Chapter 36: Propemodum- Nearly

            The Aurors made their way cautiously toward the roar they had heard. Hermione was sure it was Grawp. Since that first time, they had heard it again, this time accompanied by Hagrid's unmistakeable owl-hoot calling signal. They walked in formation, just as they had flown, with the younger Aurors and Hermione on the inside, Dumbledore, Sirius and Lupin at the front and Figg, Emmeline and Diggle bringing up the rear.

            Yesterday had been the full moon. Tonight, a moon just past its full cycle hung like a lamp in the sky. There was just enough light to see by, but not much. No one dared to conjure the wizard's light on the end of their wands as it might give away their position to enemies. The forest had a threatening and hostile feel to it, the trees grew a little too closely together and the ground was just a little too damp. Ginny shuddered, her wand stretched out in front of her, she hoped that Harry had managed to get Dumbledore's owl in time and would be waiting for them with the Fireballs.

            Suddenly, Sirius stopped. He had changed into the form of a large black dog to be more alert to the surroundings, His ears strained forward and he gave a low growl.

            "What is it, Sirius?" asked Lupin, his hand on his friend's hackles.

            Sirius quickly morphed back to the shape of a man.

            "Dementors…I sense them right ahead. And human voices."

            "How many?" asked Lupin quietly.

            Sirius pulled a face, "Lots. At least twenty of them."

            "What do we do now?" asked Ginny.

            "Keep your voices down for a start!" hissed Diggle. "Right, what we need to get past those monsters are effective patronus spells. We'll send the patronum up ahead in front of us and run in close behind them. Hopefully, a few of the partonum will fight and kill the dementors. We'll deal with the Death Eaters while the patronum are busy."

            Everyone nodded.

            Diggle pushed Colin to the front.

            "What me?" asked Colin, surprised.

            "Yes. I've seen you do this in London…I don't think I've ever seen a stronger Patronus aside from Potter's"

            Colin nodded and Dumbledore smiled encouragingly at him.

            "All right…advance quietly….now, on my count…one, two, three!"

            "Expecto Patronum!" everyone said quietly but forcefully. Ten silver streaks shot out of ten wands and took on corporeal forms. From what she could see in that short time, Hermione noticed that Luna's was a witch with a feathery hat who looked like an older version of herself, Sirius' was a great silver dog, Dumbledore's was a phoenix. She knew that for years, her own patronum had been an otter, but she was shocked to see a powerful silver dragon emerge from her wand.

            "Blimey!" said Figg, noticing as well.

            But there was no time to think because Colin's patronus, a vividly glowing image of Dennis Creevey was flying powerfully through the forest towards the dementors. Hermione's silver dragon caught up with him and the two patronum led the others forward. There was a horrible ripple through the air and they felt like their hairs were standing on end. Then screeches so ear-shattering Luna fell forward clutching her head.

            "Luna!" yelled Colin, as a dementor fled from a patronum straight towards her.

            He turned his patronus straight towards that dementor and as the patronus wrapped itself tightly around the dementor, the dementor shrieked and a black dust flew up from the black hooded cape. The empty cape fell to the floor in front of Luna.

            "Stupefy" yelled Figg and Dedalus, going for one of the Death eaters in the clearing.

            "Deflecto!"

            A difficult duel had begun.

            Albus Dumbledore and Sirius Black easily took out the other Death Eater who had been so stunned to see ten Aurors and ten patronum burst into the circle that he couldn't remember even a simple shield spell. Dumebledore and Sirius turned their attention to killing the dementors who were fighting with the patronum.

            Hermione concentrated hard and her silver dragon tore at a dementor, quickly reducing it to dust. She thanked heaven that she had made Potter teach her the patronus in the fifth year Defence Against the Dark Arts League because it wasn't a standard spell taught in Hogwarts. There was no way she would have learnt it unless she had been an Auror.

            Emmeline and Ginny were doing a good job to the right of her. Emmeline's witch and Ginny's Silver Harry Potter patronus were doing a good job of reducing a large number of dementors to dust.

            "Rictus Sempra!" yelled Dedalus, but the Death Eater ducked.

            "Crucio!" the spell hit Figg who flew backwards.

            "You'll pay for that Goyle! Corycus!" said Dedalus.

            Goyle felt as if a hundred fists were punching him from all directions.

            "Stupefy!" came a shrill shout and the Death Eater toppled.

            "Thanks" said Figg gruffly to Luna.

            "All right let's move on" said Dumbledore at last. The patronum had vanished, leaving behind nothing but silver wisps of smoke. "Sirius, lead the way."

Sirius changed back into a large black dog and led the way. Grawp roared again followed by Hagrid's owl hoot.

            "I don't see the castle" said Colin to Diggle softly.

            "That's because it's heavily charmed. Don't worry, I bet it's right in front of us real soon."

            "Colin, you were great!" said Luna, her blue eyes wide with admiration.

            "Thanks Luna" said Colin, turning slightly red.

