Chapter Four
Developments
Parents' weekend had been a success. Severus had been able to discreetly plant seven tracking bugs on parents of Slytherin students, but hadn't managed the prize catch. Lucius Malfoy. Hopefully the chance would present its self again. Dumbledore and Minerva had been called into action as well and had succeeded in tagging some Ravenclaw ,Griffindor and Huffelpuff parents as well. The only dark spot was the Slytherin victory over Griffindor in the Quittich demonstration. At least it didn't count toward the cup. Many a parent had left pleased with the progress of their child in the various crafts of wizardry, and had said as much to Dumbledore, who was so pleased with the weekend that he was considering making it a permanent event.
Then Voldimort struck. The attack was fast and brutal, leaving a family of five dead and the only daughter missing. Severus hadn't participated in the attack, giving further credit to the hypothesis that he was no longer trusted. Hero was worried about his longevity in The Dark Lord's circle, but not as much as she worried about his longevity in this life. She spoke of this fear to Albus, and he agreed that the monitoring of Snape should be made a twenty-four hour a day task.
Life went on as usual, with classes for the students and the extracurricular training in London for a few peaceful days.
Then, the staff of Snape's ancestral home were murdered in an attack that was so hideous that even battle-wizened aurors found repugnant. When Severus returned form surveying the scene, he took to his quarters for a solid week. He didn't even come out to teach class. When he did finally emerge, in a darker mood that ever, Mad Eye Moody became his shadow whenever he stepped out of the protective boundary of Hogwarts. His days as a spy were over and he wasn't at all pleased. Hero was both angry and relieved. She needed to think of a contingency plan now.
These were her thoughts as she walked into the control room at the Black House in London and sat down at the console to begin her shift. It was a clear night in early April and the house was comfortable without the need of a fire burning in every grate. Molly had fixed her a nice supper and was clearing up the kitchen before joining Hero in the control room for some more training on the equipment. Things had been quite since the attack at Snape Manor, so Hero used the opportunity to help Molly Weasley, who turned out to be quite the fast learner.
She had just taken a sip of her coffee when the GPS console lit up and started beeping madly. Tapping in tracking codes, Hero narrowed the signals down to one area of the country and gasped.
"Molly!" she yelled jumping up from her chair "Molly!"
"What's wrong?" she gasped upon entering the room.
"There's an attack on Hogsmeade! I have to go! Alert the others! NOW!" and she apperated out of the room and into an alley off of the main street of the village.
Hero, wand drawn before her, cautiously made her way out of the alley. She could hear the hexes and counter hexes being thrown and the different colored sparks that emitted from the wand that threw them lit up the streets of the village. Distant screams high pitched and terror filled, rent the night air. But the main street, which should be the busiest street in the village at this time of night, was deserted. 'This isn't right' she thought 'If I were attacking, I'd be doing it here' Hero ran to a heap of robes that lay on the street in front of the Three Broomsticks and rolled it over. He was no one she knew, thank Merlin, and checked the man for a pulse. There was none. "Son of a Bitch!" she hissed. Not finding his wand, she continued to make her way down the street, passing five more bodies, all obviously dead, one or two of them smoldering. Then out of the corner of her eye she spotted a shadow slip into an alley.
Chewing her lower lip, she took her phone from her pocket and checked the GPS screen. Nothing in her vicinity, 'Which means nothing, since not all of em are tagged' she thought. Hero frowned, 'this isn't right, this is fucked!' she thought as she cautiously made her way toward the alley. She took a deep breath and made her way in. Silently hugging the wall, she slowly advanced further in, taking advantage of the shadows. Then she realized that the village had gone completely silent, the attack apparently over. 'Damn!' her phone emitted two loud beeps and she slapped her hand over it. Too late!
"Expelliarmus!" the scarlet flash of light flying toward her, throwing her backward her wand flying out of her hand. She rolled away from the silver burst of 'Crucio!" "Protego!" she bellowed and leapt to her feet running in the direction of the hexes. "Protego!" she bellowed again and tackled the stunned wizard. "Malfoy!" she growled pulling him up by his robes and slamming him against the wall. She heard his wand hit the brick floor of the alley as she slammed her fist into his stomach. He grabbed her arm and twisted it, bringing her to her knees as she heard the unmistakable sound of breaking bones. She leaned into his legs and flipped him over her back onto the street. She turned and made to kick him in the chest, but he grabbed her foot and pushed her backward and over. "Accio Wand!' they shouted in unison. She rolled out of the tumble and grabbed the wand, just as he grabbed his, and they found themselves face to face.
