The Raven II
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JKR, various publishers of the HP series. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N: Sorry to keep you waiting, my life is a spin cycle right now.
Chapter 13 (uploaded 2/25/05)
Finally, all the owls had gone from the tree. They only stayed around long enough to determine an unsuccessful delivery and disappointedly returned to their respective owners. Snape paced the tree limb as he worked on a plan to get Potter and himself back to Hogwarts. He glanced up and looked around for his young friend, spotting him on one of the highest twigs. The silly bird just hung by his beak like a black sock on a clothesline, swaying with the breeze. "What's that about?" he shook his head and went back to pacing the limb. "I have got to get him back to his wizard form as soon as possible." Severus's concentration and pigeon-toed pacing was interrupted by cracks of apparition.
Lucius Malfoy and his wife, Narcissa, had been summoned to the house. Snape took to the sky and flew silently overhead to follow them to the front door, which was eventually answered by Bellatrix. Lucius walked right in and nodded once to Bella, who wrinkled her nose at her sister. Oddly, Narcissa greeted Bella with an equally wrinkled nose.
Snape circled the house high overhead, occasionally diving for a glance into a window. He eventually found everybody gathered in the dining room. Peter Pettigrew must have snuck back into the house as a rat and was serving Voldemort. He was back to his normal coloration, though his clothes looked rattier and more faded. Snape landed on the bush outside one of the first floor windows to listen in on the conversation.
Lord Voldemort sat down first. "Mrs. Malfoy, thank you for joining us today. I apologize for interrupting your shopping trip. May I call you Narcissa?"
Narcissa replied. "My husband tells me this meeting concerns my son."
Voldemort nodded and continued, "Yes, I'd like to take him on as an apprentice."
Harry had seen his big brother flying overhead and he hurried to join him in the air, only to be lead back down. Outside the window, Harry had landed next to Snape. "Shh, be quiet," Snape hissed in raven tones.
Harry coo'd back, "I saw you flying and doing some really cool dives. I thought you might want to play now."
"Go away, I'm busy right now," he said, curtly.
"What are we doing? Are we spying?" Harry looked through the window. "Oo, the Malfoys." He listened for a bit and gasped, "Draco? A Death Eater apprentice? You have to apprentice to be a Death Eater?"
"Lower your voice," Snape growled. "I apprenticed my last two years at Hogwarts before I took the mark."
"Yes," Voldemort continued. "I have, at the moment, lost my spy at Hogwarts. And although I hadn't told him yet, Severus was to be my main recruiter at the school for this upcoming war."
Narcissa sniffed at the food on her fork and set it down without tasting. "Why are you making this offer to me, rather than to my son? I'm sure my husband and my sister would have told you I prefer to be a neutral bystander and not have any knowledge of this."
"Narcissa, in a war, there is no such thing as a neutral bystander." Voldemort's red eyes flashed. "I'm sure your husband and your sister would have told you by now what happens to people who decline my offers." After a few bites of food, he continued, "Lucius informs me that his letters to your son have been returned unopened and unread, while yours are getting through and you are getting replies. I would like you to relay my offer to him."
"Maybe if you occasionally sent your letter with a package of sweets, he might accept delivery. I've trained him to write gracious thank you notes. He does it almost automatically now."
Bellatrix pushed her food around her plate and said lazily, "I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times, Narcissa, you spoil that boy."
Snape smirked, "Yes, she does. But she has his devotion."
Harry snorted, "She paid for that devotion, he doesn't do it just because she's his mother. My cousin, Dudley, is that way."
As they listened, the bush under the other window started rustling. "What's that?" Harry asked, curiosity drawing his attention away from the room. Unfortunately, the occupants of the dining room also heard the noise .
"Fly now!" Snape screeched as his wings carried him into the air.
"I'm caught!" Harry squawked. He had jumped into the air and was right behind his companion. Snape turned to watch Harry get pulled backwards into someone's hand.
"That's it, little bird, make noise and flap your wings," the female voice whispered. Harry caught a glimpse of Tonks' face as she recovered herself with an invisibility cloak. It had slipped off as she was attacked by an army of ants and involuntarily jumped to scratch and brush off the mini pests. She held onto Harry's talons to make it look like he was sitting on top of the bush making all the noise.
Snape circled overhead and said out loud, "Potter, how do you manage to find trouble so easily? Even Sirius Black had to work very hard at it."
"This isn't my fault!" Harry screeched back.
Lucius opened the window and stuck his head out. He called back into the room, "It's just a bird. Severus's baby raven has managed to tangle himself in the bush."
"Bring him in," Voldemort ordered.
"Damn, hoped he wouldn't say that," Harry cried.
"Damn, hoped he wouldn't say that," Lucius huffed.
