The garden behind the Malfoy mansion was dark, the dense foliage along it's edge swayed gently in the ever so slight breeze that kissed it softly and then moved on in silence. The impressive stone mansion itself was quiet, no lights and no movement could be seen anywhere. A cursory glance would have left the impression that no life existed within miles, but then a cursory glance often overlooks much. Under some low hanging trees, on the very edge of the lawn, sat two creatures that blended into the background beautifully. The first was a big black dog with sharp watchful eyes. The other was a much more ferocious creature, a massive gray-brown wolf, with thick shaggy fur, huge teeth, and sharp claws. One might have thought the two would have trouble co-existing in the same small space, yet surprisingly the wolf sat quietly next to the dog, kept its eyes on the silent yard, and waited patiently for something to happen.
Suddenly a slender figure in black appeared out of thin air in the middle of the yard. He stood silently, straight and tall, and surveyed the surroundings with care. Swiftly he was joined by the two from under the trees. The black dog transformed into a man, in the blink of an eye, and spoke softly to the man in black. "Everything's been quiet here. What took you so long?"
Snape frowned in exasperation. "I've been just a little busy!" His lip curled into a sneer. "I suppose I could have convinced Lord Voldemort to let me go sooner if I'd told him I was keeping you waiting, Black. I'm sure he'd never want to inconvenience you."
Black grinned happily. Snape was so much fun to needle. "Remember that for next time, Snape! How did things go with old Voldie, anyway?"
The Potions Master grimaced. "He made me supervise the administration of the potion. There were 47 doses used…a formidable army. I hope Albus' preparations will be enough. Are you ready for this?" His dark eyes probed them both searchingly.
They both nodded in unison. Black added, "So, what's the master plan?"
Snape glared at him. "It's simple enough even for you, Black. I'll open the door and enter the dungeon. I won't close the door completely behind me. The two of you will wait and listen at the door. Something I'm sure you had plenty of practice at during your student days."
Before they could protest this aspersion, he continued on smoothly, "I'll summon you in, when I discover just what the situation is in there. Please, do not get carried away with the moment and jump the gun…wait for my signal. All right?"
Both of them nodded again. Never able to leave well enough alone, Black grinned once more. "Then we'll charge to the rescue as the noble heroes we are, eh? This'll be a new experience for you, huh Snape, being one of the good guys instead of one of the bad guys."
"I knew bringing you along would be a mistake, Black," snapped Snape angrily. "This isn't some heroic game that you and your Gryffindor pals used to play! Real people's lives are at stake here. It's important that we get in and out as quickly as possible. If you can't be serious about this then leave now, and I'll do it myself!"
Black frowned and opened his mouth to argue, but before he could say anything Lupin let out a low growl and shoved him hard with his head. Abruptly Black found himself sitting on his butt in the damp grass looking up at the two of them in surprise, as they both glared impatiently at him.
Sheepishly he picked himself up and muttered, "Okay, okay, let's just get on with it."
The animagus once more resumed his canine form, and the three of them cautiously approached the silent house. When they stood before a small unassuming back door, Snape pulled out his wand and traced a pattern of sigils on the wooden panel, and with an exhalation of air, it opened silently. With a final warning glance at his teammates, the tall wizard slipped inside, leaving the door a jar behind him. His companions made themselves comfortable…and waited.
All was quiet within. After taking a moment to check his immediate surroundings, the wizard headed down the long corridor in front of him towards the cell where Malfoy had held Evangeline. Before he got too far, a door opened on one side of the hall and Goyle came out. The hulking Death Eater was surprised but not alarmed to see Snape.
"Snape, why are you here?" he asked with no more than the simplest of curiosity in his tone.
Snape nodded curtly and slipped easily back into his role of trusted compatriot. "Goyle. I've been sent to check on the special prisoners from the ministry. Lord Voldemort doesn't want to chance anything going wrong now that the attack is imminent."
Goyle chuckled. "What could go wrong? Everything's been planned for."
Snape drew himself up to his full height and favored Goyle with one of his more intimidating frowns. "Nevertheless, I've been charged with their safety. May I see them?"
Goyle shrugged, far too used to doing whatever he was told to argue with one who usually had authority over him. "Sure, I guess so. They're down at the end of the hall."
