Chapter Twenty-one
In which the time comes to hear the plan
Hermione was sleeping soundly until she felt someone shaking her and was forced into wakefulness at what felt like a very indecent hour of the morning. She tried to hide at first, burying her face in pillow and groaning. But as her mind slowly found its way through the dim and murky depths of slumber, she realized that the person was far too persistent and wasn't likely to stop until acknowledged them.
She opened her eyes to find Severus staring down at her, looking mildly annoyed as he buttoned the collar of his robes with one hand and continued to shake her with the other.
"Finally." he said.
"What's the matter?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.
"The mirror awakened me. It says that the headmaster wants to speak with all of us." Severus informed her.
"I certainly hope it's good news."
"As do I."
"I'll go and get Remus and Ginny then." she said, sliding from the bed and smoothing her rumpled clothes.
Hermione walked into the parlor, yawning as she opened the door that separated the two rooms. She stopped in her tracks and grinned when she saw them curled up on the couch together. They had decided that the overstuffed piece of furniture was vastly preferable to the floor for sleeping.
Remus had changed back into human form, which meant that it was not quite so early in the morning as Hermione had believed, and he had his arms around Ginny, who was sleeping with her head resting upon his chest. They looked so peaceful, so happy as they slept that Hermione truly hated to wake them. But, of course, she did not want to keep the headmaster waiting.
"Wake up, you two!" she said, chuckling softly despite her best efforts not to do so. "We have business to attend to this morning. Professor Dumbledore wants to speak with us." Hermione added as they scrambled up from the couch with Remus looking every-so-slightly guilty for his part and Ginny appearing only a bit embarrassed.
They both nodded and followed her back into the bedroom where Severus was seated on the edge of the bed. Remus and Ginny strode toward the mirror, understanding that that was where the summons had come from, while Hermione helped Severus to his feet and across the room. His steps were still wobbly, but he seemed almost strong enough to walk unassisted.
"What news?" asked Severus with a slight smirk as he noticed an exhausted looking Minerva McGonagall standing just behind Dumbledore. It appeared as though she had not slept the night before.
Two of the most irritating Gryffindors ever to enter Hogwarts were standing to the side. Harry and Ron looked as though they had just been roused from bed, which of course they had been.
Severus watched the headmaster's lips move silently and waited for the mirror to relay the message.
"He says that the other three looking glasses have been successfully located."
"That's wonderful!" said Ginny, beaming at Remus and squeezing his hand, which she had been holding for some time.
"It certainly is!" Severus agreed with a relieved smile.
Despite his banter with Hermione the night before, he had been preparing himself for the possibility that he would have to remain behind if worse came to worst. He did not consider himself anything like a martyr nor particularly noble, but Severus would have done what was necessary to see Hermione home, and he knew Gryffindors in general and her in particular well enough to say that perhaps only the Imperious Curse itself would have been sufficient to force her to leave him. Remus, he believed, might have accepted his sacrifice with the proper amount of convincing, and where he went Ginny would follow, but not Hermione. She would have been most difficult.
"Where are they then?" questioned Remus with a pleased and much relieved smile.
"One is located in the prefects' bath. Another hangs behind a drapery in the Divinations classroom. The last is hidden in a sequestered reading room in a secret passage between two suits of armor in the third floor corridor." the mirror told them, speaking for Dumbledore.
The room became strangely silent at the locations of the exits to the demon realm were named. They all realized instantly how far away those places were within the castle. They were all outside the dungeons, far outside the wards and their sanctuary. They may as well have been on the moon.
Remus shook his head as he realized how foolish it had been to believe that escaping this prison was going to a simple thing. He pulled Ginny closer as he noticed that she was trembling. Severus and Hermione were standing in stunned silence next to him. Remus touched his colleague's shoulder. Severus nodded in soundless agreement that their luck had just taken a turn for the worse. They stood there for sometime before Hermione summoned the courage to speak.
"It can't be as hopeless as it sounds." she managed. Her voice was quavering.
