Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter character although I love
them all dearly.
***Author's Note*** I've finished this story and there are Fifteen Chapters - I'll be posting them soon as soon as I read back over them and check for grammatical mistakes (I still might miss some but I try to get rid of them all)
Chapter Thirteen: Secrets Revealed
"Bad news," Ron said gravely as he looked up from the Daily Prophet the next morning. "They got Mundungus Fletcher last night in his house."
"They're picking off the members one by one," Harry added solemnly.
"It seems they don't need to know where the headquarters are since they're obviously getting information about the members somehow. We need to figure out how they're doing it," Hermione said exasperatedly.
"Isn't it obvious? They have operatives everywhere just like The Order does. They had the same kind of inside intelligence last time Voldemort was at large and it only seems right that they would have the same thing once again. Maybe Harry will see something or hear something without Voldemort aware," Oscie stated.
"He has given up on trying to send me images. Now it seems I only see them on accident when he's really angry or happy," Harry replied. "I've just got to wait until that happens."
"If You-Know-Who can get to your head don't you think you'd have the same connection to him?" Ron questioned. "I mean, couldn't you get to him and see what he's up to?"
"In theory that should work," Hermione commented. "But Voldemort is a very strong and powerful wizard."
"I've never tried it. I could though," Harry stated.
"It might be tricky. I'm sure Voldemort is trained to keep others out of his mind," Oscie added. Harry shrugged.
"I've got to try it and maybe find out who their informant is or else we won't have an order left to fight against him," Harry's face was set and determined.
"Want to try it tonight?" Ron inquired. Harry nodded and the group of Gryffindors left for a day of studying before the school week began again.
Oscie and Hermione had been studying in the library together and left to go back to the Gryffindor common room to wait with Ron and Harry until everyone else had gone to bed. They wanted the room empty when Harry tried to channel into Voldemort's mind and they knew it would be a while before everyone went to bed so the girls opted to read a few books in the library for a while.
"Too bad Moony can't help with the charm problem," Hermione stated as they walked together. Oscie was walking with her nose in a book scanning pages.
"Maybe something will come of it or maybe I'll get to feel more intense pain," Oscie replied with a laugh. "I'm hoping that somehow the charm will wear off or something though."
"At the moment I'm more concerned with Harry. I mean, what if this goes horribly wrong tonight?"
"Oh don't worry. From what I've seen of him he pretty much has a grasp on what he's doing," Oscie replied with a shrug. "Too bad we can't apparate yet. This walk to the tower kills me every time. Although I do know from our favorite book that nobody can apparate into the castle or the grounds because of the spells in place."
Just then there was a loud noise behind them and the girls turned to find themselves face-to-face with Crabbe and Goyle.
"What do you want?" Oscie growled. Neither Crabbe nor Goyle replied but both lunged at the girls before either could react. For what the two oafs lacked in brains they made up for with brawn.
"What the hell?" Oscie exclaimed as she fought against Goyle's tight grip. Both girls struggled without success as they were shoved into a classroom. The door was shut behind them but both were still held firmly in place with the boys' tight grasps. Oscie's eyes turned a jet black and Hermione let out a gasp when they saw Draco standing there with a smirk on his face.
"You!" Hermione seethed.
"Stupefy," he said with a commanding drawl and his wand aimed. Hermione fell limp in Crabbe's arms and he let her drop to the ground unconscious. Oscie struggled to get at her friend but her efforts were fruitless.
"You know too much for your own good," he drawled. "I think it's time to share that knowledge." His eyes flickered dangerously as he pulled forth a vile filled with a liquid. "Veritaserum. We know your precious uncle is a part of a - a special organization and I'm sure you know about it and are just dying to tell me all about it. I would have asked Granger my questions but revenge is sweet."
"As soon as word gets out about this -" Oscie began but stopped when Draco began laughing.