"How have you proceeded to keep them safe? Do you have many guards here tonight?"
Goyle shook his head. "Nah, most everyone was needed for the attack on the bank. There's only me, Simpson, and Carson."
Snape nodded, silently pleased that he'd been right about the lack of serious safety precautions. "I suppose that's sufficient under the circumstances."
Malfoy's minion nodded happily. "Yeah. Oh, Snape, I want to thank you for those chocolates you sent to Malfoy. They were real tasty. I wish you'd sent more of them though. Malfoy hogged most of them for himself. He only let me have one…same for Crabbe. Could you maybe send some more?"
With dark glee in his heart at hearing of the success of his little gift, Snape smiled coldly at Goyle. "Oh, I think one will be quite sufficient."
Without another word, the Potions Master drew his wand and hit Goyle with the full Body-Bind. "Petrificus Totalus!" Goyle fell like a rock, face down on the stone floor of the corridor.
"Now!" yelled Snape. The door behind him burst open, and Lupin and Black, in animal form, raced in. All three of them ran down the hall. Snape hit the two startled guards by the door with hexes before they could even think about getting their wands out. Then he blasted open the cell door, and the three of them raced inside.
The finance minister and the male security minister were being held in chains and were both huddled against the far wall. They were bruised and disheveled but basically looked to be unhurt. The female security minister was another matter. The unfortunate woman was manacled to the bloodstained table that Snape had seen on his previous trip to this corner of Malfoy's dungeon. She was naked, and looked to be in extremely poor shape. Her condition brought back painful memories of finding Evangeline here at Christmas.
Black transformed into human form. This was the part that he was a trifle nervous about. He'd shaved off his beard and transformed his hair to blond and his eyes to light blue. Approaching Ministry members, looking even remotely like he did on a wanted poster, didn't seem like a very good idea to him. Sincerely hoping that no one would penetrate his disguise, he went to free the two male ministers from their shackles.
Lupin stayed by the door, watching their backs. They all knew that no one would want to get too close to a werewolf. The unfortunate prisoners had enough to worry about without getting scared out of their minds by their rescuers.
Snape approached the woman lying on the bloody table, removed her bonds, and gave her a quick examination to see just how badly she'd been injured. Swiftly he removed his dark flowing robe and carefully wrapped it around her shivering body. Then he picked her up in his arms. She moaned softly but was only semiconscious, her head moved restlessly against his shoulder as he held her tightly.
The ministers that Black had freed were able to walk, if somewhat stiffly. And as the men approached him, Snape turned to them with instructions. "Please follow us. We need to get you out of here as quickly as possible."
The frightened men nodded dazedly, and the whole group moved out the door and back up the hallway. The ministers eyed Lupin warily but kept moving, not wanting to get too close or draw too much attention to themselves. As they came to the paralyzed body in the middle of the corridor, Lupin paused to sniff the terrified Goyle over really well. Snape didn't give him a second look.
When the entire group had gotten safely out into the yard, Snape produced a flat round metal disk and addressed the ministers. "This is a Portkey set to go active in two minutes. It will take you to a temporary hospital, where they'll treat your wounds. I wasn't sure if you'd be up to apparating or not."
The ministers nodded gratefully and touched the disk. Snape nodded to Lupin and Black. "Thank you for your assistance. Perhaps you should now return to the school." They nodded silently and disappeared. The four remaining people stood there quietly, then vanished, to once more leave the silent garden in peace.
*******************************************************************
Snape's party materialized in the middle of the makeshift hospital ward. The ministers were the first patients to arrive since their rescue had gone so smoothly. Poppy, Minerva, and Evangeline sprang to their side as soon as they appeared. Evangeline felt immense relief to see Snape looking undamaged, but she quickly turned her attention to the patients in need of her help.
Minerva and Evangeline led the male ministers, Whitestaff and Limpet, to beds and cast rudimentary diagnostic spells on them to try to assess their condition. It was quite obvious that they were suffering from shock. Otherwise they weren't in particularly bad shape. They had some cuts and bruises, and they suffered from mild dehydration, but their recovery should be swift and complete. Indeed, as they began to come out of their shock, they began to complain bitterly about the horrendous treatment they'd received from those horrid masked thugs. Both ministers were quite scandalized by the whole affair, and were quickly looking for somewhere to cast blame.