            "Bet you got a lot of practice in London…you should see me with werewolves though… I'm really goo-.."

            "Quiet!" Remus Lupin stopped and turned his head slowly to the left and right.

            Sirius' large dog-form stopped and looked quizzically over its shoulder.

            "What is it, Remus?" asked Dumbledore quietly.

            "I sense werewolves."

            "But full-moon was yesterday, and you're not in your wolf-form" said Diggle from the rear.

            "These…are different…these are half-weres," said Remus.

            "They are werewolves that have become more wolf than man even when the moon is not full." supplied Hermione, who remembered Lupin's Defence Againt the Dark Arts lessons well.

            "Excellent Miss Granger, ten points to Gryffindor!" said Lupin, chuckling.

            Hermione smiled. How far away the world of lessons and Quidditch matches seemed.

            "I don't smell or hear anything" said Sirius doubtfully, who had changed back to his human form.

            "That's because you are not a werewolf," said Dumbledore. "Lupin here, being a werewolf, has the sixth sense necessary to recognize and detect other werewolves, even from a distance."

            "Be careful, half-weres are every bit as dangerous as full-weres," Emmeline said grimly. "Luna, Ginny and I encountered a few when we were in the European forests. They have the savagery of werewolves and the cunning of men."

            "Charming creatures" Diggle said dryly.

            Luna stuck out her tongue and wrinkled her nose. Ginny swallowed hard. Neither of the girls liked dealing with half-weres.

            "Well what's the plan, Remus? Emmeline?" said Sirius, impatiently. "Time is running out."

            "The Argentus spell, naturally" said Emmeline quickly. "And speed. They have very fast reflexes."

            Lupin jumped suddenly. "They've sensed me…they know I'm here!"

            "How many?" Dumbledore asked quickly.

            "Ten… more… they're coming!"

            Hermione shuddered as she heard a growl from the darkness beyond the trees.

            Ginny touched her arm, "Don't worry, Hermione. They are vicious and fast, but still only animals… they look pretty awful though."

            Something burst through the trees. It was shaped like a man and walked on two feet but had a shaggy, hunched back and a snout with sharp fangs. Its eyes were yellow.

            "Argentus!" shouted Emmeline and Lupin, the half-were howled and leapt aside. Five more emerged from the undergrowth. Luna and Ginny leapt forward, wands outstretched. The sight of the half-weres didn't scare them, they had seen enough of them while on Auror duty. The clearing became mass of growls and shouts as the Aurors battled the half-weres.

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Justin Finch Fletchley and Sturgis Podmore crept toward a gap between some rocks, avoiding all patches of moonlight.

            "What can you see?" said Sturgis to the younger man.

            "Half-werewolves, about ten…and a man I don't recognize" whispered Justin.

            "Let me see," said Sturgis, pressing Justin down. "Ah…yes, half-weres …werewolves in partial form. Thank goodness last night was the full moon…and well…if it isn't my old friend Antonin Dolohov!"

            "Dolohov?" muttered Justin. The name was notorious among Aurors- he had murdered the Prewetts during Voldemort's first reign of terror. Somehow, he had escaped from Azkaban last year and since then, had been faithfully at Voldemort's side.

            Sturgis' face turned a shade darker. "There's no getting away from me this time, you murderous bastard" thought Sturgis as he readied his wand. Justin did the same.

            "All right, in Auror training, what must you do when you take on multiple enemies?" said Sturgis to Justin.

            "Avoid taking on multiple enemies if at all possible" Justin replied quickly.

            "Good. So what do you propose?"

            Justin thought fast. They were already late meeting up with Dumbledore at the appointed meeting point, they would have to move fast.

            "Create a diversion, one of them will have to check, we go for the other two."

            Suddenly, for no apparent reason, a large group of half-weres broke away and ran into the trees.

            "What the heck?" said Sturgis. "They must have sensed something. Anyway, the fewer the better."

            Justin nodded. "Here goes."

            He pointed his wand at a random place in the distance, "Wingardium Leviosa". A pile of rocks shot into the air about fifty feet to the right of the pass.

            They saw Dolohov jump and heard the half-weres growl. Dolohov steadied his wand and started in the direction of the diversion.

            "Now…" said Sturgis, charging out of their hiding place with his wand unsheathed.

            Justin leapt out behind the older man.

            The half-weres had lightning fast reflexes. With a growl, they leapt aside, avoiding the Auror's Stupefy curses.

            One went for Justin's throat, the other charged towards Sturgis, murder clearly on its mind. The half-weres looked horrendous; bestial and yet almost human in appearance.

            "Argentus!" Sturgis shouted, pointing the wand at the half-werewolf. The werewolf lunged to the side as the silver bullet shot towards him.

            Justin  was fighting the other half-were, trying to hit the madly whirling creature with a stun spell so that he could aim a silver bullet at him. Both Aurors were terrified of being bitten, that would mean them changing into werewolves too.

