Chapter Forty-Five: Plans Before Battle

Summary: Forty-fifth chapter. Four to go. That about sums it up.

The first step of the rescue mission was fairly straight forward. Get to the Deatheaters lair. But despite the simplicity of the task, Harry could feel his anxiety rising with each minute that passed. The group as a whole apparated to a spot some five miles from the Deatheaters' lair. Harry had asked why they had to apparate so far from the lair.

"Like the castle," Sirius had explained, "Voldemort has spells about this lair to alert him to trespassers and to keep anyone from apparating in or out. We don't want to risk tripping any of his alarms."

"But won't they be alerted went we walk anywhere near the lair? The protections around the castle are set up to alert to strangers on the grounds."

"Snape said there's to be some sort of gathering tonight. Usually only those with the dark mark can get through the spells. But there are new initiates coming who haven't received the mark yet and so the protection spells have been decreased to a level we can counter them fairly easily."

Lupin had transported Harry and Sirius with him. Once they arrived, the entire group started out in the fading twilight, following Snape as he led them through the thin forest of trees to the location that he had said they would meet a contact he had made arrangements with who could get them safely into the lair without notice. Snape had also stated that the contact would be the fourth that was needed for Lupin's confinement spell.

Harry moved along, keeping stride with Sirius, who moved along as best he could with his cane. For being so badly injured, Harry was amazed at how well he kept pace with the others.

As they moved along, Harry studied those around him as a way to distract himself from what possibly lay before him that night. Each of the wizards and witches in the group seemed to move as a single entity. No one spoke a word or even seemed to shift their gaze from straight in front of them. Harry also noted that each and every one of them already had their wands out, and had them grasp tightly in their hands. The whole demeanor of the group reminded Harry of how the group had seemed when they attacked the Deatheaters in the field the night they had attempted to ambush Harry, Sirius, and Arabella. There was no hesitation, and no question as to their purpose. Each one of them believed this night would end in a battle. And it was one they were determined to win, no matter the cost.

Harry became so preoccupied with studying those around him that he failed to notice that he had fallen behind Sirius until he looked up to see where his godfather was only to find him nowhere in sight. A sudden panic seized Harry as he looked wildly about. But in the near darkness every robed figure now looked the same to him.

Harry was nearly ready to call out Sirius' name when a hand grabbed hold of one of his and pulled him to a stop.

"Harry, where did you go?"

Harry looked up to find himself facing his godfather. A wave of relief rushed through him as he squeezed Sirius' hand.

"I guess I got lost in the crowd." Harry replied with a small smile. "I wasn't paying attention. I'm sorry."

"You can't be letting your mind drift off like that, Harry." Sirius told him firmly. "You have to keep your wits about you tonight, all right? Know who's around you and what's going on. Constant vigilance. It could save your life."

Harry smiled inwardly at the phrase. It was certain clear who had taught Sirius to be an Auror.

"All right then," Sirius continued, resting a hand over Harry's shoulder as they continued on, "stay with me. I could use something a little taller then this cane to lean on for a while."

Harry would gladly have supported Sirius' weight as he walked, but he found the hand resting on his shoulder suspiciously lacking in any pressure as they moved along. He figured the whole situation had been arranged simply so that Sirius could now keep a better eye on him.

The rest of the trek passed in near silence. A silence that was abruptly shattered when a brief struggle ensued several yards in front of the group. The muffled sounds came from exactly where Snape had been last seen before disappearing past several trees.

Before anyone could react a small light lit the area.

Those in front pulled back, their wands pointed in front of them.

"No one makes a move!" A voice called out in a hiss of a whisper. "Or the slimy git gets it!"

No one moved.

Harry poked his head around the robes of the wizard (Or witch. It was hard to tell.) in front of him.

Standing boldly before the group was a sole robed figure wearing a mask. In her arms (for the voice had definitely been female) Snape was held about the neck by one arm with a wand pointed at his head.

For several tense seconds the standoff held.

But suddenly the masked figure began to laugh. It released Snape as it dropped its wand, but kept him close enough that no one could attempt a spell without being in danger of hitting him as well.

