Disclaimer: JK Rowling and a few other people own everything, I don't.
Of Loyalty and Traitors
Chapter 8
Danger Known and Unknown
Draco arrived home that night to find his mother wearing a grim expression on her face. Her pale eyes were watched him closely from the second he stepped out of the fireplace, as though trying to see into the very depths of his soul. It was a relatively useless attempt; Narcissa wasn't known for any great talent in the field of leglimency. However, it was an indicator that something was amiss and that Draco himself was involved, or at the very less suspected of involvement.
"Is something wrong, Mother?" Draco questioned, raising his eyebrows.
At this point, Narcissa appeared to give up her silent scrutiny and sank down upon the sofa
"The Death Eater raid didn't go quite as well as our Lord hoped it might."
Draco waited. Although his mother had stopped talking, it was clear that there was more she wanted to say on the matter. Sure enough, after a few seconds had passed in silence, Narcissa continued.
"We eliminated a few potential opponents, but our attacks didn't have the impact he was hoping for. Many escaped. The Order of the Pheonix showed up on the scene early. Remarkably early. That is the thing which the Dark Lord was concerned by; the only logical thing would be that someone is slipping information to the Order."
She said all this in the quiet monotone of someone telling a series of basic facts. Draco knew for certain that there was again more to come. Namely, how he was connected to this. He could take a few stabs in the dark here, but all possibilities were unpleasant.
"He is confident that it is not one of the Death Eaters who were present tonight. At one stage, Severus may have been suspected, but now there is no doubting his loyalty. Basically, our Lord isn't sure as to how well you have stepped into the role of Death Eater, Draco. I assured him that you are loyal to him, to him alone, but I fear my opinion wasn't proof enough. He feels you may be having - having second thoughts..."
Emotion finally had reached Narcissa's voice and it wavered. Draco wasn't sure it it was worry for him, worry for herself, or fear that her son may be a traitor to their cause. It was most likely to be a mixture of all three.
Narcissa peered into her son's eyes, this time as though pleading for assurance.
"I am devoted entirely to the Dark Lord. To the Dark Lord alone." He heard himself replying, but he felt emotionally detached from the voice coming from his mouth.
His mother breathed a sigh of relief at this declaration.
"I knew you were, of course, that's what I told him. I think, however, that you need to pick up the pace of your work if you are to convince the Dark Lord of this, Draco."
"Oh, yes. Lupin. I think his connection to Potter has been rather strong; I believe him to have been of friend of Potter's father." The boy explained numbly.
"He was. The four of them went everywhere together at Hogwarts. He was good friends with that red-haired mudblood, also. The one that married Potter senior. After losing both Dumbledore and Black in such a short time, getting Lupin and maybe a couple others out of the way would no doubt break the brat-who-lived completely. Think of the revenge you can get on the boy. It would all happen at your hands."
Draco nodded, pulling his face into a smirk that he hoped didn't resemble a grimace too much.
Maybe it did look a bit fake, because his mother then shot a question at him, out of nowhere. And it was dripping with obvious suspicion.
"Who were you visiting tonight?"
"I was down at Knockturn Alley, looking at dark arts equipment and being a good little Death Eater."
Shocked at himself for having said the last part of that sentence out loud, Draco looked at his mother warily. He couldn't imagine his father having ever said anything like that to either of his parents when he was young.
"Oh...oh, that's fine, dear."
His answer had obviously been enough to satisfy Narcissa that he wasn't off making friends with Potter and gossiping with the Weasleys' about what the Dark Lord's plans were. Draco couldn't help thinking, slightly guiltily, that his mother was a bit of a fool to be convinced by such a brief description of his location that night - even if he had been having a friendly cup of tea over at the Order headquarters, he was hardly going to come right out and say it.
"Where can I find Lupin?" He asked, having been promised information.
"I was given a time and a location with which you will have no trouble capturing him. I suppose you will be bringing him here for questioning? We will, perhaps with a bit of turtore, get information on the Order." Narcissa answered, handing him a small piece of parchment.
"Yes, of course, Mother."