            "Impedimenta" With a yelp like a puppy, Sturgis' werewolf dropped to the floor.

            "Argentus!" a silver bullet shot from his wand tip into the chest of the creature. Unlike full werewolves which changed back to human form when killed, the half-were remained a hideous deformed man-beast even after death.

            Sturgis looked away in distaste, just in time to see Justin shoot a silver bullet into his own half-were.

            Both men were breathing hard.

            "Crucio!"

Justin screamed in pain and fell to the floor. Sturgis glanced up in shock. A thin, ugly man with black eyes was walking towards Justin, his wand aimed at him.

"Lay down your wand or the boy dies" said Dolohov calmly.

Justin moaned as the cruciatus curse coursed through him.

Sturgis' mind ran through all the various moves he could make. At that moment, Justin began to moan loudly, "Graaawp…graawp…."

"All right, Dolohov." Sturgis said slowly, and dropped his wand.

"Petrificus Totalus" said Dolohov, putting a full body-bind on Sturgis. "Well, well Podmore, looks likeyou lost this round."

"Graaawp…" moaned Justin as loudly as he could.

Dolohov kicked Justin. "There's no need to moan like a baby. I've seen younger boys take the crucio better than you. Silencio" Justin's moans instantly ceased. Dolohov put a petrificus on him and as a rustling through the trees was heard. He turned around and began saying crossly, "Where were you? I leave for one second and…"

Instead of the half-weres, Dolohov was shocked to see himself facing something that looked like a massive column of stone and moss in front of him. It had legs… big arms…a head…

"GRAWP HERE" the thing bellowed. "JUSTY CALL?"

Dolohov rapidly aimed a wand at the creature, "Stupefy!" But the spell simply bounced of the giant like he was really made of rock.

"OW!" said Grawp and picked up Dolohov by the front of his robes.

Grawp suddenly caught sight of Justin and Sturgis lying side by side on the floor.

"JUSTY? STURGY? GRAWP MAD!" he roared and shook Dolohov like a person would shake a rag. Dolohov felt his teeth rattle inside his head.

He was trying to aim another stunning spell at Grawp but accidentally poked the giant in his eye. That was bad.

Grawp roared in pain and threw Dolohov against a tree. It knocked him out cold.

"GRAWP JUMP" he said, striding towards Dolohov.

"No Grawp. Hagrid here. Hagrid say no."

Grawp turned around. "HAGGER!" the lump of stone that was probably his face broke into a smile.

"All right Justin? All right Sturgis?" said Hagrid, unhexing them and helping them to their feet.

"Perfectly all right" said Sturgis, grinning at Justin.

Justin grinned back. "Yeah, thanks to Grawp. Hey, THANKS GRAWP" he said loudly to Grawp.

Grawp looked bemused. "THANKOO JUSTY. HALLO STURGY. EVERBODDER OK?"

"Everyone's okay Grawp" said Hagrid, patting his enormous brother on his back. "Good job."

Grawp smiled happily.

"Come on everyone," said Hagrid, "I have a surprise for you!"

"What?" said Justin, following Hagrid into the trees.

Sturgis and Grawp followed behind.

"You'll see."

They entered another clearing.

"Justin! Sturgis!" there were low shouts and squeals in the shadows.

"Professor Dumbldore sir, looks like we can finally move up to the castle" said Hagrid as he watched Dumbledore and the others welcome Justin and Sturgis.

"Yes, Doge has got the dragons waiting by the ring of giants, right up against the castle walls. Let's go….we're very near."

"That's the thing," said Diggle to Sturgis, "we don't see any castle."

"Ah…that's because it's charmed. It's really less than half a mile away. You can't see it till you come right up against it…we discovered that when Grawp accidentally blundered through the ring of giants and right against the walls. They didn't attack him…thought they were one of their own. Grawp's been useful in spying and that sort of thing, good idea of Hagrid to bring him along."

Hagrid overheard Sturgis and beamed as he looked proudly at his brother.

"HERMY!" he said suddenly and ambled up to Hermione.

"Hello Grawp!" she said smiling at him. She patted his leg affectionately. She, Harry and Ron had spent the whole of sixth year giving Grawp English lessons in secret. He had grown very fond of her.

"HERMY OK?" said Grawp suddenly, noticing how pale and thin she was.

"Hermy ok" she said.

"GRAWP CARRY HERMY" he said suddenly, scooping her up. She yelped and Ginny gasped.

"Don't worry Ginny, he always does this." Said Hermione, from where Grawp was cradling her in his arms. Diggle, Emmeline, Colin and Luna looked dumbfounded. Sirius, Lupin and Dumbledore chuckled.

"Are you a real giant? Do you really eat rocks?" asked Luna seriously of Grawp.

"HUH?" said Grawp.

"Er Luna, I think we can save the small talk for later," Colin led her away.

"All right, let's go." Said Sirius as he and Sturgis set off.

