There was only one eyewitness, a clerk in the Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts, he relayed. As she had glanced out her window overlooking the entrance, she had seen a wizard Apparate into the courtyard. People actually coming to the Ministry were a curiosity by then: many magical folk were too afraid to venture outside their homes, and of course the blissfully unaware Muggles could never find their way to the Ministry. Being a Hogwarts graduate herself, she recognized her old Headmaster readily.
Her shouts of warning could never reach him through the window as she saw three figures Apparate behind him. One was tall and skeletally lean in form, his white face like a living skull and large eyes burning a demonic red. The other two had been clad in robes of dull black, hooded and masked. The serpent-man, whom she figured in a flash of horror to be Voldemort, raised his wand towards the old man's unguarded back. Voldemort called something, and as Dumbledore turned, blue fire shot from the end of the wand and enveloped him. She recognized the Immolio Curse. Then the attackers had Apparated away.
When she alerted everybody, they went to see. They found only a twisted pair of spectacles, their glass gone and the frames warped by the flames. Immolio could not consume metal, which was why its use was rare. The wizard, if prepared, could create a metal shield to protect himself. But Dumbledore had never had the chance. Carefully Rhys handed Minerva the spectacles, and Hermione saw the old woman flinch.
Why didn't he just rely on the Killing Curse? she thought numbly, mind still working to accept it. Why immolate him? The perverse answer came to mind only a few seconds later. Because we have no body to bury, nothing to mourn over properly. It was a cruel twist of the knife; Voldemort hadn't even accorded Dumbledore the respect of proper burial as he had to most others.
Minerva straightened her spine, but her eyes were weighted down by sorrow. "Thank you, Mister Rhys," she said softly; obviously just realizing that now, she was Headmistress of Hogwarts. "Is the young lady all right?"
"We put her under Veritaserum to make certain it was true," Rhys said, eyes downcast. "I'm not sure how she is--I left before it wore off." Minerva nodded and showed him to the door. She turned back to them and studied them all. Mixed with the grief and sorrow was the anger at the Ministry for causing this.
"I think," she said, each word carrying heavy weight, "we have to break this to the students in the morning. I am going to my room now and will think upon where we are to go from here. I suggest that all of you do what you must for the night." There were quiet murmurs of assent all hands round.
She found herself walking with Snape, to who knew where. To look on his face was to see a man plunged into a nightmare. It was as if he was in a trance, his entire body tight, and his eyes blank. She knew how he had cared for Dumbledore, and almost wished that he could break down, would weep and let it out. This robotic-like state worried her.
Just as they reached his room, she put her hand on his shoulder. "Severus, I'm here if you…you want to talk at all," she offered softly.
"No, thank you," came the flat reply. He opened the door and slipped inside. She sighed, heart weighted down with sorrow for herself, for Albus Dumbledore, for the children, and for Snape himself. He had said to her that Dumbledore had been like a father to him; that he was the only one who saw something worth saving in him. The only man who had possessed faith during Snape's darkest hour was now gone; it was as if his lighthouse had just been darkened and he was aimlessly adrift.
She hardly got more than ten steps before she heard the door open and him calling to her. But when she got to his rooms, she saw that he was clutching his forearm grimly. She knew what that meant all too well. "We're going," he said.
"Severus, it's not…" she protested. Not safe for us to go with you in this state, she finished silently. There was the possibility that Voldemort would send a killing crew tonight, but in a bit of ruthless thought, she thought that it would be far worse were he to be lost. Tosca was protesting and asking what was wrong, but they both ignored her.
"I," he said, looking at her with steely determination, "am going. I do not care if it is with or without you. I have my duty and I will do it." With that he transformed and headed out the window.
She weighed it for a split second and decided that he couldn't be out on his own in such an unbalanced state. Perhaps, though, duty was the only thing keeping him from breaking at the minute. She just hoped he wouldn't do anything foolish such as to challenge Voldemort to a wizard's duel. It was far better to go along with him. She transformed and took flight after him.
They were at the Malfoy Manor again quite shortly, the route so thoughtless by now as to almost be instinct. They were meeting in the gardens, despite the snow and cold. She thought that perhaps Voldemort enjoyed making his Death Eaters squirm with discomfort at times, both physical and mental.
With surprise, she saw that it was only Lucius, Wormtail, and Voldemort. The general and his top lieutenants, as it were, of the army of Darkness. Snape settled down beside her, silent. A light snow began to fall, so she fluffed her feathers for warmth and stared at the three figures down in the garden.
"No doubt you have heard of the rumor that has come to me. There are rebels at Hogwarts, who mean to stand against me. Haverforth from the Ministry has told me this."
"A pathetic bunch of children?" Lucius said in a scornful tone. "Hardly worth your concern, my Lord."
"Still, Dumbledore," Voldemort continued, "was a worry. Now that the old fool is dead, things are beginning to fall into place. We must make our plans, and that is why I have called you here tonight."
"But it was done excellently, my Lord," came Lucius' smooth purr. "He was a great obstacle."