"Settle down, Bird. Ow! I'm trying to free you, damn it!" Tonks let go of Harry's leg, allowing him to fly only a yard before Lucius called, "Accio raven!" The poor little raven, was once again summoned backwards, this time into Lucius' hands. After inspecting the band on his leg, he said, "Hello, Munin. Looking for your master?" Harry squawked his displeasure at being manhandled. "So are we." Lucius presented the raven to Lord Voldemort.
"There's no message," Voldemort stated.
"Professor Snape!" Harry called for help.
"Perhaps he is looking for his master," Pettigrew suggested, turning toward the raven with a curious look on his face.
"Dammit, I think the animagus can understand us," Snape thought. He was back outside the window to keep an eye on Harry.
"Conjure a cage for the bird," Voldemort ordered to nobody in particular. "We might be able to use him later."
"No!" Snape whispered harshly.
"No," Harry whimpered, as he was forced into his new cage.
Lucius lead his wife into another room for a private chat. Voldemort asked again, "Any progress in finding Severus?"
"Snape! I want Snape!" Harry raged in his cage, "SNAPE!"
"It seems all he wants is Snape," Pettigrew wiggled a finger in Harry's cage, allowing Harry to lunge at it for a bite, but missed.
"Stop that, Wormtail," Bellatrix hissed while covering her ears, "you're just winding him up."
Bellatrix answered her master, "My Lord, we've tried several methods and we can't find him anywhere."
"Give me your arm, Bella," Voldemort ordered. She stuck out her left arm and the pale, red-eyed wizard to touch it with his wand to summon Severus Snape once again.
Snape felt a tingling in his left wing, it wasn't too bothersome. However he was hit with another migraine for the duration of the summons. "Ugh," he groaned and fell to the ground under the bush, "I'm here, damn it." He hopped atop the bush again when the pain faded. "Not too bad, I suppose," Snape mumbled to himself, "it probably doesn't last too long because I'm already here."
"It'ssssssss YOU!" Nagini slithered out from under Voldemort's chair, climbed up the table leg, and curled herself around the raven's cage, which sat at the edge of the dining room table. "You made me sick."
"Easy, Nagini," Voldemort said in parseltongue, "don't strain yourself. You haven't enough strength to digest the bird just yet." Nagini was wrapped three or four times around the cage and tried to squeeze, but Voldemort was right. She put her head down to rest, keeping an eye on the little raven. Harry was scared. He squawked and cried and screeched, hoping the his volume would irritate everyone.
Feeling impotent, Snape watched from the window as a silver cage was conjured around his little raven brother. He felt, through their bond, how scared the little guy was when Voldemort's snake wrapped herself around the cage to crush it.
"Something is bothering you, my Lord," Malfoy Sr. asked after showing his wife out of the house.
"Lucius, search the grounds again. My spell isn't lingering. It's as if Severus is somewhere around here. He might be nursing his wounds in some dark shadow. Bella, Wormtail, pick up Nagini. We're moving to the basement. Somebody do something about the bird. Make it shut up." The faithful Death Eaters grit their teeth and carried the big snake out of the room. Lucius covered the cage with a black cloak.
Once they were out of the room, Snape jumped to the other bush and started attacking it. "Stupid, clumsy girl! Idiot! Dunderhead! Nincompoop! You fool!"
Tonks fell out of the bush, waving the invisibility cloak at the big black bird, who somehow had known she was there. "Shoo! Get away from me," she shrieked softly. But then the raven attacked her again and again. "Damn bird, you blew my cover," she cursed as she ran toward the apple orchard for cover. "Damn the anti-apparition wards, too."
Lucius Malfoy came around the corner, "Severus? Is that you? Come out, we have your bird. You can use the potions lab here." The blonde Death Eater held his hands on his hips, "I could have sworn I heard his voice." He looked up as Severus cawed from the air, and snickered to himself, "Hmm, another raven. I wonder if that's an omen of death."
Rabastan Lestrange walked up behind him, "Of course it is, you wanker, and we're the cause of the deaths. He called us back again."
"I'm tired of searching the grounds. His Lordship is in the basement nursing that stupid snake," Lucius scoffed as they turned and went back into the house.
Severus landed in the tree above the pink-haired auror. Tonks gave her report while she shook out the invisibility cloak. "What happened?" Remus Lupin asked. "You weren't there very long."
"I was attacked by an army of ants and made too much noise when I tried to brush them off," Tonks reported to her partners.
"Well, you're still alive," retired auror Mad-Eye Moody stepped out from behind a tree. He kept his hat over his head, and the brim down, his magical eye was fixed on the big black bird above them. "But you were followed."
Tonks looked up in time to watch Snape drop an apple on her head, "OW! The stupid bird followed me." She picked up the apple and threw it at the raven. He didn't budge. It hit the trunk and the bird seemed to laugh. Awk-awk-awk-awk.