"Then we exchange wands. You get yours split for being an animagus and I'll get mine done in for this. Keep those lips shut and we both keep our wands," he drawled. Oscie was seething and wanted nothing more than to blast him out of the classroom with her wand.
"Damn you!" she yelled. His smirk only got bigger.
Draco had Crabbe pry her mouth open and poured the liquid in her mouth. Before she could spit it out Crabbe had clamped his hand firmly on her mouth to keep it from opening. Draco then plugged her nose so she couldn't breathe and had to swallow.
Suddenly a feeling of euphoria clouded her mind and nothing seemed to matter. The anger left her and no emotions could be felt.
"Where does Lupin live?" a distant voice questioned.
"I don't know."
"Where did you stay in England this summer?"
"Number Twelve Grimmauld Place."
"What's that?"
"A house."
"Where is it?"
"London."
"Where exactly?"
"I don't know."
"C'mon Crabbe," Draco said. "On the count of three, Goyle." Draco and Crabbe had gone to the door and were ready to leave. "Three!" Oscie was shoved violently to the ground and she faintly heard the door lock and could hear, as though from a great distance, the sound of spells being cast on the door.
After a while Oscie could feel the effects of the potion leaving her and her mind began to return. Hermione was still out cold on the floor and there was no sign of how long it has been since the three boys had left.
Quickly she got to her feet and revived Hermione with the word, "Ennervate." Hermione sat up slowly, rubbing her head and blinking hard a few times.
"I'll kill him," she swore. "So what happened?"
"He used veritaserum and now knows where headquarters are, thanks to me," Oscie seethed. She punched the desk as hard as she could with her fist and immediately felt pain as her knuckles began to bleed.
"Look, you can't help that he found out because of the potion. How long ago did he leave?"
"I don't know but it has been a while since it had to of taken a while for the effects to wear off," replied Oscie. "I do know there are spells on the door, though, so a simple alohomora won't work."
"So how do we get out?" Hermione questioned as she looked around the room for an answer. Oscie went to the door and pushed against it with all her strength but to no avail.
"By now his father must know. We've got to get out of here and warn The Order!" shrieked the frustrated Oscie. As if in answer to her yell they heard footsteps getting nearer outside the room.
"Hey! Help us!" Hermione yelled. The steps stopped in front of the door.
"Who's there?" Walt's voice questioned from the other side of the door.
"Walt!" Oscie exclaimed, running up to the door. "We're stuck in here and there's a spell on the door. Can you get it open from out there?"
"I can try," he replied apprehensively. "Are these your wands out here?" both girls searched their robes and found their wands were missing.
"It looks that way," Hermione answered.
"Alright.here, stand back!" commanded Walt. Oscie and Hermione moved away from the door with furtive glances at it. There was a loud thundering thud as the door was knocked inward and fell flat on the floor. Walt was standing in the doorway looking slightly shocked at the power of his own spell.
"That was impressive," Oscie nodded. Walt stepped onto the door and handed the girls their wands.
"What happened in here?" he questioned.
"No time to explain. We've got to get to Dumbledore," Hermione said as the two dashed past him.
"Wait!" Walt called, stopping the two in mid run. "He's not here!"
"What do you mean he's not here?" Oscie turned on him.
"He told me at a meeting earlier that he would be out this evening. I saw him leave with Professor McGonagall," replied Walt. Oscie and Hermione both looked horror stricken.
"Oscie, I'll go get Ron and Harry and meet you in front of the doors to the castle. You go and tell Snape what's going on," Hermione stated. Oscie nodded and Hermione took off up the stairs in the long journey to the Gryffindor tower.
"Why are you going to see Snape?" Walt questioned as he fell into stride with Oscie on the way to the dungeon.
"Because something's gone horribly wrong," Oscie panted. Walt was completely puzzled but Oscie didn't help by filling in the blanks.
"What has?" he asked, seemingly frustrated.