"This is your great fighting force, Severus?" The figure asked. "Can't say as I'm impressed."

Harry watched as the figured reached up and pulled back the hood of it's robe as it removed the mask. Under the light of it's wand, Harry watched as a mass of blond, curly hair fell from under the hood, cut just to the shoulders. But at the sight of the figure's face, Harry jumped back.

"Sirius!" He cried out, grabbing tightly onto his godfather's hand. "That...that's the woman...the one from the party who gave me that gift."

Sirius grabbed Harry about the shoulders and pushed him behind him. In a single motion, every wand in the group focused itself again on the two people standing before them.

"Boy has a good memory." The woman replied calmly as she turned back to Harry. "Hello, Harry."

Harry was dumbfounded by the fact that Snape didn't seem to react at all to the statement. Harry quickly turned to Dumbledore, who was standing next to him.

"Sir, she's a Deatheater." Harry quickly informed him. "She gave me the present from Voldemort at my birthday party."

Dumbledore turned to Snape. "Severus?"

"Put your wands down." Snape hissed at the group before him.

With a certain amount of uncertainty, the group slowly lowered their wands, though Harry noted none of the tension disappeared from the group as a whole.

Snape quickly turned his attention to Dumbledore. "Analisa is our contact, Headmaster. But I believe you are already acquainted with her."

"Indeed I am." Dumbledore replied. "Miss Morton, I believe you know what is at risk here tonight."

"As do you know why I chose to help, Professor Dumbledore." Analisa replied. "And your group had best be better prepared than they have so far demonstrated. If one lone Deatheater could have stopped them so easily, I have to say they are ill-prepared indeed."

"You have some plan for getting us into the lair?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes never leaving the woman who stood before him, as though silently taking measure of her.

"What I think is a very good one. If you care to listen to it." Before anyone could answer, Analisa reached behind a tree next to her and pulled out a large sack. She tossed it to the wizard standing closest to her.

"Take one and pass the rest around." She ordered as she turned to the assembled group. "Those are the masks the Deatheaters wear. As I'm willing to bet you are well aware, when they are wearing their masks, you can't tell one Deatheater from another. The assembly tonight calls for all Deatheaters to be wearing their masks. Voldemort's plans are for there to be an execution tonight, one way or the other. And he likes formal attire for such occasions. He expects that a small delegation will be coming in the front doors to deliver Harry Potter to him in exchange for Ms. Figg. Now I hope that not one of you here expects that Voldemort is planning to make that exchange and let Figg or those with her leave the lair. As do I hope none of you is so naive as to think Voldemort doesn't suspect that this is a trap and hasn't planned accordingly."

A slight grumble ran through the group.

"Good. You're not entirely without hope then."

A tall, slender witch stepped forward from the group, walking up until she was nose to nose with Analisa.

"You're doing an awful lot of talking about how 'stupid' you seem to think we are, little witch." She breathed out in a dangerous tone. "But one thing I know for sure is that you are a Deatheater."

"Ten points for your house." Analisa replied calmly.

"Then exactly why should we even listen to you? You could be part of this plan of the dark lord. Sent here to lead us all into a trap. How do we know we can trust you?"

Analisa looked quickly to Dumbledore, but the old wizard wasn't offering any help.

Analisa pulled back a few steps, looking over the woman before her. The witch's stare spoke of nothing but her desire to claw into the blond-haired woman with nothing but her nails.

"You don't." Analisa answered as calmly as ever. "And I have no way in the short amount of time we have to prove to you that you can." She turned her attention away from the woman and spoke to the group behind the witch, all of who were intently watching the scene unfold.

"None of you has any reason whatsoever to trust me." Analisa stated. "And it is true, I am a Deatheater. I have been most of my life. I was born into a family of Deatheaters. I was raised a Deatheater. Trained as a Deatheater. Taught to serve no one but the dark lord. I can't give you one good reason to trust me, but a thousand not to. But the least I would ask of you is that you let me right one wrong I have done."

Analisa slipped her wand back into her robes as she walked slowly toward the group. Those in front of her slowly parted to let her pass as she made her way through the group, but none took their eyes off of her even for a second. Analisa only stopped when she stood before Harry. Gradually she crouched in front of him, staring up at him.