"Forget the bird. Did you find out anything?" Moody urged.
"Right. They're going to enlist Malfoy's son, who is at Hogwarts. They can't find Snape anywhere and need an informant and recruiter there. That's when I noticed how itchy my legs had gotten. It was just ants, but I panicked and made too much noise when I tried to brush them off. They heard me from inside and when the two ravens flew off, I summoned the smaller one into my hand to make it seem like he was the source of the original noise and found out later it was Snape's familiar. We might have been able to use it to find him. The bird was caught and brought into the house." Just then Snape dropped another couple apples onto Tonks' head. Lupin covered his mouth to hide his laugh. Quickly and smoothly, Tonks whipped around with her wand drawn and blasted the limb that Snape was perched on.
The raven flew away, but Remus pulled her hand down before she could get off another spell. Looking at Moody, Lupin asked, "Have you ever seen a greasier black bird?"
"I think I might have seen that bird before, now that you mention it," Mad-eye cracked a smile.
"What are you two talking about?" Tonks growled in frustration. "I am NOT having a good day, and you two look like cats who swallowed canaries."
"You did well, Tonks. We can continue this discussion at Headquarters," Moody pulled his hat down and quietly disapparated.
- ooOoo -
Professor Dumbledore sat in his office sipping a cup of tea while sorting through some paperwork. An eagle owl flew through the window and landed on his desk, its wingspan nearly knocking one or two gadgets off his desk. It flew off as soon as the note was untied from its leg, not waiting around for a reply. After reading, the tired old wizard threw floo powder into the fireplace, announced "Professor Hagrid," and stuck his head into the flames.
"'ello there Perfesser Dumbledore. I was just 'aving a spot 'o tea wi' Hermione and Ron. What can I do fer ye?" Hagrid moved from the table to in front of the fireplace.
"Hello Ron, hello Hermione. Sorry to cut your visit short, but Hagrid, would you please accompany Mr. Malfoy into Hogsmeade? His parents would like a visit."
"Yes sir, I'll get righ' on it."
Hagrid turned around from where he knelt and stood up, "I hope yer both feeling better about Harry. Thanks for visitin' bu' I got work t' do now. I know what you kids heard. Don't go followin' me into Hogsmeade in that invisibility cloak. I'll be lookin' out."
Ron's red head bobbed up and down, "Sure Hagrid. Thanks for tea."
"No problem, Hagrid, we've got homework to do, anyway," Hermione practically drug Ron from Hagrid's shack.
Down in the dungeons, Draco had his wand in the little window of the potions storage room while Crabbe and Goyle stood guard at either end of the hallway. He was summoning a vial, as he had caught Harry doing. He had successfully guided another one through the window and into his hand when Crabbe called, "Someone's coming! Oh, it's just Hagrid."
"Ahh, there ye are, Malfoy. Yer parents have requested a meeting with you in Hogsmeade. Dumbledore asked me to deliver you to the Three Broomsticks. Run up and get yer cloak, it's a bit breezy this evening."
"Just me? Can Crabbe and Goyle come, too?"
"Sorry, Mr. Malfoy. You're th' only one wi' permission to go into Hogsmeade tonight. I'll wait righ' here fer ya."
The three boys went into the Slytherin dormitories together. "How many were you able to get?" Goyle asked.
"Just one and an antidote, but I have one from the other night."
"What do you think they want?"
"Mother said something about an apprenticeship but I don't know why my father would be there, too. He's supposed to be in hiding."
"You gonna take the mark if you're offered?" Goyle asked.
"Damn, my dad said if you turn down the offer, He kadavers you on the spot," Crabbe shook his head. "After what you told us, I don't want to join, but I'd be too scared to say No."
"I don't know. I just want to graduate first and have a great gap year before I decide what I want to do."
"Well, I might not take my NEWTS," Crabbe's shoulders dropped. "I'm not making the grades now."
"It's not that bad, Vince," Goyle patted his friend on the back. "we do good enough to stay on the Quidditch team."
Crabbe shrugged, "Yeh, but only as long as Professor Snape is our head of house."
"Get a room! You guys are making me sick." Draco grabbed his school cloak roughly.
"But we're in our room, Draco," Goyle looked up at the blonde.
"Ugh! I'm out of here. If I'm lucky, Father will kill me quickly and get it over with. Or maybe Mother will let me transfer to Durmstrang. Yes, that would be cool."
"Hey," Crabbe called Draco back, "aren't we going to be ravens and fly away anymore?"
"Change of plans. I'll see you later," Draco sulked all the way to Hogsmeade as he walked with Hagrid.
Hermione and Ron huddled in the janitor's closet watching the little dots on the Marauder's map move around the castle. "Uh oh, Dumbledore and McGonagall are headed this way," Hermione pointed her wand to the two dots, "Mischief managed. Nox." Her wand light went out.