"None so great that Lord Voldemort could not overcome him," Wormtail added quickly. Obviously the two of them had been the Death Eaters accompanying Voldemort that afternoon to London.
Lucius let out a cruel laugh. "Considering how he just walked right into it, one wonders why he was thought such a danger."
"Stupid old man," Wormtail agreed. "I thought he was much more cunning." She was suddenly aware of the branch trembling next to her, and turned her head a little to see that the outlines of his form were blurry and unfocused. In horror she realized what was happening. Control lessened the risk of extreme emotion transforming one back into their human form, but it never eliminated it. Severus! she hissed. For God's sake, pull yourself together. We're leaving, now!
The next few seconds etched themselves in her mind, moving as if in slow motion. Lucius furrowed his brow and looked at the shaking tree, there being not even a breath of wind to cause the disturbance. "What's there?" He drew his wand and shouted, "Impedimentia!" His aim was lucky. He hit Snape with the Stun. He fell from the tree and hit the snow in his human form, lying there horrifically still.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Lucius said. Crouching, he withdrew Snape's wand from up his sleeve, and touching his own wand to Snape's forehead as she sat there, mind racing frantically as she considered what to do. "Enervate!" His eyes opened and stared straight into Lucius', still obviously dazed. "Hullo, Severus. Long time, no see." Lucius smirked.
She sat there, frozen in horror. She knew what he had told her to do if anything like this should ever happen. Run like hell. Get away. But she couldn't just abandon him, not if there was the slightest chance. Not only because he was her partner, but even more because she loved him. She'd never forgive herself for fleeing.
Decision made, she took a deep breath and waited until they were distracted with Snape and they had their backs to her. She pushed off from the tree, transforming as she let herself fall, and reaching into her robes for her wand. She saw his eyes widen and before he could help himself, he had cried out, "No!"
The words were on her lips. Avada Kedavra. Kill them; it's self-defense! Something made her hesitate for a split-second; perhaps the fact that she had never taken a life and could never do it lightly. Whatever the reason, it was just long enough for Wormtail to disarm and then Stun her.
A minute or an hour later, she woke at the Enervate to find herself lying down, dimly aware of the cold trickle of snow into her robes and snowflakes falling on her face. She couldn't move; they had put a Body-Bind on her. Voldemort stood over them, eyeing them and smiling his cruel, lipless smile. "A pair of spies, I see." His gaze turned to the spot beside her, where Severus apparently lay. "You were once among my ranks," he said softly. "You know the price."
"Let her go," he pleaded softly. "I seduced her, twisted her mind to my purposes, influenced her to this. It's not her doing." She was surprised to hear him speak: obviously they didn't have him a Body-Bind as they did her.
"Oh, Severus," as if speaking to a recalcitrant child, "you never did have tastes for such games. I do not expect you have developed them in ensuing years." The fire-red eyes turned on her again. "Besides, I doubt a Gryffindor needs much encouragement to risk their stupid neck."
"I will pay the price," he insisted. "But let her go."
"She is a spy, and she will suffer your fate as well." There was finality to the proclamation. Voldemort turned away to Lucius. "It is late to call an assembly of the ranks. But they should see the example these two will be."
"Tomorrow night," Lucius agreed readily. "My Lord, might I--"
"You will have your chance to gain recompense for your traitor son tomorrow," the Dark Lord replied curtly. He reached up his sleeve and withdrew their wands. He studied them for a moment, then carefully lifted hers and deliberately broke it in half. She felt suddenly as though energy had been drained from her; perhaps it had, as the wand was needed to focus and intensify magic. He then snapped Snape's wand and carelessly destroyed the pieces of both with Incendio. "I believe you have guest quarters for the night for these two?" asked Lucius with a demonic smile.
Using Mobilicorpus, Wormtail lifted her, and followed Lucius levitating Snape. She saw now that heavy cords about his arms and legs bound him--it was the same spell he had used in the Shrieking Shack in her third year. Apparently it had pleased Voldemort in some sick fashion to leave Snape the ability to plead for his life or hers. Into the bowels on the mansion they went, down into the dark, terrifying depths of the dungeon. She remembered Nott's execution all too well right then.
Lucius swung open a heavy oak door to one of the cells, the thing almost as thick as the width of her hand. She drifted slowly into the small cell. She was set down none too gently, and heard Snape falling to the flagstone nearby. She felt the slime of the flagstone beneath her hands, and the chilly air inside the cell.
"Lumos!" said, and the light hurt her eyes for a moment as he focused in on her, locating her. "All right, unbind them, Lucius." There was a note of unholy amusement in his voice. "Let them try and get out if they please."
In quick succession, she and Snape were unbound from their respective spells, and Lucius began to close the door. He didn't leave without the parting words of, "Sweet dreams. Until tomorrow evening!" Then the door slammed shut and all was darkness. Her senses immediately rebelled at the terror of it, and she knew at that moment that all was truly lost. Somehow she was too numb even to weep at it.