"I am sorry, Harry." she said softly. "For what I did. For giving you that horrible box. But I beg you to understand that I had no choice. And I tried to warn you. I tried to let you know something about it wasn't right. I guess I didn't do a good enough job. And I am so very sorry."

"Warn me?" Harry puzzled over the statement for a few seconds, then turned back to Analisa as understanding washed across his features. "You told me you bought the present because it reminded you of me." He stated. "But how could it have if you only just met me."

Analisa smiled sadly at him. "I had hoped you would have been suspicious enough not to open it. Or to at least let someone check it first. It wasn't complicated and a simple disclosing charm would have revealed the contents. I'm sorry I didn't just tell you the truth."

"Why didn't you?"

"I'm sorry to say because I was afraid, Harry. Voldemort sees a great deal more than you realize. And he especially likes to see the results of some of his more special 'gifts'. I can't say for sure he was watching that day. And Severus took more chances than I cared for him to, talking first to your godfather, and then to Dumbledore. Of course, I have no idea what he was talking to them about, but it worried me just the same that he talked with them."

Snape now joined the woman as she stood up again.

"Miss Morton is telling you the truth, Potter." He replied. "And although her warning was too subtle for you to catch on to, I assure you she took a great risk in delivering it."

Harry turned to Snape. "If you knew what the gift was, why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't know." Snape replied with his usual sneer, although to Harry it seemed partially directed at Analisa. "I had no idea at the time what the present was or who it was actually from. I thought Analisa had bought it."

"I couldn't tell you!" Analisa defended. "You'd have gone and done something stupid. Told someone. Then what would have happened the next time you stood before the dark lord? He would have killed you without thought, Severus."

Snape looked at her for a moment. He was about to say something when Harry cut him off.

"I trust you."

Analisa turned abruptly to him. "What?"

"I trust you." Harry repeated, giving her a small smile. "That you're not going to betray us."

Analisa looked stunned. "Why?"

"Because you didn't have to take the blame for the present all on yourself. You could have told Professor Snape who it was from and had him try to warn us. But you didn't because of what might have happened to him if you had. And you endangered yourself by trying to warn me. I just didn't catch on. I think those are a few good points in your favor." Harry turned to Dumbledore. "I really do believe her, Sir." He said. "I think we should trust her."

"I had little doubt on that matter, Harry." Dumbledore replied with a small smile. "I think tonight is a very good start." He continued, turning to Sirius. "Well, Sirius, you are our strategist. What do you think of Analisa's plan?"

"Won't Voldemort be suspicious that his ranks have grown a bit since the last meeting?" Sirius asked, staring coldly at the woman before him.

"It's a matter of timing." Analisa replied. "Your people can be in the corridors. In side rooms. Small areas away from the main chamber. No one will notice the larger numbers then." She bent down and traced an outline in the dirt. Several others gathered quickly about. "This is the lair." She explained, making the picture fairly large so that as many as two dozen or more people could stand around it to get a look. As she spoke, she added to the design. "It has one entrance. Once inside, it quickly divides into various areas. Your people need to stay close to the entrance.

"Why?" Sirius asked.

"The Deatheaters don't fight well in small, enclosed spaces. That'll be your biggest advantage. Once the trouble starts, the Deatheaters are going to head for the entrance, trying to get outside to face the attackers or just plain escape. They won't expect you to already be inside, and too late they'll realize they're trapped. But your people have to be fast. The Deatheaters advantage is they know the lair very well. All the tunnels and corridors. If they can't get outside, and they feel they're trapped, they can still disappear like rats down holes throughout the lair. And the majority of them would rather run than fight.

Now, I purpose taking in a smaller group than Severus suggested. Severus suggested you, Mr. Black, Harry, Remus Lupin, Professor Dumbledore, Severus, and myself. I'm suggesting only yourself, Harry, Professor Dumbledore, and me."

"Why the change?"

"I'm getting to that. As I said before, we have to be careful. Voldemort is no fool. He already suspects that you'll try something to save the boy. And he's ready for it."

"How?" Sirius asked.