"I'm sorry, Walt, but I can't say. I've just got to get to Snape and talk to him. It's a matter of life and death," Oscie replied as they raced down the steps to the dungeon.
"Who locked you two in that room?"
"Draco did. But don't say anything about that to anyone. That is a matter of my wand being split and I really need my wand to defend myself. He basically blackmailed me," Oscie answered as they stopped at the door to Snape's office. She knocked on the door but there was no reply so she opened it. The room was empty and there was no sign of Snape anywhere.
"Do you know where Snape is?" she questioned.
"No, I didn't know he left," Walt replied. Oscie felt like screaming at something or someone but suppressed the urge and left his office with Walt on her heels.
"Not that I don't like spending quality time with you, but why are you following me?" Oscie questioned as the thought occurred to her. Walt chuckled.
"Think about it. I found you locked in a room and the details are vague. There's obviously a plot behind it and I'm trying to figure out what's going on here. Besides, how else do you think I spend my Sunday nights other than chasing an insane girl around the school?"
"Ah, so now I'm crazy. I'll have to add that to the list when all this is cleared up," Oscie replied with a grin. They had just reached the entry of the school but Hermione, Ron, and Harry weren't there yet. Both stood in silence for a while catching their breath.
"So what happens now?"
"We wait for Hermione, Ron, and Harry," Oscie replied as she flopped on the ground to sit and wait and to catch her breath. Walt sat down next to her.
"Then what?"
"We're going to have to take a trip to London. I'm sorry but you'll have to stay here and just pretend like you know nothing," Oscie replied. He cocked his head to the side and looked at her with an eyebrow raised.
"You don't really expect me to stay here while you four go gallivanting of to who knows where," he replied with a grin.
"Actually I kinda did, yeah," Oscie laughed. "Walt, any other time I would love for you to come but this isn't a good one." She thought of how to explain it without giving away precious information but it hit her that the Death Eaters know where headquarters are and that it couldn't hurt to tell him. "Alright, here's the deal. If we don't leave, Death Eaters will kill a lot of wizards and witches devoted to Dumbledore. They just found out where their secret meeting place is and they must be on their way there. We're going to have to go warn them since they don't know what's happened."
Walt looked taken aback and just stared at her for a moment. "I'll go with you."
"I don't think you understand. We're going to possibly be fighting Death Eaters - or getting killed," Oscie replied.
"I understand. When do we leave?" Walt inquired.
"Alright - it's your call if you want to go. We'll leave as soon as - oh, there they are; Ron, Harry, and Hermione."
"We were going to check through the fireplace to see if everything was alright but there were too many people in the common room," Harry stated. "Where's Snape?"
"He's not here either. What if they're having a meeting or are out with only one wizard guarding the house?" questioned Oscie. "We've got to get there and fast."
"So how do we do that?" Walt piped up. The three newcomers looked at him and then to Oscie for an explanation.
"He's coming with us. Besides if he can knock down that door and all, he's got a few tricks up his sleeve that just might help," Oscie explained. "So how do we get there?"
"Broomstick?" Ron suggested.
"We just might have to, but there has to be a quicker way," stated Hermione.
"While we stand here debating we already could be on brooms and speeding through the sky," Harry stated. He seemed very tense and appeared to want to leave immediately.
"Then boom it is," Hermione said with a sigh.
"Accio broomstick!" all voices but Hermione called and after a little bit the brooms came zooming into their hands from the different rooms where they had been laying dormant.
"I don't own a broom," Hermione stated. "I'm not one to fly much."
"I'll share," Ron offered immediately. His ears turned scarlet and he looked as though he wanted a hole to open up and swallow him where he stood. "I mean - er - that is if you want to."
"That solves that problem," Oscie said, trying to redirect their focus and not waiting for Hermione to consent or refuse. "Now I do believe there's a place we need to be right now and the faster we go the better."
They walked outside onto the grounds of Hogwarts and without a second thought the five students mounted their brooms and flew into the night sky.