Dumbledore and Hagrid were talking quietly at the back of the line. Both were worried about Harry Potter, Dumbledore more so because he knew of the prophesy. He had a feeling that this was it, Harry would HAVE to turn up today to end it all, or Voldemort would become immortal.

"Don' worry Professor Dumbledore sir," said Hagrid with his usual optimism, "If I know 'Arry, e'll turn up soon enough. E knows the way 'ere because I told 'im myself in a letter last week. 'Arry never lets us down sir."

"Ssshhh…very quiet now" said Sturgis in a piercing whisper from the front. "The dragons are here ready to launch."

Three large black Norwegian Ridgebacks lay curled up like cats at the feet of Elphias Doge who was rubbing their scales with some ointment. They seemd to like it for they would close their eyes and sigh, emitting little puffs of smoke as they did so.

"Hello Dumbldore, Sirius…" said Doge, grinning. "Meet Morgril, Dwenny and Luke." He pointed at them in turn.

"Luke?" thought Hermione, her heart beating fast. Like Harry, she had never liked Dragons much. Luna was already patting 'Luke'. The dragon closed his eyes in ecstasy. "Come on Colin, bet you never patted a dragon…oh my dad would love to put them in the Quibbler…sort of a feature on pet dragons…"

"They aren't pets," said Doge to the girl. "They're just helpin' us out here for a while. After this, they'll fly back to Romania. I'll miss'em."

Colin nervously joined Luna in petting 'Luke'. The dragons seemed very tolerant. Clearly the dragon trainers, Doge and Mordriana had had done a good job persuading them to co-operate.

"What now?" said Doge, putting away his jar of ointment. "Harry Potter's just waiting for the attack to begin."

"Harry's here?" said Dumbledore.

"Yeah, flew in a moment ago when Sturgis and Justin went off to look for you."

"Where is he" said Hermione, looking all around for him.

Doge pointed to the sky. "He's there."

Everybody looked up.

"Huh?" said Diggle.

"He's hovering with the Fireballs!" said Doge, chuckling at having surprised everyone. "When I want him to help, I'm supposed to signal with a purple spark in the air."

            Dumbledore nodded. "Excellent. I say we begin now, all we need is to break through the line of giants and get right up close to the walls….then we can break into the castle."

            "HOLE" said Grawp suddenly.

            Everyone turned to look at him.

            "What is it, Grawp?" said Hermione, who was still in the arms of the giant.

            "TOAD GO IN HOLE" said Grawp.

            "What's he saying about a toad in the hole?" said Emmeline.

            "TOAD IN HOLE. HOLE. TOAD GO IN."

            Hermione's face lit up. "He means there's some sort of hole in the ground by which we can enter the castle. I don't think we need to make a noisy break-in, right grawp? Hole in ground to go into castle?"

            Grawp beamed. "HERMY OK. HOLE GO IN"

            "That's even better" said Sirius. "We can sneak in quietly after we get past the giants instead of blasting our way in."

            "Why didn't you tell us earlier, Grawp?" said Hagrid.

            Grawp furrowed his eyebrows. "GRAWP TELL TOAD."

            Hermione began to giggle. "T-Toad…h-he means Doge. He told Doge about a hole in the ground by which he c-could enter…"

            Grawp nodded furiously.

            Elphias Doge shrugged and smiled apologetically, "Yeah…now I remember! He did tell me about the hole and asking me to go into the hole…Sorry, I couldn't make out a thing he was saying, I thought he was talking about pastry… so I told him it didn't matter."

            "Good going, Grawp" said Hermione and patted one of his enormous arms that held her aloft.

            "Right, Grawp…where is this hole?" said Hagrid. "Lead on."

            Grawp ambled to the front of the Dragons who had woken up and were stretching their legs.

            "GRAWP SHOW HOLE. CAREFUL GIANTS."

            The group of Aurors held their wands at the ready.

            "Grawp dear, put me down please" said Hermione to Grawp. He looked sad but put her down. She re-joined the other Aurors. "Thank you. Go on, show way."

            Grawp grinned. "SHOW WAY" The group set off.

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            They were nearly at the walls of the invisible castle.

            Hagrid had warned them that there were about a hundred giants patrolling its walls. "Yer gotta use the dragons as a diversion or shield. No use trying to fight giants, they are built like stone…but the dragons'll keep'em busy…only hope five's enough. We gotta draw 'em all away from Grawp's hole…one side Fireballs, one side Ridgebacks…that'll give us time to slip in."

            "STOP" said Grawp quietly.

            Hagrid peered out between the trees. They were at the base of a low, rocky mountain. "Plenty of giants."

            "I don't see any" said Emmeline, squinting into the moonlight.

            "That's 'cause they look like stone, see? That's why Voldemort's put'em at the castle walls…they look just like stone walls…no one'll see em till they reach out and grab you."

            Emmeline gulped.

            Doge was patting Morgril sadly, "Goodbye old sport, don't get hurt…okay?"

            Morgril let off a puff of smoke.