"It isn't." the mirror told them. "With a little bit of floo powder and some luck, the Divinations classroom is quite accessible. That gives you two mirrors that can be reached easily enough, including me."
"Then the students can be saved." said Severus.
"And we can take our chances." nodded Lupin with a steely, resolute expression upon his face.
"What about all for one and one for all?" objected Hermione rather strenuously.
Severus felt her tighten her grip upon him, her hand clenching a fistful of his robes as though she would never let go.
"The secret passage on the third floor is not very far from the trophy room, which also has floo access. A short sprint between the two should be quite manageable." said the mirror, obviously imitating the hasty tone of the headmaster, who was no doubt privy to their argument.
"And the prefects' bath?" asked Hermione.
The mirror was silent for a long time as Albus and Minerva appeared to confer for some time. Harry and Ron were shifting anxiously from foot to foot as they listened. But whether because no one had asked it to or because Dumbledore wanted to keep the conversation private, the four people on the other side of the looking glass could not hear their discussion.
Severus opened his mouth to speak, but Hermione beat him to it and said, "You will not, Severus. You are in no condition to make a run for it."
He closed his mouth with a snap. Hermione was far too insightful for her own good.
"Professor McGonagall suggests that distance between the bath and the Divinations classroom is not insurmountable. The headmaster suggests that anyone who attempts this be well versed in Defense Against the Dark Arts." the mirror told them.
"Leave that one for me then." said Remus.
"Severus should exit through this mirror. I'm sure Ginny could handle the classroom as it sounds perfectly safe. Remus would be going with her too. That would mean that I would take the passageway mirror." said Hermione, reasoning out their choices. "And don't you dare protest, Severus." she added, giving him a glare that matched his own almost perfectly.
"Professor Dumbledore says that he was going to make the very same suggestions and congratulates Miss Granger on her clever observations."
"A lot of this hinges on whether or not we have an adequate supply of floo powder." said Severus suddenly.
"I will check the hearth." nodded Remus in agreement.
Ginny went with him as he dashed from the room. Severus snickered at the sight before looking down at Hermione.
"Never followed me like a lost puppy." he told her quietly. She giggled and blushed as she watched the faces in the mirror. Severus flushed slightly as he realized that he had been heard. The looking glass did not see fit to pass along any comments made back in their own world.
"You can be sure that I won't." Hermione replied with an amused expression.
Remus returned only a few moments later with a full pot of floo powder and a relieved, yet determined expression on his face. He had obviously said some encouraging things to Ginny in the other room because she didn't look nearly so worried or fearful. She was the very picture of a Gryffindor in a pinch, and Remus was very proud and had said so.
"We are well supplied here." Remus assured Dumbledore.
"Good. Are you ready to write down the incantation?" the mirror asked, relaying a question from Dumbledore, who had a large book in his hands.
"Accio quill and parchment!" said Remus after drawing his wand. The two objects flew into the room from the writing desk on the parlor. "I believe so." he answered.
Dumbledore held the book up to the looking glass, pointing out the particular spell that Remus needed to copy for them to use. It was not incredibly complicated, but then it was meant mostly to help rescue students and not necessarily for fully trained wizards. It was a very elegant spell that they all felt that they could manage easily, even if under pressure.
"When do you want us to do this?" asked Severus.
"Soon, unless there is something that would keep you from doing so."
They all looked at one another. They had no way of predicting the movements of the demons and no notion of what parts of the castle they inhabited, save perhaps that at least one slept in the library.
"Very well." said Remus, whose journey was longest and who was therefore going to take the greatest risk. "We will begin immediately."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: Short chapter. Sorry.
SlytherinQueen87: I'm glad you liked Ron's comments in the earlier chapter. Remus is difficult, but fun to write. He is almost as complicated as Snape, but more endearing I guess. Thank you very much for the reviews!