***Author's Note*** I've finished this story and there are Fifteen Chapters - I'll be posting them soon as soon as I read back over them and check for grammatical mistakes (I still might miss some but I try to get rid of them all)
Chapter Thirteen: Secrets Revealed
"Bad news," Ron said gravely as he looked up from the Daily Prophet the next morning. "They got Mundungus Fletcher last night in his house."
"They're picking off the members one by one," Harry added solemnly.
"It seems they don't need to know where the headquarters are since they're obviously getting information about the members somehow. We need to figure out how they're doing it," Hermione said exasperatedly.
"Isn't it obvious? They have operatives everywhere just like The Order does. They had the same kind of inside intelligence last time Voldemort was at large and it only seems right that they would have the same thing once again. Maybe Harry will see something or hear something without Voldemort aware," Oscie stated.
"He has given up on trying to send me images. Now it seems I only see them on accident when he's really angry or happy," Harry replied. "I've just got to wait until that happens."
"If You-Know-Who can get to your head don't you think you'd have the same connection to him?" Ron questioned. "I mean, couldn't you get to him and see what he's up to?"
"In theory that should work," Hermione commented. "But Voldemort is a very strong and powerful wizard."
"I've never tried it. I could though," Harry stated.
"It might be tricky. I'm sure Voldemort is trained to keep others out of his mind," Oscie added. Harry shrugged.
"I've got to try it and maybe find out who their informant is or else we won't have an order left to fight against him," Harry's face was set and determined.
"Want to try it tonight?" Ron inquired. Harry nodded and the group of Gryffindors left for a day of studying before the school week began again.
Oscie and Hermione had been studying in the library together and left to go back to the Gryffindor common room to wait with Ron and Harry until everyone else had gone to bed. They wanted the room empty when Harry tried to channel into Voldemort's mind and they knew it would be a while before everyone went to bed so the girls opted to read a few books in the library for a while.
"Too bad Moony can't help with the charm problem," Hermione stated as they walked together. Oscie was walking with her nose in a book scanning pages.
"Maybe something will come of it or maybe I'll get to feel more intense pain," Oscie replied with a laugh. "I'm hoping that somehow the charm will wear off or something though."
"At the moment I'm more concerned with Harry. I mean, what if this goes horribly wrong tonight?"
"Oh don't worry. From what I've seen of him he pretty much has a grasp on what he's doing," Oscie replied with a shrug. "Too bad we can't apparate yet. This walk to the tower kills me every time. Although I do know from our favorite book that nobody can apparate into the castle or the grounds because of the spells in place."
Just then there was a loud noise behind them and the girls turned to find themselves face-to-face with Crabbe and Goyle.
"What do you want?" Oscie growled. Neither Crabbe nor Goyle replied but both lunged at the girls before either could react. For what the two oafs lacked in brains they made up for with brawn.
"What the hell?" Oscie exclaimed as she fought against Goyle's tight grip. Both girls struggled without success as they were shoved into a classroom. The door was shut behind them but both were still held firmly in place with the boys' tight grasps. Oscie's eyes turned a jet black and Hermione let out a gasp when they saw Draco standing there with a smirk on his face.
"You!" Hermione seethed.
"Stupefy," he said with a commanding drawl and his wand aimed. Hermione fell limp in Crabbe's arms and he let her drop to the ground unconscious. Oscie struggled to get at her friend but her efforts were fruitless.
"You know too much for your own good," he drawled. "I think it's time to share that knowledge." His eyes flickered dangerously as he pulled forth a vile filled with a liquid. "Veritaserum. We know your precious uncle is a part of a - a special organization and I'm sure you know about it and are just dying to tell me all about it. I would have asked Granger my questions but revenge is sweet."
"As soon as word gets out about this -" Oscie began but stopped when Draco began laughing.