            Justin and Sturgis looked faintly sad too. The men had all been working with the dragons for the past few months. Justin was beginning to understand Charlie's love for dragons. They were fierce and proud creatures, but if treated well, proved loyal and honourable.

            Hagrid was patting Dwenny and Luke. Tears ran down his face, "Daddy'll miss you. You don' get to no harm now, littl'uns" This was extremely ironic for the dragons were as tall as the trees. Hermione was strongly reminded of the day Hagrid had to part with Norbert, his pet Norwegian Ridgeback in the first year.

            "Oh for heaven's sake" said Diggle, impatiently.

            "You don' understand…E's a young'un…only a hundred and four years old…" said Hagrid, patting Dwenny.

            "Now now, Hagrid" Dumbledore interrupted his groundskeeper before he could launch into another of his emotional speeches. "We must save Noel Malfoy and defeat Voldemort…Dwenny can help us. You must let him go now."

            Hagrid gave an enormous sniff and ambled away from Dwenny.

            Diggle looked relieved.

            Doge led the three dragons off to one side, he muttered something to them and they began move off in one direction.

            "Okay….give Harry the signal soon….we want giants to part on both sides, leaving the middle clear for us…NOW." Said Dumbledore

            Sturgis shot a purple spark into the air in the opposite direction of where Doge had told the dragons to go. Nothing happened for a while. Hermione had an awful feeling that maybe Harry wasn't there.

            Then suddenly, two balls of light came streaking silently down from the sky and disappeared into the forest at a distance.

            There came a roar followed by the sound of rocks rumbling.

            "That'll be the giants on the move…Hurry now, Grawp, Where hole?" asked Hagrid.

            Grawp began to walk forward again, "SHOW WAY"

            "Hurry…I told the dragons not to fight with the giants, simply to antagonize and distract them" said Doge.

            The unmistakeable sound of a dragon roar sounded from the distance and a shower of flame and sparks shot into the air.

            "They've seen them"

            "Oh I hope they don' get hurt" said Hagrid, running quickly after Grawp.

            "SHOW WAY."

            "Does Harry know where to go?" asked Hermione of Sturgis.

            Sturgis nodded. "He'll come towards the purple spark. And I'll be here waiting for him."

            There seemed to be nothing ahead of them then suddenly, Grawp grunted as he crashed into something solid.

            "CASTLE"

            Emmeline and Diggle walked right up to it.

            "Amazing!" the old witch said, "I see it perfectly well now!"

            "So do I" said Colin, in wonder.

            "Where's the hole?" said Hermione urgently. They had already spent nearly two hours wandering around outside…she had to start looking for Noel.

            "HOLE" said Grawp stamping his foot on a thick slab of stone.

            "Move aside, Grawp" said Hermione, as she quickly dropped to her knees and felt the slab with her fingers.

            "It's sealed?" sked Lupin, looking over her shoulder.

            Dumbledore and Sirius crowded around.

            "HOLE" insisted Grawp.

            "Stand back" said Dumbledore, pointing his wand at it.

            "Diffindo"

            Nothing happened.

            "Hermione try your opening spells." Hermione tried them all to no effect.

            Flames and sparks were coming from the distance.

            "Hurry…or all the Death Eaters inside will be put on the alert soon."

            "There's an inscription…" said  Hermione, squinting at the rotting stone surface. "Sepulcralis Caecum- what does it mean?"

            Dumbledore nodded grimly, "It means, Secret Tomb…and it's the place Snape used to apparate to for Death Eater meetings. This is definitely an entrance to the castle."

            "How do we open it?" said Sirius impatiently.

            "Grawp knows! He's seen it done before right?" asked Hermione turning to Grawp.

            Grawp looked puzzled. "OPEN HOLE" he said helplessly. He clearly had no idea how to move the large trapdoor.

            "We haven't come all this way to be stopped now!" said Sirius desperately.

            "I suppose we can blast our way in like we planned to before we learned about Grawp's hole" said Diggle doubtfully.

            "There must be some way to open this trapdoor! It's obviously been opened before since Grawp's seen it in use…oh Professor Dumbledore, can't you think of a way?"

            Professor Dumbledore was trying a series of opening charms on the trapdoor but it stayed stubbornly shut. The headmaster was starting to look perplexed.

            "Hello Sirius! Hello Hermione!"

            Hermione and Sirius looked up.

            "Harry!"

            There stood Harry Potter, dressed in a dragon-hide outfit, his hair as messy as ever. His glasses were cracked.

            "Really, Harry!" said Hermione impatiently, laughing and crying all at once in relief and happiness at seeing her friend, "I wish you'd learn this simple spell properly…Oculus Reparo!" Just as they had repaired themselves in the first year, Harry's glasses responded to Hermione's spell and repaired themselves.

            He laughed. "Thanks Hermione! I've been waiting for you to do that!"

            "Harry! Good to see you!" said Justin, the other Aurors crowded around.