LadyTiffany: I am well aware of the age gap between Dumbledore and McGonagall. He would have been quite old (in 1945) by muggle standards. And she would have been quite young (16 going on 17 - why am I thinking of "The Sound of Music"?). I figure that 70 (which I have heard as an estimate for her age in the books) is indeed an approxiation. Okay, so if she were exactly 70 in GoF (1994-95) then she would have been born in 1924-25 and my timeline would be off by ... two years (depending on when she was born - I like to think May, but then I'm weird). Of course, the exact dates of her birth and attendance are not given insofar as I know, so I have appropriated approximately thirteen to twenty-four months of wiggle room. Be charitable! Let me have them! Thank you very much for reviewing and for challenging my canon-knowledge and logic!
Hermia: Exhausted? Sorry to hear that! Thanks for reviewing!
plastic: Neener, neener? *laughs nervously* Thank you!
Jezebel: Thanks for reviewing!
agnessa: You are the only other person I have ever heard of who hears actor's voices when they read! I do it too (though generally not when I'm writing). That's really super! I feel like so much less of a freak! Thank you! I'm really pleased to hear that you liked my Albus and Minerva angsty scene. *blushes* But I must disagree with you about your take on the ending of "Counsel for Defence". Tragic? Thank you very much for the review!
Dramaqueen: How does he do it? Well, I honestly don't know. I suppose flirting with Minerva would have become half sport and half art form over the years. Oddly enough, I once knew of a couple who had been seeing each other for almost thirty-five years (maybe forty by now) and time and again she refused to marry him, they say, but he hasn't given up yet (anecdotal evidence of the fact that men can be single-minded and weird). Strange, I know, but it happens. Thanks for the review!
coolchicgirl16: I am happy to hear that you like the Albus and Minerva subplot. It was just going to be a little, tiny when I started writing, but it took on a life of its own. Thank you for reviewing!
Rhianna: I love the pairing of Albus and Minerva (check out the author Freelancer, who writes them much better). Thanks for the review!
Time to annoy everyone who doesn't Yahoo!
Albus and Minerva: Infinite Incantatum
In which the time comes to hear the plan
Hermione was sleeping soundly until she felt someone shaking her and was forced into wakefulness at what felt like a very indecent hour of the morning. She tried to hide at first, burying her face in pillow and groaning. But as her mind slowly found its way through the dim and murky depths of slumber, she realized that the person was far too persistent and wasn't likely to stop until acknowledged them.
She opened her eyes to find Severus staring down at her, looking mildly annoyed as he buttoned the collar of his robes with one hand and continued to shake her with the other.
"Finally." he said.
"What's the matter?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.
"The mirror awakened me. It says that the headmaster wants to speak with all of us." Severus informed her.
"I certainly hope it's good news."
"As do I."
"I'll go and get Remus and Ginny then." she said, sliding from the bed and smoothing her rumpled clothes.
Hermione walked into the parlor, yawning as she opened the door that separated the two rooms. She stopped in her tracks and grinned when she saw them curled up on the couch together. They had decided that the overstuffed piece of furniture was vastly preferable to the floor for sleeping.
Remus had changed back into human form, which meant that it was not quite so early in the morning as Hermione had believed, and he had his arms around Ginny, who was sleeping with her head resting upon his chest. They looked so peaceful, so happy as they slept that Hermione truly hated to wake them. But, of course, she did not want to keep the headmaster waiting.
"Wake up, you two!" she said, chuckling softly despite her best efforts not to do so. "We have business to attend to this morning. Professor Dumbledore wants to speak with us." Hermione added as they scrambled up from the couch with Remus looking every-so-slightly guilty for his part and Ginny appearing only a bit embarrassed.
They both nodded and followed her back into the bedroom where Severus was seated on the edge of the bed. Remus and Ginny strode toward the mirror, understanding that that was where the summons had come from, while Hermione helped Severus to his feet and across the room. His steps were still wobbly, but he seemed almost strong enough to walk unassisted.