"Then we exchange wands. You get yours split for being an animagus and I'll get mine done in for this. Keep those lips shut and we both keep our wands," he drawled. Oscie was seething and wanted nothing more than to blast him out of the classroom with her wand.
"Damn you!" she yelled. His smirk only got bigger.
Draco had Crabbe pry her mouth open and poured the liquid in her mouth. Before she could spit it out Crabbe had clamped his hand firmly on her mouth to keep it from opening. Draco then plugged her nose so she couldn't breathe and had to swallow.
Suddenly a feeling of euphoria clouded her mind and nothing seemed to matter. The anger left her and no emotions could be felt.
"Where does Lupin live?" a distant voice questioned.
"I don't know."
"Where did you stay in England this summer?"
"Number Twelve Grimmauld Place."
"What's that?"
"A house."
"Where is it?"
"London."
"Where exactly?"
"I don't know."
"C'mon Crabbe," Draco said. "On the count of three, Goyle." Draco and Crabbe had gone to the door and were ready to leave. "Three!" Oscie was shoved violently to the ground and she faintly heard the door lock and could hear, as though from a great distance, the sound of spells being cast on the door.
After a while Oscie could feel the effects of the potion leaving her and her mind began to return. Hermione was still out cold on the floor and there was no sign of how long it has been since the three boys had left.
Quickly she got to her feet and revived Hermione with the word, "Ennervate." Hermione sat up slowly, rubbing her head and blinking hard a few times.
"I'll kill him," she swore. "So what happened?"
"He used veritaserum and now knows where headquarters are, thanks to me," Oscie seethed. She punched the desk as hard as she could with her fist and immediately felt pain as her knuckles began to bleed.
"Look, you can't help that he found out because of the potion. How long ago did he leave?"
"I don't know but it has been a while since it had to of taken a while for the effects to wear off," replied Oscie. "I do know there are spells on the door, though, so a simple alohomora won't work."
"So how do we get out?" Hermione questioned as she looked around the room for an answer. Oscie went to the door and pushed against it with all her strength but to no avail.
"By now his father must know. We've got to get out of here and warn The Order!" shrieked the frustrated Oscie. As if in answer to her yell they heard footsteps getting nearer outside the room.
"Hey! Help us!" Hermione yelled. The steps stopped in front of the door.
"Who's there?" Walt's voice questioned from the other side of the door.
"Walt!" Oscie exclaimed, running up to the door. "We're stuck in here and there's a spell on the door. Can you get it open from out there?"
"I can try," he replied apprehensively. "Are these your wands out here?" both girls searched their robes and found their wands were missing.
"It looks that way," Hermione answered.
"Alright.here, stand back!" commanded Walt. Oscie and Hermione moved away from the door with furtive glances at it. There was a loud thundering thud as the door was knocked inward and fell flat on the floor. Walt was standing in the doorway looking slightly shocked at the power of his own spell.
"That was impressive," Oscie nodded. Walt stepped onto the door and handed the girls their wands.
"What happened in here?" he questioned.
"No time to explain. We've got to get to Dumbledore," Hermione said as the two dashed past him.
"Wait!" Walt called, stopping the two in mid run. "He's not here!"
"What do you mean he's not here?" Oscie turned on him.
"He told me at a meeting earlier that he would be out this evening. I saw him leave with Professor McGonagall," replied Walt. Oscie and Hermione both looked horror stricken.
"Oscie, I'll go get Ron and Harry and meet you in front of the doors to the castle. You go and tell Snape what's going on," Hermione stated. Oscie nodded and Hermione took off up the stairs in the long journey to the Gryffindor tower.
"Why are you going to see Snape?" Walt questioned as he fell into stride with Oscie on the way to the dungeon.
"Because something's gone horribly wrong," Oscie panted. Walt was completely puzzled but Oscie didn't help by filling in the blanks.
"What has?" he asked, seemingly frustrated.