"Well, well" he hissed at her, voice dripping sarcasm "If it isn't little Hero Charen back from the Colonies, and fighting like a muggle. My, my wouldn't your father be proud?"
"Fuck off, Malfoy!" she panted, her wand at ready.
"So you want to duel now, do you?" he said, noting her stance "Do you think you can out duel me little girl?" He took a step toward her.
"Why don't you shut the hell up and find out for yourself?" she hissed at him, stepping back, her hand throbbing in pain. "Flagro Iactus!" she shouted orange-yellow flame shot from her wand.
He ducked beneath the flame and countered with "Flictum Motum" and a step forward as she countered with
"Protego" and a step backward
'Immobulous!" he shouted with a step forward.
"Declino! Ahh!" she shouted as she stumbled backward over a brick and into the main street. She hit the ground with an' oomph', her wand flying out of her hand, the air knocked out of her lungs, her head banging against the hard brick of the street. Through her mental haze, she heard him summon her wand, then he laughed. Low and evil.
"Get up Auror!' he hissed at her
She rolled to her knees, her back protesting the move, her head pounding and rose to her feet. She met his eyes and knew that she was a dead woman.
"Go on then, Malfoy. Get it over with!" she said defiantly.
"That's what your father said right before I killed him." he sneered "How typically Griffindor. Goodbye Miss Charen. Avrada Kedavra-"
"Protego!" came a cry from above, neatly deflecting the killing curse from her path, quickly followed by 'Pelloflictum"
Hero spun around into a run as the hex struck Malfoy causing him to fly violently backward into the alley. Shooting toward her on his broom was Severus, black cape billowing behind him. He flew toward her, scooped her up onto the broom handle and accelerated skyward again before she had time to draw a breath.
"Accio Wand." he said with a growl as, startled she leaned into him, panting. His arm held her tightly against him as he let go of the broom long enough to grab the wand when it hit his hand. "I believe this is yours," he said waving it in front of her face. She snatched it from him and sheathed it in her thigh holster.
'Thank you" she said breathless, leaning closer into him, shaking and in pain. He further tightened his hold on her, flying fast over the Forbidden Forest and toward he safety of Hogwarts.
Landing in the Fountain Court, Hero had taken two steps when darkness descended on her and she pitched forward in a faint. Severus bit back a curse and scooped her up striding toward the castle.
Developments
Parents' weekend had been a success. Severus had been able to discreetly plant seven tracking bugs on parents of Slytherin students, but hadn't managed the prize catch. Lucius Malfoy. Hopefully the chance would present its self again. Dumbledore and Minerva had been called into action as well and had succeeded in tagging some Ravenclaw ,Griffindor and Huffelpuff parents as well. The only dark spot was the Slytherin victory over Griffindor in the Quittich demonstration. At least it didn't count toward the cup. Many a parent had left pleased with the progress of their child in the various crafts of wizardry, and had said as much to Dumbledore, who was so pleased with the weekend that he was considering making it a permanent event.
Then Voldimort struck. The attack was fast and brutal, leaving a family of five dead and the only daughter missing. Severus hadn't participated in the attack, giving further credit to the hypothesis that he was no longer trusted. Hero was worried about his longevity in The Dark Lord's circle, but not as much as she worried about his longevity in this life. She spoke of this fear to Albus, and he agreed that the monitoring of Snape should be made a twenty-four hour a day task.
Life went on as usual, with classes for the students and the extracurricular training in London for a few peaceful days.
Then, the staff of Snape's ancestral home were murdered in an attack that was so hideous that even battle-wizened aurors found repugnant. When Severus returned form surveying the scene, he took to his quarters for a solid week. He didn't even come out to teach class. When he did finally emerge, in a darker mood that ever, Mad Eye Moody became his shadow whenever he stepped out of the protective boundary of Hogwarts. His days as a spy were over and he wasn't at all pleased. Hero was both angry and relieved. She needed to think of a contingency plan now.
These were her thoughts as she walked into the control room at the Black House in London and sat down at the console to begin her shift. It was a clear night in early April and the house was comfortable without the need of a fire burning in every grate. Molly had fixed her a nice supper and was clearing up the kitchen before joining Hero in the control room for some more training on the equipment. Things had been quite since the attack at Snape Manor, so Hero used the opportunity to help Molly Weasley, who turned out to be quite the fast learner.
She had just taken a sip of her coffee when the GPS console lit up and started beeping madly. Tapping in tracking codes, Hero narrowed the signals down to one area of the country and gasped.
"Molly!" she yelled jumping up from her chair "Molly!"
"What's wrong?" she gasped upon entering the room.
