* * * *
By the end of the Christmas holidays, The Five had finally begun to understand what it was they were preparing themselves for. Dumbledore wasn't going to fool them, he wasn't going to let them believe that they were in for an easy ride. The road ahead of them was long, frightening and incredibly tough. They would have to learn to completely trust in one another, Kendra would have to hone her mind reading ability to the fullest extent; she had to learn to control it. Parvati would be taught by Professor Trelawney which visions to disregard and which visions would bring news of the future.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were given fewer tasks than the others. They didn't have special abilities that they had to learn to control. Instead they busied themselves in the library studying spells. Hermione read all the history she could that surrounded The Five, their ancestors. She had Dumbledore's permission to search the entire Restricted Section of the library and came up with things that astounded even her.
Harry and Ron researched what charms and curses they could, practicing on each other before they slept every night. It had been a busy holiday for all of them, the stress of their task had become very real and Snape never failed to comment on how unprepared they really were.
"How can we prepare?" Hermione asked him one night just before classes started again.
They were seated in the library, Kendra and Hermione studying books on mind reading while Parvati struggled to remember what Professor Trelawney had been telling her about visions. Snape had joined them only a few minutes ago at Dumbledore's request. He had been sent to make sure they were safe and that no students had come up with the brilliant plan of harassing them, now that the information had been made free to them at The Five went to their school and that Draco Malfoy was a Death Eater.
Snape stared at Hermione for a long moment as if she were another species.
"She has a point, Professor," Kendra added, staring at the table. "No one has really explained to us what we have to do. We're studying curses and charms, studying anti-curses, but nothing that tells us how we defeat You-Know-Who."
Parvati chimed in a moment later, with, "Yeah, aren't you supposed to be teaching us something?"
It was a moment in their lives that none of them would ever forget. Whatever happened in the next few months, whatever they faced, nothing was so startling as seeing Snape look unnerved. He had never looked so uncertain before, his eyes flickering carefully between the three students that he was watching over. Snape was always in control, even when he had been doubled over with the pain of the Cruciatus Curse he had managed to stay in control of his body.
"Well?" Hermione asked.
"Would it be terribly disheartening for you if I admitted that I didn't know?" Snape asked, his voice cold and forced.
Parvati frowned. "So, what are we doing here? What are we researching? Do we even have a chance?"
"I believe so," Snape answered.
"You believe?" Kendra's eyes widened. "This is . . ." she trailed off, unable to even find the words to express her outrage.
"You made us believe that you and Dumbledore would teach us how to win," Hermione said. "You made us think that we'd be safe. That's unfair."
"I did no such thing," Snape said angrily. "I made no pretenses about this fight. All I said was that Dumbledore and myself would be there as guardians. We will protect your lives at all costs . . . until the fight against Voldemort. All we know is that you have to do that alone."
"So, all this preparation is for nothing?" Hermione asked, incredulous. "We can prepare as much as we want, but it won't be worth anything when it comes down to it."
"That's not true Miss Granger," Snape replied, glaring at her. "Do you honestly think it will be easy to get to Voldemort? We were worried about an attack on you earlier because you didn't yet know what you were, but now . . ." he shook his head angrily, hair falling into his eyes. "He won't let you get to him without a fight. When he begins to make himself known in society again he'll surround himself with protection. The Death Eaters will not be easy to get past, you should know that. They'll die for him and they will have to, because you have to get past them."
"Kill them?" Kendra asked, her hand creeping slowly toward her mouth.
Snape fixed her with a sharp glare. "Yes Miss Rayne, you will have to kill some of them."
"Oh," she breathed, unable to meet his eye.
"The five of you honestly have no idea what you're in for, do you?" Snape asked.
"No one has told us a thing," Hermione protested. "How are we supposed to understand? We've been waiting for some big battle to begin, waiting for the body count to climb higher and higher, but nothing happens. Kendra's parents are dead but where's the rest of the battle? Are we supposed to go looking for Voldemort or is he going to come to us?"
Snape stared at her, a frown creasing his brow. "Don't you understand yet Miss Granger? We don't know anything more than you do."
"Why don't you?" Parvati asked.
Snape snorted. "You're the one with the visions. You tell us what's going to happen." When no one spoke again Snape sighed. "I don't want to frighten you, but you have to accept what's happening. No one can see the future, not even you Miss Patil, nothing comes to you clearly. How in the world are we supposed to tell you what to do?"
The three students fell silent, Snape glaring over all of them angrily. Hermione was nervously bending the page of a book, Kendra was playing with the bandages on her three torn fingernails and Parvati had suddenly become interested in the window on the far wall of the library.