"I'm sorry, Walt, but I can't say. I've just got to get to Snape and talk to him. It's a matter of life and death," Oscie replied as they raced down the steps to the dungeon.
"Who locked you two in that room?"
"Draco did. But don't say anything about that to anyone. That is a matter of my wand being split and I really need my wand to defend myself. He basically blackmailed me," Oscie answered as they stopped at the door to Snape's office. She knocked on the door but there was no reply so she opened it. The room was empty and there was no sign of Snape anywhere.
"Do you know where Snape is?" she questioned.
"No, I didn't know he left," Walt replied. Oscie felt like screaming at something or someone but suppressed the urge and left his office with Walt on her heels.
"Not that I don't like spending quality time with you, but why are you following me?" Oscie questioned as the thought occurred to her. Walt chuckled.
"Think about it. I found you locked in a room and the details are vague. There's obviously a plot behind it and I'm trying to figure out what's going on here. Besides, how else do you think I spend my Sunday nights other than chasing an insane girl around the school?"
"Ah, so now I'm crazy. I'll have to add that to the list when all this is cleared up," Oscie replied with a grin. They had just reached the entry of the school but Hermione, Ron, and Harry weren't there yet. Both stood in silence for a while catching their breath.
"So what happens now?"
"We wait for Hermione, Ron, and Harry," Oscie replied as she flopped on the ground to sit and wait and to catch her breath. Walt sat down next to her.
"Then what?"
"We're going to have to take a trip to London. I'm sorry but you'll have to stay here and just pretend like you know nothing," Oscie replied. He cocked his head to the side and looked at her with an eyebrow raised.
"You don't really expect me to stay here while you four go gallivanting of to who knows where," he replied with a grin.
"Actually I kinda did, yeah," Oscie laughed. "Walt, any other time I would love for you to come but this isn't a good one." She thought of how to explain it without giving away precious information but it hit her that the Death Eaters know where headquarters are and that it couldn't hurt to tell him. "Alright, here's the deal. If we don't leave, Death Eaters will kill a lot of wizards and witches devoted to Dumbledore. They just found out where their secret meeting place is and they must be on their way there. We're going to have to go warn them since they don't know what's happened."
Walt looked taken aback and just stared at her for a moment. "I'll go with you."
"I don't think you understand. We're going to possibly be fighting Death Eaters - or getting killed," Oscie replied.
"I understand. When do we leave?" Walt inquired.
"Alright - it's your call if you want to go. We'll leave as soon as - oh, there they are; Ron, Harry, and Hermione."
"We were going to check through the fireplace to see if everything was alright but there were too many people in the common room," Harry stated. "Where's Snape?"
"He's not here either. What if they're having a meeting or are out with only one wizard guarding the house?" questioned Oscie. "We've got to get there and fast."
"So how do we do that?" Walt piped up. The three newcomers looked at him and then to Oscie for an explanation.
"He's coming with us. Besides if he can knock down that door and all, he's got a few tricks up his sleeve that just might help," Oscie explained. "So how do we get there?"
"Broomstick?" Ron suggested.
"We just might have to, but there has to be a quicker way," stated Hermione.
"While we stand here debating we already could be on brooms and speeding through the sky," Harry stated. He seemed very tense and appeared to want to leave immediately.
"Then boom it is," Hermione said with a sigh.
"Accio broomstick!" all voices but Hermione called and after a little bit the brooms came zooming into their hands from the different rooms where they had been laying dormant.
"I don't own a broom," Hermione stated. "I'm not one to fly much."
"I'll share," Ron offered immediately. His ears turned scarlet and he looked as though he wanted a hole to open up and swallow him where he stood. "I mean - er - that is if you want to."
"That solves that problem," Oscie said, trying to redirect their focus and not waiting for Hermione to consent or refuse. "Now I do believe there's a place we need to be right now and the faster we go the better."
They walked outside onto the grounds of Hogwarts and without a second thought the five students mounted their brooms and flew into the night sky.