Meanwhile, Snape gently laid Minister Eggleson on one of the beds that was more secluded than those in the rest of the room. He then tried to assist Poppy in assessing the extent of her injuries. It was obvious that the poor woman had absorbed most of Malfoy's twisted attention, as Evangeline had not so very long ago.
As she watched Snape and Pomfrey work from out of the corner of her eye, Evangeline tried to suppress a shudder. She found herself remembering her own time in Malfoy's dungeon, and the horrible things that had happened to her there. She tried to force her concentration to remain firmly fixed on the minister in her care, but try as she might, she couldn't forget about it completely. She kept finding herself glancing over at Minister Eggleson in concern, and remembering things she'd thought she'd successfully buried forever. But those nightmarish days in captivity were suddenly digging their way out of her subconscious and reaching inexorably towards the light.
Her pained glances and pale stricken face didn't go unnoticed by Snape, who felt his hatred for Malfoy burn hotter than ever with the dawning realization that this incident was once more causing great pain to Evangeline. It was obvious to him that her memories of her own torture by Malfoy were being dragged back to the surface by witnessing the pain of someone else who'd been similarly mistreated. If he'd ever suffered a twinge of regret for the potion-laced candy he'd sent to the arrogant Death Eater, he no longer did. As far as Snape was concerned, Malfoy deserved everything he'd gotten and more.
As the night wore on, Evangeline was finally able to push it all aside and concentrate on the many other patients that soon appeared to fill up the remaining beds in the room. Some of them had fairly severe wounds that required immediate cleaning for safety, since werewolves had inflicted them. Despite the use of Snape's protective potion, everyone felt better if they received immediate treatment for these wounds. Considering the horrible consequences of werewolf bites, that was certainly understandable. It was really impossible to be too careful.
As time wore on, and more people showed up, they gradually learned that despite the casualties, the battle was going well. The werewolves did, indeed, break off from the battle fairly quickly and run off howling at the moon, evening the odds a bit and lessening the danger to the combatants, as well. This left the trolls and the Death Eaters, who, formidable as they were, did not ultimately make a match for the goblin army and the defending witches and wizards. The Dark Lord himself did not make an appearance to no one's surprise.
Everyone at the field hospital was kept pretty busy, especially Pomfrey and Snape, being the ones with the most medical knowledge. Mrs. Montrose and her daughter hovered about and simpered at the ministers. Mrs. Montrose constantly threw dark looks at Snape and uttered terrified cries if he happened to venture near her. He ignored her completely, as did everyone else, treating both her and her daughter as the minor annoyances they were.
Around 3 o'clock in the morning, Albus Dumbledore apparated into the room. He looked very tired and had a cut on his left cheek, but basically he appeared to be uninjured.
He claimed everyone's attention and announced that the battle was over, and that their side had been victorious. There was much happy celebration at this news! Although there'd been some damage done to the various alleys surrounding Gringotts, the bank itself was remarkably unscathed. Casualties were fairly high, but fatalities were nonexistent. The advance warning and careful planning had carried the day, much to the great relief of all.
After announcing this happy state of things, Dumbledore made a point of embracing Snape in front of everyone and thanking him for making it all possible.
"If you hadn't alerted us, sabotaged the werewolves, and protected us from their bites, things would not have gone well for us. We're all in your debt, Severus!"
Snape was obviously a bit embarrassed by this. He was much more used to public censure than public praise. In response he just said that he was glad things went well and that he hoped this would finally open the eyes of the Ministry of Magic.
****************************************************************
Everyone was exhausted after their hard night's labors, but happy that things had gone so well. The immediate danger was over, thank goodness. Their success gave everyone hope for the future, and a time when the shadow of Voldemort wouldn't hang over their lives like a pall.
Snape and Evangeline didn't return to the castle until dawn, when other medical personnel arrived to take the last of the injured to hospitals, and free the overworked people of the night before from their carefully tended burdens.
The exhausted couple came out of the concert painting into their bedroom and simply collapsed onto the bed. They didn't even bother to undress but simply pulled the comforter up over themselves and fell asleep in each other's arms.