Chapter 5

The following day, Harry went out with Sirius, who was wearing the ring, to get a new perch for Hedwig, for whenever she had a burning day. As they walked down Diagon Alley, Harry noticed that a few people there had their cloak hoods up; which was more than slightly unusual on a bright, clear day like today.

He opened his mouth slightly to notify Sirius when a red bolt of magic streaked by his head. "Death Eaters," Harry murmured to Sirius as they got their wands out.

"Let's give 'em hell, shall we?" Sirius asked with a wolfish grin. Harry nodded and the two opened fire as the innocent witches and wizards stampeded away, while others dissaperated.

Harry conjured up a stone wall to block an oncoming hex and threw a stunner back. After a few moments only Harry, Sirius, and seven Death Eaters remained in the alley. Harry changed his sight so that he could see what sort of shields the Death Eaters had on them.

A small part of his mind noted that the Death Eaters weren't as strong as Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Moody, Snape, and Splikvin were as he blocked several curses. He stunned three more Death Eaters while Sirius knocked out the last two with a bombardment of hexes.

Harry scanned the area and saw a few more hiding around a corner. He signaled to Padfoot, who nodded. Sirius cast a reflector shield and Harry took aim then fired a blasting hex. The hex bounced off the shield and hit the ground in front of the Death Eaters' feet. Harry and Sirius continued the process until the five Death Eaters were trapped at the back of the alley.

Harry placed cloaking charms on Padfoot and himself and then they slipped around the corner, unnoticed by the wary, dark warlocks. Harry fired a Parsloz stunner while Sirius attacked their shields with blasting curses. Their defenses fell quickly, allowing Harry to accio their wands while Sirius stunned them.

"Eleven scum bags in half an hour," Sirius remarked with a smirk, "Not bad at all. Let's take 'em to Shadow Hold, break the place in."

Harry smiled, "Good idea."

Quickly they bound the Death Eaters, then Harry used his ring to transport them all to the new prison. They stored the new prisoners in separate cells and wrote brief reports stating the time, place, and date they had been detained. Once finished, they reported to Dumbledore.

The headmaster heard them out then asked if they were sure that their attackers had been Death Eaters.

"We are Sir," Harry replied, "We checked, and they all had the Dark Mark."

"The Mark alone does not make them Death Eaters," Dumbledore said gravely.

"Mind, they did attack us first," Sirius replied.

Dumbledore nodded. "True. I will inform the Ministers of the new residents, you should let Poppy do a check up."

Sirius rolled his eyes, causing Dumbledore to smile. "We didn't even get hit once. They weren't really good at all."

"Very well, thank you for reporting so quickly." As the two got up to leave, he added, "There will be a meeting tomorrow night, will you be there?"

"Yes Sir," Harry answered for them both. Dumbledore nodded, and they left to actually get Hedwig a perch.

Harry was studying Arthrimacy with Rowena, who was out of her portrait for the day, when Salazar entered. "Harry, I need you to do something for me."

Harry looked at the wizard who had taught him everything about potions and Parsloz magic there was to know last summer, "Sure, what do you need?"

Salazar began to pace, hands clasped lightly behind him. "For a while now I have been working on a potion that will make the drinker immune to a certain spell. I wanted you to cast the spell on me so that I can test it again."

"What spell?"

"One I made a long time ago, which I regret."

"Which is?" Harry prodded, uncertainty forming in his gut.

Salazar looked at him. "The Cruciatus Curse."

Harry's jaw dropped. "But I can't do that to you!" he objected, "It's wrong! You've helped me a lot; I can't use that on you! What if the potion doesn't work?"

"I am almost certain it will," said Salazar firmly. "Please cast it."

Harry swallowed hard. "If you're sure…"

"I am."

Harry got out his wand, unwillingly remembering Bellatrix's words in the Department of Mysteries: You've got to want it Potter,'

I want this to work, Harry thought over and over. I want it to work. "Ready?" he croaked, Salazar nodded calmly. Harry pointed his wand at Salazar and whispered, "Crucio."

Nothing happened.

Slytherin looked very pleased. "Very good, I could feel the curse hit, but I did not feel the effect. Rowena, would you be so kind as to test it?"

She nodded and said, "Crucio." Again, Salazar remained unharmed. "You've done well, Salazar." Rowena told him.

Salazar nodded. "Thank you. I believe this will come in handy for others in more danger than I."