Everything that had needed to be said had been, Draco decided and went up towards his bedroom, removing his purchase at Borgin and Burkes from his pocket. For now, it would have to wait. As soon as he had dealt with the werewolf, he could play around with it and see what he could use it for.
As he placed the time-turner like object upon a pile of books, he looked down at the parchment he had been given by his mother.
Groaning, he realised that the time it suggested was the next morning. No breaks for Death Eaters, he thought. The location named was an area behind Hogsmeade. He knew it, vaguely. Well enough to know that there wouldn't be too many witnesses around.
Grabbing a self-inking quill, Draco jotted down two rushed notes and ran up to the family owlery. Choosing a couple of owls, he commanded one be taken to Crabbe and the other to Goyle. Urgently.
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Harry Potter lay awake in his bed that night, unable to sleep. The horcruxes issue weighed heavily on his shoulders, even with the help of Ron and Hermione, he didn't seem to be getting far. He wondered if Dumbledore would have expected another to have been destroyed by now. Those witches and wizards who had been killed mere hours ago...the sooner Harry defeated Voldemort, the sooner innocent people would stop dying.
He remembered the feeling he had felt seconds before he had realised that that locket too was the wrong one. For a fraction of time, maybe a minute, he had believed they had found the horcux.
Climbing out of bed, he decided to take a walk, use the quiet of the night to think where the horcruxes may be hidden.
The House of Black was now eerily silent, with all but one inhabitant asleep. Harry retraced the path he had taken with Ron and Ginny once, earlier in the holidays, winding back up in the dark room where Ron had found the design of the Dark Mark.
"Lumos." Harry murmered, thankful that the Ministry was now allowing people of his age to use magic out of school.
Now that he could see more clearly, he found an area where the floorboards were relatively clean and sat down. Noticing the old parchment his friend had thrown to the floor a few days earlier, he reached for it and looked at the image more closely.
The Dark Mark could only be described as disturbing and Harry wondered about what type of person could think up and then draw such a thing.
It dawned on him that it could have been Regulus Black, but then Harry realised that the dark mark would have been used well before his time as a Death Eater.
The strange aura Harry had felt last time he had been in the room was slowly returning to him and Harry stood up, thinking about leaving. There was definately something about it he wasn't to sure about.
Walking over to the shelves, Harry moved the beam of light coming from his wand over the items. The topmost shelf was above the level of Harry's head. Idly, he reached up and moved his hand across the shelf to see if there was anything up there.
Just dust. And more dust.
He drifted his hand further across, but there didn't seem to be anything up there.
Then one of his fingers connected with something cold.
He yanked his hand away fast as he jumped backwards.
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Once more, Minerva found Rubeus Hagrid in her office, this time at a ridiculous hour of the morning. This time, however, she intended to get to the bottom of the issue no matter how long it might take.
"What is it, Rubeus?" She asked in the most patient sounding voice that she could muster.
"Well, yeh see Professor..."
Minerva was reminded of the days that she had spent in the past, prying information out of students over the location of their homework and why they had been caught wandering corridors in late hours of the night. They always acted the same, reluctant to talk unless they gave too much away, clinging to some desperate hope that they would get away with the various offence.
"I require you to tell me what you came here intending to say."
This time she had added the authorative tone that she normally found got the best results.
"I - I overheard someone sayin' that they're gonna kill Remus!" The half-giant said, destressed, his deep voice trembling.
The Headmistress buried her face in her hands. The information that Hagrid had provided them last time had been accurate. Exceptionally accurate.
Remus Lupin's safety would have to be checked, but at that moment she was just as anxious to find Hagrid's information source. Just because it had proved true once didn't necessarily mean it would work out the same twice. Yet if it did, it could be a valuable way for the Order to gain news of their opponents in the future.
"Back o' Hogsmeade, this mornin'...yeh have t'do something..." He continued.
Details of time and location confirmed Minerva's suspicions. Those that attend the pubs Hagrid often visited, she could see them maybe letting something slip without realising other's were listening, but they were hardly likely to elaborate.