"There's an attack on Hogsmeade! I have to go! Alert the others! NOW!" and she apperated out of the room and into an alley off of the main street of the village.
Hero, wand drawn before her, cautiously made her way out of the alley. She could hear the hexes and counter hexes being thrown and the different colored sparks that emitted from the wand that threw them lit up the streets of the village. Distant screams high pitched and terror filled, rent the night air. But the main street, which should be the busiest street in the village at this time of night, was deserted. 'This isn't right' she thought 'If I were attacking, I'd be doing it here' Hero ran to a heap of robes that lay on the street in front of the Three Broomsticks and rolled it over. He was no one she knew, thank Merlin, and checked the man for a pulse. There was none. "Son of a Bitch!" she hissed. Not finding his wand, she continued to make her way down the street, passing five more bodies, all obviously dead, one or two of them smoldering. Then out of the corner of her eye she spotted a shadow slip into an alley.
Chewing her lower lip, she took her phone from her pocket and checked the GPS screen. Nothing in her vicinity, 'Which means nothing, since not all of em are tagged' she thought. Hero frowned, 'this isn't right, this is fucked!' she thought as she cautiously made her way toward the alley. She took a deep breath and made her way in. Silently hugging the wall, she slowly advanced further in, taking advantage of the shadows. Then she realized that the village had gone completely silent, the attack apparently over. 'Damn!' her phone emitted two loud beeps and she slapped her hand over it. Too late!
"Expelliarmus!" the scarlet flash of light flying toward her, throwing her backward her wand flying out of her hand. She rolled away from the silver burst of 'Crucio!" "Protego!" she bellowed and leapt to her feet running in the direction of the hexes. "Protego!" she bellowed again and tackled the stunned wizard. "Malfoy!" she growled pulling him up by his robes and slamming him against the wall. She heard his wand hit the brick floor of the alley as she slammed her fist into his stomach. He grabbed her arm and twisted it, bringing her to her knees as she heard the unmistakable sound of breaking bones. She leaned into his legs and flipped him over her back onto the street. She turned and made to kick him in the chest, but he grabbed her foot and pushed her backward and over. "Accio Wand!' they shouted in unison. She rolled out of the tumble and grabbed the wand, just as he grabbed his, and they found themselves face to face.
"Well, well" he hissed at her, voice dripping sarcasm "If it isn't little Hero Charen back from the Colonies, and fighting like a muggle. My, my wouldn't your father be proud?"
"Fuck off, Malfoy!" she panted, her wand at ready.
"So you want to duel now, do you?" he said, noting her stance "Do you think you can out duel me little girl?" He took a step toward her.
"Why don't you shut the hell up and find out for yourself?" she hissed at him, stepping back, her hand throbbing in pain. "Flagro Iactus!" she shouted orange-yellow flame shot from her wand.
He ducked beneath the flame and countered with "Flictum Motum" and a step forward as she countered with
"Protego" and a step backward
'Immobulous!" he shouted with a step forward.
"Declino! Ahh!" she shouted as she stumbled backward over a brick and into the main street. She hit the ground with an' oomph', her wand flying out of her hand, the air knocked out of her lungs, her head banging against the hard brick of the street. Through her mental haze, she heard him summon her wand, then he laughed. Low and evil.
"Get up Auror!' he hissed at her
She rolled to her knees, her back protesting the move, her head pounding and rose to her feet. She met his eyes and knew that she was a dead woman.
"Go on then, Malfoy. Get it over with!" she said defiantly.
"That's what your father said right before I killed him." he sneered "How typically Griffindor. Goodbye Miss Charen. Avrada Kedavra-"
"Protego!" came a cry from above, neatly deflecting the killing curse from her path, quickly followed by 'Pelloflictum"
Hero spun around into a run as the hex struck Malfoy causing him to fly violently backward into the alley. Shooting toward her on his broom was Severus, black cape billowing behind him. He flew toward her, scooped her up onto the broom handle and accelerated skyward again before she had time to draw a breath.
"Accio Wand." he said with a growl as, startled she leaned into him, panting. His arm held her tightly against him as he let go of the broom long enough to grab the wand when it hit his hand. "I believe this is yours," he said waving it in front of her face. She snatched it from him and sheathed it in her thigh holster.
'Thank you" she said breathless, leaning closer into him, shaking and in pain. He further tightened his hold on her, flying fast over the Forbidden Forest and toward he safety of Hogwarts.
Landing in the Fountain Court, Hero had taken two steps when darkness descended on her and she pitched forward in a faint. Severus bit back a curse and scooped her up striding toward the castle.