"What news?" asked Severus with a slight smirk as he noticed an exhausted looking Minerva McGonagall standing just behind Dumbledore. It appeared as though she had not slept the night before.
Two of the most irritating Gryffindors ever to enter Hogwarts were standing to the side. Harry and Ron looked as though they had just been roused from bed, which of course they had been.
Severus watched the headmaster's lips move silently and waited for the mirror to relay the message.
"He says that the other three looking glasses have been successfully located."
"That's wonderful!" said Ginny, beaming at Remus and squeezing his hand, which she had been holding for some time.
"It certainly is!" Severus agreed with a relieved smile.
Despite his banter with Hermione the night before, he had been preparing himself for the possibility that he would have to remain behind if worse came to worst. He did not consider himself anything like a martyr nor particularly noble, but Severus would have done what was necessary to see Hermione home, and he knew Gryffindors in general and her in particular well enough to say that perhaps only the Imperious Curse itself would have been sufficient to force her to leave him. Remus, he believed, might have accepted his sacrifice with the proper amount of convincing, and where he went Ginny would follow, but not Hermione. She would have been most difficult.
"Where are they then?" questioned Remus with a pleased and much relieved smile.
"One is located in the prefects' bath. Another hangs behind a drapery in the Divinations classroom. The last is hidden in a sequestered reading room in a secret passage between two suits of armor in the third floor corridor." the mirror told them, speaking for Dumbledore.
The room became strangely silent at the locations of the exits to the demon realm were named. They all realized instantly how far away those places were within the castle. They were all outside the dungeons, far outside the wards and their sanctuary. They may as well have been on the moon.
Remus shook his head as he realized how foolish it had been to believe that escaping this prison was going to a simple thing. He pulled Ginny closer as he noticed that she was trembling. Severus and Hermione were standing in stunned silence next to him. Remus touched his colleague's shoulder. Severus nodded in soundless agreement that their luck had just taken a turn for the worse. They stood there for sometime before Hermione summoned the courage to speak.
"It can't be as hopeless as it sounds." she managed. Her voice was quavering.
"It isn't." the mirror told them. "With a little bit of floo powder and some luck, the Divinations classroom is quite accessible. That gives you two mirrors that can be reached easily enough, including me."
"Then the students can be saved." said Severus.
"And we can take our chances." nodded Lupin with a steely, resolute expression upon his face.
"What about all for one and one for all?" objected Hermione rather strenuously.
Severus felt her tighten her grip upon him, her hand clenching a fistful of his robes as though she would never let go.
"The secret passage on the third floor is not very far from the trophy room, which also has floo access. A short sprint between the two should be quite manageable." said the mirror, obviously imitating the hasty tone of the headmaster, who was no doubt privy to their argument.
"And the prefects' bath?" asked Hermione.
The mirror was silent for a long time as Albus and Minerva appeared to confer for some time. Harry and Ron were shifting anxiously from foot to foot as they listened. But whether because no one had asked it to or because Dumbledore wanted to keep the conversation private, the four people on the other side of the looking glass could not hear their discussion.
Severus opened his mouth to speak, but Hermione beat him to it and said, "You will not, Severus. You are in no condition to make a run for it."
He closed his mouth with a snap. Hermione was far too insightful for her own good.
"Professor McGonagall suggests that distance between the bath and the Divinations classroom is not insurmountable. The headmaster suggests that anyone who attempts this be well versed in Defense Against the Dark Arts." the mirror told them.
"Leave that one for me then." said Remus.
"Severus should exit through this mirror. I'm sure Ginny could handle the classroom as it sounds perfectly safe. Remus would be going with her too. That would mean that I would take the passageway mirror." said Hermione, reasoning out their choices. "And don't you dare protest, Severus." she added, giving him a glare that matched his own almost perfectly.
"Professor Dumbledore says that he was going to make the very same suggestions and congratulates Miss Granger on her clever observations."
"A lot of this hinges on whether or not we have an adequate supply of floo powder." said Severus suddenly.
"I will check the hearth." nodded Remus in agreement.