Analisa looked up at him, then turned back to the drawing. "There's a large corridor that leads from the entrance to the main chamber. On the opposite side of the main chamber is another corridor. That leads down a passage to a smaller chamber. That's where Voldemort plans to make the exchange. It's perfectly situated for a trap. Voldemort expects once you try to grab Figg and the boy and escape, you'll head for the same corridor, leading back to the main chamber. There he has arranged to have the Deatheaters already gathered to meet you.. Alone, there is no way you would make it past them."

"Surely he expects that we will have brought help."

Analisa looked about at the others, then turned back to Sirius and shook her head. "Not this many. He's expecting a small rescue party. Not half the ministry."

"And what about the containment spell. We will still need to use that to escape, assuming Voldemort isn't going to just let us walk out of the room."

"Then you'll need to use it, because he'll try everything he knows to stop you from taking the boy, not short of killing everyone else."

"How are we to going to be able to perform the spell? Each person needs to be in the proper position. One on each side of the room. I doubt Voldemort is going to stand by while we get into position."

"Now we get to the reason for the change in who goes to make the supposed exchange." Analisa explained. Pointing to the drawing again, she added a few lines around the smaller chamber. "There are four entrances to this room. A door in each wall. This was done so that if Voldemort was ever backed to this room in an attack, he had several escapes. However, all of the corridors eventually link back to the main corridor. Severus and Remus Lupin can divide from us there and be in position already when it's time to cast the spell. Voldemort won't see it coming before it's too late."

"Won't there be Deatheaters in those corridors when Snape and Remus are trying to get through them?"

"Every plan has some element of danger, Mr. Black. You've just hit on this one's. Yes, there are likely to be Deatheaters in the corridors. But if Severus and Mr. Lupin play their parts right, no one should look at them twice. They'll just be two more Deatheaters heading for the gathering."

"And the others?"

"As I said, this will all come down to timing. I would suggest the others wait to make any move until we cast the spell. That way Voldemort can't alert them or help them in any way. But your people need to be ready. Those of us in the smaller chamber will be depending on them doing their part for us to be able to escape. If we come down that corridor to the main chamber and run into a room full of Deatheaters, not one of us is going to survive. But once your people start the attack, as I said, if the Deatheaters sense trouble, they'll try to get outside for the fight. They'll abandon the chamber."

"You're so sure of that?"

"I've lived with them all my life, Mr. Black. I know how they think. How they fight."

"But if Voldemort told them to stay there...."

"Then your people need to make sure they don't. Do you think they can do that?"

A murmur ran through the group. A decidedly unfriendly one. Sirius looked about at those closest to him,. The woman was not making friends among the ministry wizards and witches.

"It won't be a problem." Sirius answered.

"It better not be. Because the life of every person in that final room is depending on it not being. Once we make it to the main chamber, hopefully it'll be a clear run to the main entrance and as far and fast as we can, we get clear of the spells around the lair and apparate out of there. All right." Analisa stated. "You've seen what you have to work with. Go sort your lot out and then we head out. The exchange is set for four hours from now. That gives us precious little time."

Lupin headed off to speak to one of the ministry people. With Harry in tow, Sirius headed after him.

"So," Sirius asked as he caught up to his friend, "what do you think?"

"I think the plan hinges on a lot of 'what if's'. Not my favorite kind to be betting my life on."

"What about the woman? The one Snape brought into this?"

"Well," Lupin replied with a small smile, turning to Harry, "Harry seems to trust her, don't you , Harry?"

"Yes, Sir."

"That's good enough for me, Padfoot. Harry's a good judge of character from what I've seen. Now go make sure the others know what to do."

Sirius watched sadly as Lupin disappeared through the mass of black robes. He had a great deal of trouble reconciling what his friend was even doing there. Remus was a strong enough fighter, but at heart the man was a pacifist. More inclined to talk than fight. Nor was he trained in the least on how to deal with the situations he was likely to encounter before the night was over.

A slight tug in his hand brought him back to the present.

"He'll be OK, Sirius." Harry whispered. "We all will."

Sirius gave his godson a small smile and nodded, then led him off toward the group awaiting their instructions from Sirius.