            "We'd better hurry Professor Dumbledore," Harry said, "When I left the Fireballs, they were belching fire at the giants but it won't be long before they're overpowered and have to take flight again. Then the giants will come back."

            "Ah…Harry. You see, there is a slight problem. We can't open the trapdoor Grawp's shown us. It's a much better way in than trying to blast ourselves in." said Dumbledore in frustration. "Any ideas?"

            Harry's face lit up. "Sirius! Your knife!" He pulled it out of his boot. Sirius had given it to him in his fifth year and it was enchanted to open any lock.

            Sirius looked doubtful. "It opens locks Harry. I don't know about sealed trapdoors." But Harry and Hermione were already on their knees, slipping the blade of the knife into the gap between the stone and the earth. The Aurors held their breath.

            The trapdoor gave a soft creak and Hermione squealed in triumph.

            "It's open!"

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            The baby was staring intently at Lucius with familiar gold-brown eyes. So much like a Malfoy thought Lucius, observing Noel's fine growth of silver-blonde hair and his delicate facial features, but it's got that stinking mudblood's eyes.

            Draco sat in a corner of the room, brooding. His black robe was slung carelessly over a chair at the side and he now wore only a black T-shirt and dragon hide pants. Pansy's eyes were firmly glued to him, even as she conjured Noel's milk.

            "Stop it," Draco said, not even bothering to life his eyes off his dragonskin boots.

            "Stop what?" said Pansy, sweetly.

            "Stop staring at me, it's unnerving."

            Lucius was faintly amused. "That's no way to talk to your bride-to-be, Draco."

            "Why not, you talk to mother like that all the time don't you?" Draco shot back.

            "That's all right Mr Malfoy, I'll do whatever Draco wants" said Pansy, bashfully turning her eyes away. The thought of getting with Draco excited Pansy so much she trembled whenever he came within feet of her. Always one of the best looking boys in Hogwarts when she had known him, the past year since graduation had only improved the white-blond Slytherin's good looks. Draco's chin was still pointed, but firm. His body was incredibly well-toned and she liked to see how his black T-shirt clung to his chest. His eyes, always piercing, now held a new depth- something she couldn't understand. All she knew was that she couldn't seem to hold his gaze for more than a few seconds, there was something in his eyes that frightened and awed her.

            Lucius shrugged. "One last feed, Pansy" he said, walking away from the cot and towards his son. "We want Noel in good shape when he meets our Lord."

            "Yes" said Pansy, taking the bottle over to the child.

            "Father" said Draco suddenly, turning to his father. "I think we'd better hurry up. I have a feeling something bad is going to happen."

            Lucius laughed. "We would have heard reports from Goyle or Dolohov or even the Giants if something bad were going to happen, Draco. Don't be so foolish, this castle is heavily protected and charmed."

            "But you don't know Dumbledore. I've worked with him before- he's clever, and efficient. He could sneak in here any time. I'm sure that Percy and Penelope Weasley would have contacted him as soon as we disapparated, he could be here now without us knowing."

            "But you let them live, didn't you?" said Lucius grimly. "I said we should kill the whole lot of weasels but you stopped me, I would like to know why."

            "I have already told you- the Weasleys have built up a large and influential family. We couldn't take out all of them there- half of the family weren't at home…to kill Percy would be madness, he's the next Minister of Magic for Merlin's sake. Our quarrel isn't with them."

            "Oh no? And who is it with?" asked Lucius, nastily.

            Draco swallowed. "Mine is with Granger."

            Over in the corner with Noel, Pansy smirked.

            "Anyway, it won't matter. After tonight, Dumbledore and Weasels and Potters won't matter…Our Lord will be great. He will start to claim the muggle and magic worlds for his own and we will be the commanders of his army." Lucius concluded. He enjoyed indulging in these fantasies, again his eyes had a crazed look to them. Draco was not so easilt convinced.

            "If you say so father."

            "When will you learn to trust-"

            "Lucius!" a man came running into the South Guard Room.

            "Rookwood."

            "Voldemort wants the child now. We lost contact with Dolohov and Goyle in the forest."

            "Impossible."

            "I tell you it is true…some sort of invasion."

            "But the ring of giants…"

            "Disrupted momentarily. There were reports by Avery of dragons taking flight a moment ago. The giants left their places for ten minutes."

            Lucius still couldn't believe the fortress had been penetrated. But he had learned by now not to question Voldemort. Pansy handed the child over to Lucius.

            "Come on Draco. You heard Rookwood."

            Draco was fastened his cloak and reached out for the child. "I will hold Noel."

            Rookwood interrupted, "I had specific instructions from Voldemort that you were not to hold Noel. Lucius will hold him."

            "Our Lord is wise" says Lucius, eyeing Draco suspiciously.

            Rookwood nodded.

            "I said- I will hold Noel" said Draco, walking up to Lucius.