She knew that there had been a full moon that night, if she looked out the window she may even still be able to see it, lingering in the morning sky. The shrieking shack had remained a reasonable location for Lupin's transformations, especially now they had no one qualified to make the wolf's bane potion he had been using at one stage. He had been in the area the previous day, looking rather worse for wear, in Minerva's opinion.
He would be weak following the transformation.
Assuming the Death Eater's had been aware of all this, she had to admit it seemed like the perfect time to catch the man unprepared. Except, of course, that Hagrid had stumble upon news of the plan.
"Who told you this, Rubeus?" She asked, getting straight to the point.
"I told yeh! I overheard it, down at me pub." Rubeus protested and Minerva saw him looking up at Dumbledore's portrait as he did so.
"Rubeus, if someone is telling you all this, it is vital for us to know who."
She was surprised at how well he was managing to with-hold such information. She had considered him in the past to be terribly unreliable where secrets were concerned. He never would release them on purpose, but he did seem to let his tongue slip quite often. It was interesting that he felt such need to keep quiet on this issue.
Minerva glanced over at the clock. As much as she would have liked to pursue the matter, if they were to do something to help Remus, they would have to do so soon.
First the Order would have to be consulted, as once more there was the possibility of a trap. And there would remain one until she find out the identity of Hagrid's informer.
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The boy with the white-blond hair landed silently on the ground just out of Hogsmeade. From where he dismounted his broomstick, he could see the shrieking shack, dark against the horizon.
The sun was now rising, the moon nowhere in sight.
Two large thumps could be heard behind him, signifying that Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle had arrived on the scene. Draco hoped their flying abilities would be sufficient for the mission ahead.
Reaching into the bag he carried, Draco fingered the soft multi-coloured material. The invisibility cloak that Bellatrix had reluctantly lent him was old, fraying and torn in several places. Nowhere near as good as Potter's one, he admitted to himself. But it would do.
He signalled his cronies to move backwards behind the brick building next to them. Waiting until a faint outline of a figure came into view, Draco ducked into the shadows.
It was a relatively good situation; as long as the tired man was not alerted to their presense, Draco could easily get him with a simple stunning charm.
No fighting, no gore.
A shadow drifted into Draco's line of vision. The figure that followed it was the rugged one of the boy's old Professor. Now...before his missed the chance...
"Stupefy." He murmered.
Success. Remus Lupin flopped to the ground and Draco ran over to him, Crabbe and Goyle on each side. They had been over the plan, there was no need for talk. Draco added a body-bind for good measure. It was a favourite of his.
"Wingardium Leviosa." Draco then whispered as the man hovered up into the air.
Goyle removed the invisibility cloak from the bag, wrapping it around Lupin, as fast and tight as possible. Crabbe secured it in place.
With Lupin still levitating, the three of them mounted their broomsticks and took off. Higher and higher, until they were above the clouds and could only just make out Hogsmeade in the distance.
By the time Arthur, Tonks and Minerva arrived, there was no evidence of any activity.
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It was several hours before Draco, Crabbe and Goyle arrived back at the Malfoy mansion. All three of them were exhausted from the flight.
This was true for Draco in particular; keeping up the 'Wingardium Leviosa' charm and making sure Lupin didn't go plummetting to his death had taken up a great deal more energy than the boy had anticipated. They had had to land a few times in deserted areas for Draco to rest; he didn't trust that either of his friend had the ability to get the man in the air - he had seen what had happened to the china cup Goyle had practised on mere months before.
He assumed that there must have been easier options. A portkey would have been better, but they were monitered closely by the Ministry. He could have called upon another Death Eater to create an illegal one, but such steps would have taken time.
At least now the Dark Lord might decide to look elsewhere for a spy.
He levitated Lupin into the house and upstairs into the drawing room.
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A/N - I would like to again thank all of you who have taken the time to review, it helps inspire me to get another chapter up quickly! Yeah, I'm quite pleased with where this is heading at the moment, don't worry, I have some ideas...next chapter should be up within a few days of this one.