"I take your silence to mean you're still not happy about the information I'm giving you," Snape said.
Hermione sighed. "How can we be happy? We're so lost. We don't even know when Voldemort will decide to attack. It could be ten years from now."
Snape snorted. "I will tell you one thing Miss Granger, it will not be ten years from now."
As Hermione opened her mouth to respond the door to the library banged inward. It ricocheted violently off the wall, leaving an indent where the handle had hit it. Madam Pince glared at Harry, who had caused the door to hit the wall, but he ignored her look and rushed toward his friends.
"Oh Merlin," he breathed, leaning onto their table. "It's starting."
Hermione glanced sharply at Professor Snape, then leaned forward. "What is it Harry? What's starting?"
"Draco's mother was found dead in her home a few hours ago," Harry said, his voice shaking. "Don't get me wrong, I didn't like Narcissa Malfoy, but her own son . . . her own family killed her."
"Voldemort's demands," Snape said. "It always started off with killing your own family."
Kendra's eyes widened. "Did you-"
"That is not the current topic of discussion Miss Rayne," Snape said sharply.
"What did they do to her?" Parvati asked, looking to Harry once more.
He shook his head. "Dumbledore wouldn't tell us. He said we didn't need to know about that kind of thing."
"But we do!" Hermione protested. "We need to know what his Death Eaters are capable of, don't we?"
"I would agree," Snape said, his voice low. "I will go see Dumbledore, if he agrees to tell you anything we'll send for you." His eyes took in the four students that were around him. "Stay safe," he ordered. "Find Mr Weasley, get to the Gryffindor tower. Whatever you do, don't leave the school."
Without saying anything else to them, Snape stood and left the library quickly. The door slammed the wall once again as he left and Madam Pince shot another angry glare in the direction of the doors before realizing it had been a Professor.
"This is bad," Harry whispered as he sat down. "Draco killed his own mother? It's so hard to believe."
"He's a Death Eater," Hermione reminded him. "He would have killed you if Snape hadn't been there. He probably would have gotten away with it too, then killed the rest of us. It wasn't safe having him here."
Harry sighed. "It's not safe having him out there either."
* * * *
Notes: I know Narcissa is supposed to be a Death Eater as well, but who said Lucius wouldn't turn on her? I wouldn't trust him .... :)
By the end of the Christmas holidays, The Five had finally begun to understand what it was they were preparing themselves for. Dumbledore wasn't going to fool them, he wasn't going to let them believe that they were in for an easy ride. The road ahead of them was long, frightening and incredibly tough. They would have to learn to completely trust in one another, Kendra would have to hone her mind reading ability to the fullest extent; she had to learn to control it. Parvati would be taught by Professor Trelawney which visions to disregard and which visions would bring news of the future.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were given fewer tasks than the others. They didn't have special abilities that they had to learn to control. Instead they busied themselves in the library studying spells. Hermione read all the history she could that surrounded The Five, their ancestors. She had Dumbledore's permission to search the entire Restricted Section of the library and came up with things that astounded even her.
Harry and Ron researched what charms and curses they could, practicing on each other before they slept every night. It had been a busy holiday for all of them, the stress of their task had become very real and Snape never failed to comment on how unprepared they really were.
"How can we prepare?" Hermione asked him one night just before classes started again.
They were seated in the library, Kendra and Hermione studying books on mind reading while Parvati struggled to remember what Professor Trelawney had been telling her about visions. Snape had joined them only a few minutes ago at Dumbledore's request. He had been sent to make sure they were safe and that no students had come up with the brilliant plan of harassing them, now that the information had been made free to them at The Five went to their school and that Draco Malfoy was a Death Eater.
Snape stared at Hermione for a long moment as if she were another species.
"She has a point, Professor," Kendra added, staring at the table. "No one has really explained to us what we have to do. We're studying curses and charms, studying anti-curses, but nothing that tells us how we defeat You-Know-Who."
Parvati chimed in a moment later, with, "Yeah, aren't you supposed to be teaching us something?"
It was a moment in their lives that none of them would ever forget. Whatever happened in the next few months, whatever they faced, nothing was so startling as seeing Snape look unnerved. He had never looked so uncertain before, his eyes flickering carefully between the three students that he was watching over. Snape was always in control, even when he had been doubled over with the pain of the Cruciatus Curse he had managed to stay in control of his body.
"Well?" Hermione asked.
"Would it be terribly disheartening for you if I admitted that I didn't know?" Snape asked, his voice cold and forced.
Parvati frowned. "So, what are we doing here? What are we researching? Do we even have a chance?"
