Chapter 27

"Rockwood, can you hear me?" Snape called the deatheater in the hospital bed in front of him. The potion master had managed to levitate the man and bring him into the hospital wing in time. He was still alive, but lost a fair amount of blood and Snape wasn't sure if he would live very much longer.

"Rockwood, answer me" he urged once more, shaking the injured man slightly. The eyelids, covered with blood from a large gash on the forehead, fluttered slightly and Snape hurt a moan.

"Snape, that you? where'm I?" the wounded deatheater whispered. His body was shivering, so Snape summoned a few blankets with a flick of his wand and covered him.

"Rockwood, did the Dark Lord send you? I need to know what to report. You're the only one who survived" Snape lied.

"McNair didn' make it, huh?" Rockwood moaned "No the dragon ripped him in pieces" Snape stated. "So what were your orders and why didn't the Dark Lord tell me you were coming"

"He lost the trust in you traitor. Your days are counted." the deatheater whispered. Snape winced. He had to straighten things out with the Dark Lord.

MALFOY, he thought. Since Snape had started to punish his son for his cruelties, Lucius hostility had intensified. He had never really liked his old schoolmate; but he knew facts about him, which, if ever revealed in front of the Dark Lord, wouldn't only cost his life but also the life of the person he loved most in this world.

He had to know what the Dark Lord was aware of and why he sent the spies. Was he attacking sooner then expected? There's only one way to find out for sure, he thought and took a little glass bottle out of his robes.

"You don't know what you're talking my friend" he said, his voice full of concern. "The pain is confusing your mind. Drink this it will help you sleep." The potion master supported the man's head so he could drink more easily.

Rockwood drank hastily only to cough terribly and squirt drops of fresh blood all over his blanket. Snape knew this wasn't a good sign, so he had to be quick. The deatheater's facial expression became blank and the potion master knew the Verita serum was working.

"When is the attack on the school going to happen" Snape asked firmly. The voice of the deatheater was expressionless when he answered "The night before the students leave for Christmas." Snape flinched when Rockwood coughed up more blood.

"Has the Dark Lord given orders to kill me? To whom?" The wounded man told him that orders to kill him have been given, but he didn't know to whom.

Snape asked question after question, trying desperately to get as much information as possible as long as the man was able to speak. When Rockwood answered his last question about who had been the third deatheater on the mission, his voice, contorted by pain, was barely a whisper. Snape had to put his ear very close to Rockwood's mouth to understand the words.

He felt his body tense when he heard the answer and the deatheater's voice trailed off. The bubbling and rattling noises coming from the man's chest made Snape's stomach turn. He could hear the blood filling the lungs, drowning the man slowly.

"Severus" the deadly wounded wizard moaned. "Severus, can you forgive me?" Snape frowned.

Could he forgive him? He had to abandon the ones he loved most in order to keep them safe, because of Rockwood and Malfoy. Could he forgive somebody who killed so many innocent people, children, mothers, tortured them until they begged to die? He padded the wizard's hand not able to give an answer.

Then the deatheater took a final, shallow breath and the tense body relaxed. Snape closed the eyes of the dead wizard and left the hospital wing without looking back. He had to find Dumbledore immediately.

A roaring sound woke Harry up and a glance at his watch told him that it was 2 hours until midnight. He sat up in his bed, trying to determine the source of the noise. It reminded him a little of a thunderstorm but still different, so he got up and walked to the window.

At first he thought the forest was on fire, but then he realized, that the dragons were out of control for some reason and were spitting fire in every direction. He walked back to his trunk and grabbed the omniglass from the Quidditch World Cup and gazed curiously at the confusion. Harry could see dragon trainer running around, extinguishing little fires around the edge of the forest and shooting spells at the dragons.

"Turn that noise off" Ron growled sleepily.

"Hey look at this mate. Something's wrong" Harry called excited. Ron cursed intelligibly and joined his friend at the window.