Ginny went with him as he dashed from the room. Severus snickered at the sight before looking down at Hermione.
"Never followed me like a lost puppy." he told her quietly. She giggled and blushed as she watched the faces in the mirror. Severus flushed slightly as he realized that he had been heard. The looking glass did not see fit to pass along any comments made back in their own world.
"You can be sure that I won't." Hermione replied with an amused expression.
Remus returned only a few moments later with a full pot of floo powder and a relieved, yet determined expression on his face. He had obviously said some encouraging things to Ginny in the other room because she didn't look nearly so worried or fearful. She was the very picture of a Gryffindor in a pinch, and Remus was very proud and had said so.
"We are well supplied here." Remus assured Dumbledore.
"Good. Are you ready to write down the incantation?" the mirror asked, relaying a question from Dumbledore, who had a large book in his hands.
"Accio quill and parchment!" said Remus after drawing his wand. The two objects flew into the room from the writing desk on the parlor. "I believe so." he answered.
Dumbledore held the book up to the looking glass, pointing out the particular spell that Remus needed to copy for them to use. It was not incredibly complicated, but then it was meant mostly to help rescue students and not necessarily for fully trained wizards. It was a very elegant spell that they all felt that they could manage easily, even if under pressure.
"When do you want us to do this?" asked Severus.
"Soon, unless there is something that would keep you from doing so."
They all looked at one another. They had no way of predicting the movements of the demons and no notion of what parts of the castle they inhabited, save perhaps that at least one slept in the library.
"Very well." said Remus, whose journey was longest and who was therefore going to take the greatest risk. "We will begin immediately."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: Short chapter. Sorry.
SlytherinQueen87: I'm glad you liked Ron's comments in the earlier chapter. Remus is difficult, but fun to write. He is almost as complicated as Snape, but more endearing I guess. Thank you very much for the reviews!
LadyTiffany: I am well aware of the age gap between Dumbledore and McGonagall. He would have been quite old (in 1945) by muggle standards. And she would have been quite young (16 going on 17 - why am I thinking of "The Sound of Music"?). I figure that 70 (which I have heard as an estimate for her age in the books) is indeed an approxiation. Okay, so if she were exactly 70 in GoF (1994-95) then she would have been born in 1924-25 and my timeline would be off by ... two years (depending on when she was born - I like to think May, but then I'm weird). Of course, the exact dates of her birth and attendance are not given insofar as I know, so I have appropriated approximately thirteen to twenty-four months of wiggle room. Be charitable! Let me have them! Thank you very much for reviewing and for challenging my canon-knowledge and logic!
Hermia: Exhausted? Sorry to hear that! Thanks for reviewing!
plastic: Neener, neener? *laughs nervously* Thank you!
Jezebel: Thanks for reviewing!
agnessa: You are the only other person I have ever heard of who hears actor's voices when they read! I do it too (though generally not when I'm writing). That's really super! I feel like so much less of a freak! Thank you! I'm really pleased to hear that you liked my Albus and Minerva angsty scene. *blushes* But I must disagree with you about your take on the ending of "Counsel for Defence". Tragic? Thank you very much for the review!
Dramaqueen: How does he do it? Well, I honestly don't know. I suppose flirting with Minerva would have become half sport and half art form over the years. Oddly enough, I once knew of a couple who had been seeing each other for almost thirty-five years (maybe forty by now) and time and again she refused to marry him, they say, but he hasn't given up yet (anecdotal evidence of the fact that men can be single-minded and weird). Strange, I know, but it happens. Thanks for the review!
coolchicgirl16: I am happy to hear that you like the Albus and Minerva subplot. It was just going to be a little, tiny when I started writing, but it took on a life of its own. Thank you for reviewing!
Rhianna: I love the pairing of Albus and Minerva (check out the author Freelancer, who writes them much better). Thanks for the review!
Time to annoy everyone who doesn't Yahoo!
Albus and Minerva: Infinite Incantatum