            "I'm afraid I cannot permit that, Draco" Lucius said in a low voice, walking out the door with the baby. Rookwood cast one look back at Draco and Pansy, and hurried off after Lucius.

            Draco stood in the room fuming. Noel was his son, he should be able to hold him whenever he wanted to! He was aware of Pansy sidling up to him and putting her arms around his waist. She pressed her body against his back. That girl never gave up!

            He tugged away her hands and began walking out of the room. He turned to look at the buxom girl who stood looking so eagerly at him. His face was hard.

            "When I kissed you just now Pansy, I saw myself kissing Hermione. I felt her, I tasted her. There's something wrong with me Pansy- there can be no one else. Not you, not anyone- I never wish to love like that again. I may be your husband, but I will never be your lover."

            Pansy's eyes filled with tears as Draco turned and left the room. When Lucius had asked her to break his heart, she didn't know that it could not be repaired.

***************************************

            "Lumos" someone muttered.

            The darkness was immediately dispelled with a clear light. The change from pitch-darkness to semi-brightness temporarily dazzled them all and Dumbledore, Sirius, Lupin, Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Emmeline, Luna, Colin and Diggle were momentarily blinded.

            They were the ones who had entered the trapdoor, dropping down nearly ten feet to land on cold stone below. Sturgis, Justin and Doge had remained outside to hide the Thestrals in the forests before the giants returned. Apparently, everyone except Hermione had been aware that a large flock of them had been following closely behind as they made their way through the forest. Hermione was surprised to learn of this, she hadn't noticed them at all and she still couldn't see them.

She supposed killing dementors and half-weres hardly counted as encountering death. Seeing thestrals was the one thing that even as top student, she could not learn the skill of from books. During her NEWTS, she had had great trouble in the Care of Magical Creatures practical exam because it had taken her nearly twenty minutes to even locate her thestral, much less feed and groom it.

            Hagrid and Grawp wouldn't fit through the opening so they were outside as well, keeping an eye out for the return of the giants.

            "Where are we?" murmured Emmeline, looking around her. It was some kind of old, crumbling tomb, with a stairway leading upstairs. The floor was covered with suspicious looking dark stains. Emmeline tried not to think what they might be.

            "It's a Trakian tomb" said Dumbledore, looking around. "One might have guessed Voldemort would choose such a vile place. The Trakians were a war-like people, skilled at plunder and destruction who were eventually slaughtered by the Macedonians. Some of the most evil Dark-Arts were developed by their wizards."

            Lupin was inspecting the strange markings and hieroglyphs on the walls. He had an academic interest in the Dark Arts and couldn't resist doing so.

            Luna shivered. "Let's get out of here. This is obviously a meeting hall of some kind and a lot of evil happened here."

            "I agree" said Harry, quickly, leading the way up the stairs.

            "Wait Harry" said Sirius, pulling him back. "Let me go first."

            Harry gave Sirius a strange look. Sirius muttered under his breath "we're so close Harry, I don't want anything to happen to you. This is all I hoped for."

            The others didn't notice the little exchange. They were all too unnerved by the room and were hurrying to the stairway.

            Those at the back of the line heard Sirius gasp. Followed soon enough by Hermione. They heard Dumbledore saying something.

            "What is it?" said Colin, stumbling up the dimly-lit stairs.

            Colin saw before him Hermione, Dumbledore and Sirius kneeling on the floor beside a prone figure. Harry and the others were standing nearby awkwardly.

            "I've removed the Imperius. But it's a very strong one…he needs mediwizardry or he may not last long." Said Dumbledore grimly, as Lupin supported the head of Severus Snape in his lap.

            "Please, Professor Dumbledore…I'm trained in Mediwizardry" Hermione offered.

            "Professor!" Emmeline stumbled out of a dark corner of the room.

            "What?"

            "There's another one…I-I think it's Narcissa Malfoy, b-but I can't be sure…"

            Sirius gasped. His cousin? Here? He followed Dumbledore quickly to where Emmeline was pointing. There was a thin blonde woman on the floor, her hair mostly bloodied and matted, as if she had been trying to tear it out. Her face had a vacant expression much like Snape's.

            "Narcissa!" Sirius said, holding his cousin in his arms.

            "Another long-term, powerful, Imperius curse" said Dumbledore, diagnosing the problem quickly. He muttered a strong counter-charm over Narcissa, waving his wand expertly. Like Snape had done moments earlier, Narcissa gave a groan and shook her head as if trying to clear it.

            "Dumbledore? Sirius?" she said softly.

            "Narcissa, I'm here" said Sirius gently, hugging her. "Who did this to you?"

            Narcissa looked confused. "I-I can't think clearly. I think I know. But it's a fog…where am I?"

            Dumbledore pulled Sirius away from her. "She's just woken up from an Imperius. She'll be a bit muddled for a while, don't pressure her. Hers is much less serious than Snape's and she's in no danger."

            Narcissa was getting to her feet. Emmeline helping her.