"What the...? What are they doing?" Ron shouted after a look through Harry's omniglass. "Do you think Charlie's in danger?"

"I don't know mate" Harry shrugged. "But I know that we can't do anything. Charlie's a big boy Ron; he can take care of himself."

"What is Snape doing there?" Ron wondered, pointing at the lawn. Harry could see the potion master walking to the castle steadily picking up the pace until he was almost running. Something was floating next to him, which looked like a human body.

"Do you think we are in danger" Neville asked quietly. Harry and Ron spun around. They both hadn't noticed that their room mates were awake. Kelsey had joined them and stared at the blaze emerging from the camp. Sean and Dean were up as well, watching the scenario.

"There's McGonagall" Ron shouted "Maybe she's going to tell us what's going on. I think we should go and find her." They went down the spiral staircase and headed for the common room. Hermione, Kayla and Ginny were already there in their dressing gowns, along with all the other Gryffindors. The Gryffindor perfect held the hand of Ron's sister, who trembled with fear.

"Do you think something happened to Charlie? There's so much fire and smoke" Ginny sobbed.

"Don't worry; we're going to find McGonagall. We saw her coming back from the camp" Harry assured the frightened girl. Ron, Harry and Kelsey walked over to the portrait hole and opened it. Harry, who was going first, jumped back, when a very strong, muscular man blocked his way.

"Where do you think you are going?" he called with a deep, tense voice.

"Who are you and since when is the portrait hole guarded" Kelsey called over Harry's shoulder.

"I'm Stephen, one of the dragon trainers and I'm here on the headmasters' order. I leave it to your Head of House to tell you the rest" the dragon trainer explained.

"We just wanted to find McGonagall. Do you know where she is?" Ron asked nervously.

"If she's a woman with a tight bun, then I do. She's coming right there." The dragon trainer pointed at the end of the hallway. Harry twisted his head and spotted McGonagall running towards the portrait hole.

He had never seen the professor like that; strands of hair were sticking to her hot face and her normally strict and firm expression seemed anxious and frightened.

"Inside!" she called as she reached the little group at the common room entrance. The students moved slowly backwards, making room for her to enter. All the chatting and whispering stopped instantly when McGonagall cleared her throat. She brushed the stray hair out of her face, which again looked stable and concentrated, and sighed deeply

"Deatheaters entered the school grounds. Two were caught by the dragon trainers, but one escaped." Ginny whimpered and grabbed Ron's hand

"Is Charlie ok?" Ron asked nervously

"Mr Weasley, your brother is well. He stayed with the dragons to ensure that not more deatheaters are trying to enter the school grounds." McGonagall said calmly "I have to insist that you all stay in the common room until further notice. The headmaster has not decided yet if classes are going to be cancelled. Tomorrow morning the dragon trainer, who's guarding the portrait hole, will accompany you to breakfast" the professor exclaimed. "Now I want you to return to your dormitories. Maybe you can get a little bit of sleep. Nobody is in immediate danger. The castle is well protected and you don't need to be scared."

She looked at the students, who still looked confused and worried, while they slowly walked up to their different dorms. Harry couldn't move. He had expected almost anything but that. Never had it occurred to him, that deatheaters would attack the school. This was the only place he always felt truly safe

"They are coming for me" he said quietly, looking firmly at his Head of House.

"Yes this is what we assume Harry. But don't be afraid; we won't let them get to you" McGonagall assured him with a, suddenly, very motherly voice, he was only used to from Ron's mother. "Now go to bed."

Harry nodded and left the common room. He felt terribly tired and confused. Recognizing that it was almost midnight, he laid down on his four-poster. Harry closed the curtains around his bed to block out the shine of the dragon-fire.

Thoughts about Sirius entered his mind. Was he safe in the Shrieking Shack or was he roaming the grounds right now. Not able to fall asleep he started tossing and turning in his bed. Knowing he wouldn't find any rest, he decided to make sure. He carefully got up and reached for his invisibility cloak on the bottom of his trunk and soundlessly left the dorm.

