risk of dying from the bite," said Sirius.

"How…How long does it take after one's bitten?" asked Harry.

"About two to three days," said Draco. "We need to get him out of there. I won't lose him."

Both Harry and Sirius understood Draco's love and respect for Snape. To be honest he was more like a father to him that Lucius ever could be despite the fact that Lucius sacrificed himself for the safety of his family. Snape had always been there for Draco and Narcissa.

Harry looked at Sirius. "No!" Sirius said standing up. "I know that look and no! You cannot be thinking that after everything we talked about."

"You know there's no other choice," said Harry.

"Even an army will be less to go against him!" said Sirius. "How do you expect to infiltrate Riddle manor like that?"

"I will be with them," Sirius heard a voice inside his head and gasped out of shock. He looked around when he saw the smirks on Harry and Draco's faces.

"What was that?" asked Sirius.

"That was Selandra," said Harry, "the basilisk from the secret chamber of Salazar Slytherin." Sirius looked at him in bewilderment. What was happening, he thought.

"Do you really want to come, though?" asked Draco looking at Harry. "You still don't have proper control over your magic and there's that other issue."

"I will come as well," said Sirius. "If you two are serious about rescuing Snape then let me come with you. I know you two are mature and braver than other kids your age but you are still kids. And we are talking about Voldemort."

Harry looked at Draco who nodded after thinking for a minute. "So when do we do it?" asked Harry.

"First we need to get you two ready enough," said Draco as Sirius looked at him with baffling eyes while Harry smiled.

"You're talking about teaching us two some moves?" Harry said. Draco smiled.

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For Hermione things weren't going as she had thought they would as she sat in the living area of the Potter manor reading a book she had picked from the manor's library. Their morning training had just ended and she will be leaving for home in an hour but her focus kept going over to where Harry, Sirius and Draco were, discussing something of which she had only a rough idea.

Ever since their training had begun Hermione had been thinking about her skills compared to others.

When it came to intellect Hermione beat them all without a doubt but in practicality she was behind them all. Her spell casting wasn't as strong, accurate or responsive as others and somewhere in her mind she thought it was probably because she was a muggleborn. Although that sounded dumb as there were many muggleborn witches and wizards in history who were very powerful she couldn't seem to shake off that thought.

Amongst the girls in their small group she was behind both Susan and Daphne. During their training she would exhaust herself faster than others which caused her to slow others' training for which she felt bad. Not to mention her accuracy and spell control wasn't up to par with any of them. Even Harry, who had problem controlling the amount of power behind his spell because of the Yayu, did better than her.

So there she sat in the living area with a book in her hand, doing what she did best – reading and gaining more and more knowledge. It was then that Susan noticed her when she came to the living hall. "Why do you have a down face?" she asked sitting beside Hermione.

"I don't know if I should train with you guys," Hermione said in all honesty as it took Susan by surprise.

"And may I ask why?" asked Susan.

"You know already," said Hermione. Susan looked at her confused. Hermione sighed. "It's about my own magical development," she said. "Even with the training I am not able to get as strong as you guys. My spell casting is weak and inaccurate and I have not learnt how to efficiently use my core properly."

"Good," said Susan. "I thought you were going to say that you want to leave." She the saw Hermione's look and her smile was gone. "Don't tell me you're actually thinking of doing that."

"If it doesn't work out for me like you guys then I don't have another option," she said. "I know I may sound selfish but I've noticed how because of me all of your training is slowed down every single day. I can't keep up…"

"Stop saying that," said Susan. "You are the most intelligent girl I've ever seen. You know more spells than any of us combined. Hell, you even know more than Daphne which I thought would be impossible after I saw her knowledge of spells."

"Just knowing about spells and charms isn't enough," said Hermione. "It is easy to see that we will have to fight either Voldemort or Grindelwald or probably both of them in the coming days and in that moment I won't be able to do anything because I can't cast properly."

Susan looked at her before standing up and walking away. Hermione wondered where she was going without saying anything when ten minutes later she returned with Daphne. Both girls sat on either side of Hermione. "I told her what you told me," Susan said pointing at Daphne. Hermione looked from her to Daphne who clearly had a look of thought on her face.

"If you think your spell casting is weak," said Daphne, "then there's only one way to improve it. Practice."

Hermione chuckled. "It's not working," she said.

"I know," said Daphne. "So we practice more. Not everyone can cast spells easily. I mean look at Harry. He can cast any spell with ease and little effort but for others they need more practice. Harry's core is stronger than all of us and I am not talking saying that because of the Yayu. Harry's natural core is very powerful which is why spell casting comes so easy to him. He struggles in learning new spells but his spell casting makes up for it because all he has to do is learn the new spell with its wand movements. For us, whose cores are not as strong as his, we need more practice in all the fields. Do you know how much my father trained me before I was sent to Hogwarts?"

"I have been meaning to ask you that ever since I saw you display your skills with that mannequin," said Susan. Even Hermione looked interested in that.

Daphne smiled. "Five hours," she said. "My dad trained me for five straight hours every day with no break in between for seven days a week. It mostly was physical training like dodging the spells and knowing about my surroundings and what physical things I could use to my advantage because relying entirely on magic is taxing. And to tell you the truth I was bad. I was very bad at it and for the first three years I couldn't learn anything. Even my muscle memory was bad but my dad never gave up on me and maintained his patience and look at me today."

"How old were you when you started to train?" asked Hermione.

"I was five," she said. "And that is a very common age in pureblood families for children to start learning about magic but I only knew very basic spells until I was nine after which my dad started to train me on my spell casting and magical knowledge. And now Astoria, my sister, is undergoing the same training I once did. The only difference is that she is way better than me and I won't be surprised if she turns out to be stronger than me by the time she reaches her third year.

"Look, all I want to say is for some, some things come naturally. For some they need little practice and for others they need to struggle. None of us are same or equal when it comes to our own strength and skills. One is always better than the other in some ways while lacking in some things at the same time. I learnt that. When it comes to physical skills my sister is better than me and I know that because she picked up on her training much faster than I did so I know she will be stronger than me by the time she reaches my age. For you it's your intelligence and ability to understand things. McGonagall wouldn't simply call you the brightest witch of our generation just like that."

"She what?" both Susan and Hermione said at the same time.

"I overhead it one time," said Daphne. "And I don't think she's wrong. You've proven yourself with your efforts and hard work time and time again. You've proven those people wrong who think blood purity is the only thing that makes someone a great witch or wizard. What you don't have is proper magical control and that can be solved with enough training. And I don't think you are someone who runs away from doing more effort otherwise you wouldn't be who you are today."

"I can't say she's wrong," said Susan as she looked at Hermione.

"So I need to train more than others. That's what you mean to say?" asked Hermione.

Daphne nodded. "And I think Harry wouldn't mind if we use his basement a little longer for training," she said.

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Thanks for reading…