"I believe so," Snape answered.
"You believe?" Kendra's eyes widened. "This is . . ." she trailed off, unable to even find the words to express her outrage.
"You made us believe that you and Dumbledore would teach us how to win," Hermione said. "You made us think that we'd be safe. That's unfair."
"I did no such thing," Snape said angrily. "I made no pretenses about this fight. All I said was that Dumbledore and myself would be there as guardians. We will protect your lives at all costs . . . until the fight against Voldemort. All we know is that you have to do that alone."
"So, all this preparation is for nothing?" Hermione asked, incredulous. "We can prepare as much as we want, but it won't be worth anything when it comes down to it."
"That's not true Miss Granger," Snape replied, glaring at her. "Do you honestly think it will be easy to get to Voldemort? We were worried about an attack on you earlier because you didn't yet know what you were, but now . . ." he shook his head angrily, hair falling into his eyes. "He won't let you get to him without a fight. When he begins to make himself known in society again he'll surround himself with protection. The Death Eaters will not be easy to get past, you should know that. They'll die for him and they will have to, because you have to get past them."
"Kill them?" Kendra asked, her hand creeping slowly toward her mouth.
Snape fixed her with a sharp glare. "Yes Miss Rayne, you will have to kill some of them."
"Oh," she breathed, unable to meet his eye.
"The five of you honestly have no idea what you're in for, do you?" Snape asked.
"No one has told us a thing," Hermione protested. "How are we supposed to understand? We've been waiting for some big battle to begin, waiting for the body count to climb higher and higher, but nothing happens. Kendra's parents are dead but where's the rest of the battle? Are we supposed to go looking for Voldemort or is he going to come to us?"
Snape stared at her, a frown creasing his brow. "Don't you understand yet Miss Granger? We don't know anything more than you do."
"Why don't you?" Parvati asked.
Snape snorted. "You're the one with the visions. You tell us what's going to happen." When no one spoke again Snape sighed. "I don't want to frighten you, but you have to accept what's happening. No one can see the future, not even you Miss Patil, nothing comes to you clearly. How in the world are we supposed to tell you what to do?"
The three students fell silent, Snape glaring over all of them angrily. Hermione was nervously bending the page of a book, Kendra was playing with the bandages on her three torn fingernails and Parvati had suddenly become interested in the window on the far wall of the library.
"I take your silence to mean you're still not happy about the information I'm giving you," Snape said.
Hermione sighed. "How can we be happy? We're so lost. We don't even know when Voldemort will decide to attack. It could be ten years from now."
Snape snorted. "I will tell you one thing Miss Granger, it will not be ten years from now."
As Hermione opened her mouth to respond the door to the library banged inward. It ricocheted violently off the wall, leaving an indent where the handle had hit it. Madam Pince glared at Harry, who had caused the door to hit the wall, but he ignored her look and rushed toward his friends.
"Oh Merlin," he breathed, leaning onto their table. "It's starting."
Hermione glanced sharply at Professor Snape, then leaned forward. "What is it Harry? What's starting?"
"Draco's mother was found dead in her home a few hours ago," Harry said, his voice shaking. "Don't get me wrong, I didn't like Narcissa Malfoy, but her own son . . . her own family killed her."
"Voldemort's demands," Snape said. "It always started off with killing your own family."
Kendra's eyes widened. "Did you-"
"That is not the current topic of discussion Miss Rayne," Snape said sharply.
"What did they do to her?" Parvati asked, looking to Harry once more.
He shook his head. "Dumbledore wouldn't tell us. He said we didn't need to know about that kind of thing."
"But we do!" Hermione protested. "We need to know what his Death Eaters are capable of, don't we?"
"I would agree," Snape said, his voice low. "I will go see Dumbledore, if he agrees to tell you anything we'll send for you." His eyes took in the four students that were around him. "Stay safe," he ordered. "Find Mr Weasley, get to the Gryffindor tower. Whatever you do, don't leave the school."
Without saying anything else to them, Snape stood and left the library quickly. The door slammed the wall once again as he left and Madam Pince shot another angry glare in the direction of the doors before realizing it had been a Professor.
"This is bad," Harry whispered as he sat down. "Draco killed his own mother? It's so hard to believe."
"He's a Death Eater," Hermione reminded him. "He would have killed you if Snape hadn't been there. He probably would have gotten away with it too, then killed the rest of us. It wasn't safe having him here."
Harry sighed. "It's not safe having him out there either."
* * * *
Notes: I know Narcissa is supposed to be a Death Eater as well, but who said Lucius wouldn't turn on her? I wouldn't trust him .... :)