While he went down the spiral staircase again, he wrapped himself in his invisibility cloak and had almost reached the portrait hole when he heard a calm voice calling him. "Checking on Sirius?"

Harry stopped instantly and turned around. The headmaster was sitting in an arm chair next to the fireplace, a book on his lap and watched the boy over his half-moon glasses. Harry shifted uncomfortably from one foot on the other and took off the hood of his cloak.

"Sit here with me Harry" Dumbledore invited him. After he sat down next to the headmaster, he asked "Have you seen Sirius?"

"He is searching the grounds for the escaped deatheater".

Harry jumped off his seat, his fists clenched and his eyes full of anger. "And you let him go?" he raged. Dumbledore seized his arm and pulled him gently back to his seat.

"He did what I asked him to do. As a dog his senses are better than of any other living soul I know"

"You...you... told him to?" Harry whispered horrified staring at his headmaster in total disbelieve. "But you know..." He started to rage again when Dumbledore interrupted him calmly.

"Harry, this is not your godfathers' first encounter with deatheaters. Do you think he would have been able to escape the ministry and the deatheaters so many times if he wouldn't know what to do?"

Harry nodded silently, his shoulders dropping noticeably as he did so. "All we can do now is hope and pray that our search parties will find the intruder before he can escape." Dumbledore stated. "You can go to bed Harry. Everything is under control and I will remain here until we receive any news." The headmaster smiled at him with the familiar twinkle in his eyes, when Harry got up and grabbed his invisibility cloak. He said good night to the old wizard and went back to his dorm. The dragons must have calmed down, because he couldn't see any more blazes at the forbidden forest. After he stored his cloak safely in the trunk, he curled up in his bed.

Right when he was drifting off to sleep an indescribable pain shot through his forehead, like a hot knife slicing through his flesh. He put his hands over his face, feeling the terrible urge to faint instantly and screamed in agony.

"Harry....Harry..." he heard a voice calling him. The pain in his forehead had faded slightly, but his scar still seemed like on fire. It took him a lot of effort to open his eyes, but he could see the blurry face of Dumbledore.

"Are you ok mate?" he heard Ron asking. Harry tried to sit up and felt strong arms supporting him.

"Harry can you hear me" Dumbledore asked very concerned. Harry nodded, looked firmly in the old wizards face and said "Voldemort is furious that the attack was unsuccessful, but the deatheater escaped."

"How do you know Harry?" Ron called.

"I could feel it. This was the first time since last term that my scar had hurt that bad. It prickled every once in a while but never like this" Harry moaned.

"Do you need to go to the hospital wing? You look terrible" Neville asked hoarsely.

"No Neville I'm ok. There will be another attack very soon. Voldemort is far from pleased about what happened tonight and he couldn't get the information he wanted." The way Dumbledore looked at him made Harry anxious. He looked so old and tired and, in some way helpless. This was not the headmaster he knew, the one who was always there when the students needed them. What were they supposed to do if Dumbledore died? He was old and maybe he couldn't take it any longer. Trying to ban these frightening thoughts out of his head, he shook it slightly and managed to smile at his headmaster and friends, who all looked extremely concerned.

"I will be downstairs in case you need anything." Dumbledore smiled back at him. Harry nodded and watched the headmaster leaving the room. He laid back in his bed once more and let his thought wander.

While he was connected with Voldemort's mind, he had felt another emotion of the other wizard. Voldemort was, despite of what had happened today, very satisfied about how something has worked out. And Harry knew this were no good news for Dumbledore. He had wanted to tell the headmaster right away, but when he had noticed the tired look in his eyes, he just couldn't do it.

He couldn't even imagine how big the burden was the old wizard had to bear. So he had decided to tell him the rest in the morning; everything always looked better in the morning.