            "Th-Thank you." She said graciously. "Hermione!" she saw the mother of her grandchild tending to Snape a few feet away.

            She began to stumble towards her. "What happened? Why are we here? It was the photograph I took! I'm beginning to remember!"

            "Protego!" Colin yelled.

            A spell glanced off the stone chamber's ceiling.

            The other Aurors jumped.

            "There's someone at the top of the stairs!" said Colin, "We've got to catch him before he tells Voldemort!"

            "Hermione, stay here and tend to Snape and Narcissa. Emmeline will stay with you- everyone else, follow me!" said Dumbledore, running up the stairs after Harry.

"Dumbledore…Harry….save Noel. Find him!" cried Hermione at the last moment. She desperately wanted to join them to look for Noel, but she knew she was not combat trained and her skills were more needed here in to heal the injured.

Harry paused and turned to look at Hermione.

"Harry…Noel. Please. And…and Draco too."

"I know Hermione. I'll save them." He ran up the stairs.

Hermione heard yelling, blasts….then they faded into silence.

Emmeline was performing basic reviving spells on Narcissa and they were working wonderfully. Narcissa could walk steadily now and was regaining her memory, talking to Emmeline about what had happened. Hermione had a much more difficult job with Snape. He seemed barely alive. Nothing more than skin and bone, Snape had soiled himself and his robes stank. Sores had appeared on his skin and his black eyes, once able to flash threateningly at any student across a Potions class, were now dull and lifeless.

"Enervatium valescere omnia…" Hermione muttered the strength giving charm as fast and powerfully as she could over the weakened wreck of a man. He was still alive, his hands were still warm and she could feel a heartbeat. If only he would give some indication that he was gaining strength… recovering…come on Snape Hermione thought.

To her relief, Snape's hands began to move and he was making a sound. His breathing was less laboured and came smoothly. She muttered a nourishment charm over him- a quick fix to stop hunger and thirst. He looked like he hadn't eaten for days.

"N-N-aris" he said.

Hermione strained her ears. "Come on Professor Snape. It's me, Hermione Granger. It's okay. We're all here. We know you didn't take the Tenbrarum off by your own will, we know you were trapped. Come on…what is it?"

"Narcissa" Snape said clearly, at last.

"She's here. Emmeline, he's calling Narcissa. Can you bring her over?"

Emmeline nodded, leading Narcissa over by the hand. The blonde woman was much steadier now and could speak coherently.

"Severus?" she said, kneeling down by her long-time friend. "Are you okay? You don't look too good."

"Narcissa…it was me. I destroyed everything we so carefully set up. I tricked Draco. I took off the Tenebrarum" Snape was muttering in a low, harsh voice.

Narcissa placed soothing hands on his forehead. "Shh, it's okay Severus. I remember. We were both under the Imperius. But the Aurors are here now…it's not too late."

"Aurors?" Snape looked confused.

"Yes, Aurors. Here'e Emmeline Vance see?"

Emmeline leaned over Snape and smiled, "Hello Sevvy…long time no see."

Severus' eyes searched from one face to another, finally resting on Hermione's.

"I did it. I was the one. Please f-forgive me.D-did you get my w-wand? I-t-tried…"

Hermione patted Snape's hand. "It's okay. I got your wand. It's what saved me!"

Snape looked relieved. "m-my arm…it's damaged from giving you the w-wand. It was a very strong imperius…some high-level spell only Voldemort knows…"

Hermione nodded and briskly set about healing the damaged muscles of Snape's arms. Narcissa reached out and held Hermione's shoulders. She looked deep into the young woman's eyes.

"I know where they're taking Noel. I heard them talking and I remember" she said simply. "We must go now or it will be too late."

"Too late?"

"The Ritual. Draco must kill Noel and pour his blood over the stone. It is meant to take place tonight…we must hurry if we want to save your son."

"And yours" Hermione said, holding the other woman's hand.

Narcissa smiled. "And mine. It is the prophesy you know…somehow, it's going to be fulfilled…with one Malfoy son or the other. We must stop it."

Emmeline looked confused. "Prophesy?"

Severus Snape sat up suddenly. "Narcissa, take me. Draco trusts me…I must talk to him."

"But Severus…you are too weak."

Snape looked pleadingly at Hermione. "Miss Granger, then I beg you…and I am not one to usually beg."

Hermione nodded. She turned to Narcissa, "The other Aurors didn't want me to come- Dumbledore let me come. Now it's my turn to let Snape come along- I have a feeling Draco will need a lot of persuasion."

Emmeline looked appalled. "Dumbledore's instructions were that you should rest here till they returned." Narcissa and Hermione each lifted Snape under the arms.

"Hurry Hermione" Narcissa said, urgency in her voice.

Hermione said calmly to Emmeline, "We are going to look for Draco and Noel, Emmeline. Please, watch our backs."

Emmeline took one look at the determined look on the women's faces and decided against arguing. Bringing up the rear, she guarded their backs as they limped up the dungeon stairs.