The Order had just finished dinner when Hedwig went into an alarmed behavior. Harry too, felt something was wrong. "What is it?" Ron asked, watching Hedwig as he sang a distressed song.

"I don't know, but I don't like it." Harry answered.

"Voldemort?" Sirius asked, causing others to wince.

Harry shook his head, "I don't think so. Hedwig, do you know?" she nodded. "Can you help?" Another nod; then she disappeared in flames.

While some of the Order assembled in the main room, they waited anxiously for Hedwig to return.

When she did come back, she wasn't alone. She was perched on a kneeling wizard's shoulder. He was slumped over, clutching his arm as his pale blonde hair tumbled into his face.

Snape shot out of his chair. "Draco!" The head Slytherin rushed over and helped Draco to lie down.

"S-Severus?" he mumbled, "That you?"

"Yes Draco, it's me. What happened?"

"M-Mark." In a flash, they understood. Harry grabbed some pillows and gave them to Snape, who in turn eased Draco's head onto them.

"Is there anything we can do?" Harry asked.

"Not unless there is a sleeping draught nearby," Snape answered.

"Be right back," Harry answered, and teleported home. He grabbed a sleeping potion from the dungeon then teleported back to Headquarters. "Here."

Snape looked suspiciously at the bottle, and then took it. He gave it to the younger wizard in small gulps until the bottle was empty. "I'll 'xplain…later." Draco murmured before falling asleep.

He was moved onto an empty couch, where Snape sat beside him.

"I can't believe Lucius actually did that to Draco…" Snape growled after a while.

"Did what?" Ron asked.

"Allow him to take the Dark Mark." Snape answered gruffly.

"But he wasn't going to…" Harry murmured.

Snape looked at him sharply. "What?"

"Draco wasn't going to take the Mark," Harry repeated, "Last year, he saw an initiation—he hated it. He told me that he didn't want to do it—that was when we declared a truce."

"I thought you weren't going to tell anybody about the truce," Draco's raspy but sarcastic voice commented; his eyes slowly opened.

Harry grinned, "It's not like anybody doesn't know now."

The Slytherin chuckled, "True enough." He sat up with some difficulty, then looked around the room. "Where am I?"

"Don't really know the name of it," Harry said truthfully, "But Hedwig brought you."

Draco nodded, "She found me at home. I think I should explain."

"Not until you've eaten," Snape said firmly, "You won't be up to much for a while—annoying as it is." So Draco was brought dinner by Winky and he ate. Once he finished to Snape's satisfaction, he began to speak to the remaining Order members: Splikvin, Snape, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, Remus, McGonagall, Dung, and Sirius.

"When I went home for the summer, I knew that my birthday had passed and that Lucius would take me to the Dark Lord to be initiated. What Harry said is true: I don't want the Mark. However, I figured I could help more if I did take it. The Dark Lord heard about the Order of the Phoenix during the first war and he was sure that the organization was working against him now as well. I knew this because of the several meetings Lucius had taken me to.

"I also found out that Sever—Professor Snape was spying on the Dark Lord. The rumors that the Dark Lord had changed the Mark so that he could track Death Eaters were false. He attacked Hogwarts so that he could find out if Professor Snape was really a spy or not. I took the Mark tonight because I figured that I could help the Order of the Phoenix more as a spy than if I just turned tail and hid like a coward. Lucius has no idea of my plan."

There was silence for a moment. "Why do you call your father Lucius?" Snape asked quietly.

Draco looked away in disgust. "He is not my father. No father uses the Cruciatus on his own child." Harry noticed that Splikvin flinched, though he noticed that Snape had not reacted.

Dumbledore stood, "Draco, it may or may not surprise you, but I am the founder of the Order of the Phoenix—this is our Headquarters. We will discuss your intentions tomorrow; in the meanwhile, I suggest you get some rest."

"Yes Headmaster." Draco replied and the other Order members filtered out of the room, talking quietly with one another.

"Did anything go wrong when you received it?" Snape asked Draco.

"No," he answered, "Why?"

"Receiving the Mark can be very dangerous. If interfered with, the process can be close to, if not, fatal."

Wow, Harry thought, you've got to be brave to do it. Makes them look like Gryffindors. That last thought made Harry want to smile, 'Draco Malfoy' and 'Severus Snape' were the last two names he'd ever of thought associating with Gryffindor traits.

Coming Up:

The Matter of Trust

Disaster

Then:

The Door that Never Opened