"I've got an idea," Ron whispered. He mussed up his hair and did the same to Hermione's.
"Ron, stop that!" Hermione squealed.
Suddenly the door flew open and flooded the dark closet with a bright light. A man cleared his throat. "Mr. Weasley! Miss Granger, that'll be enough," the Scottish accent pierced their ears. "You are Gryffindor prefects, you must set an example for your underclassmen. Out here, the both of you."
"Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore! Nothing happened, I swear," Hermione stuttered. Her face was a red as Ron's, who would not bring his eyes up to Dumbledore's.
"I believe you, Miss Granger. Mr. Weasley, these are Harry's things. Would you do me the favor of returning it to his footlocker? I was on my way to do it myself, but you're going in that direction anyway."
"Yes, sir," he managed to squeak.
"Professor, any news from Harry?" Hermione queried.
"I'm afraid I have no news," the headmaster said wearily.
The two Griffindors ran toward their tower, passing their corridor and continuing on. Puzzled, Hermione followed him wordlessly into the owlry, where he opened the bag. He pulled out the unlabeled vial, "What do you think this is?"
"Hmm," Hermione's brows furrowed, but she shook her head, "dunno." Meanwhile, Hedwig and Pig fluttered down to the student's shoulders, hoping for some news, too.
"This is his robe and invisibility cloak and wand!" Ron exclaimed. "He's running around naked and wandless?"
"Oh, Harry, he's probably a bird again. I bet Malfoy's in on it. But we don't know if the vial is the transformation potion or the antidote. We've got to squeeze that Malfoy for information. Let's go to Hogsmeade. Do you know how to use the map access the passageways?"
"Uh, sure, Harry told me how he does it. And the twins have told me about some of their adventures, too."
Pig looked at Hedwig, "Harry's in trouble, isn't he?"
"I don't know, dear," Hedwig hooted. "I'm going to follow them into Hogsmeade."
The two adventurers made their way to the ally adjacent to the Three Broomsticks tavern in Hogsmeade. Peering into a window, they found Hagrid sitting at the bar sipping a large flagon of ale. The Malfoys were nowhere to be found. Ron whispered, "Levitate me," pointing to the second floor windows.
Hermione nodded, "Wingardium Leviosa." With a swish and a flick of her wand, Ron rose to the second level and pulled the invisibility cloak over his head. From below, the bushy-haired bookworm could see her partner's feet dangling past the hem of the cloak. The next she heard him whisper, "Down! Down!"
"Found him?"
"Yeh, Malfoy's father is making him join the Death Eaters as an apprentice until he finishes school."
"Oooh, that bastard!"
"But Draco doesn't want to be a Death Eater. He said he saw his father groveling at his Master's feet, and Vo-Vo (sigh) Voldemort's a half-blood."
"Harry's told us all this before."
"Yah, but Malfoy's seen it for himself. He's too good to grovel for anyone, let alone anyone who's not a pureblood. He got slapped down and was told he'd better get his priorities straight or die, in not as many words. Anyway, they captured Harry, only they know it as Snape's raven. They're looking for Snape and something about a snake with a nosebleed."
Hedwig had been observing from the roof and heard Ron's report. She flew off as somebody approached the alley. Noticing birds fly off, they ducked under the invisibility cloak and shuffled toward the shadows.
"I told ye' Draco, there's nobody here but bloody owls," Hagrid was heard to say.
"Okay, Hagrid, why don't you go back and finish your ale. I just want to pop into Honeydukes and I'll be right back."
"Hmm," Hagrid looked longingly through the tavern door at his empty seat and half-finished ale, "alright, wizard's honor? You're only going to Honeyduke's and you'll come back straightaway?"
"Wizard's honor," Malfoy said in his most sincere voice.
"Alright, then, go on."
Ron and Hermione followed the blonde student to the sweet shoppe. Draco kept looking back over his shoulder as if he knew he was being followed, but seeing nothing, he would continue on his way. The shop bell tinkled when he opened the door. Focused on his purchase, he didn't notice that the door took a little longer to close behind him. "Hi there," he addressed the shopkeeper, "do you carry these sweets? He pulled a couple wrappers from his pocket."
The proprietor put his reading glasses on, " 'Fraid I don't. Ah, here's their mark, WWW. Try Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes in Diagon Alley. Can I get you anything from here?"
"Weasley," Draco growled. "Yeh, sure. Half dozen of your best chocolate bars and a dozen sugar quills." Draco pulled out his coins and threw them onto the counter.
As he walked back toward the Three Broomsticks, he was pulled into a narrow alley and pinned to the wall. Hermione stepped back with the cloak to expose the redhead, yet keep herself hidden. Ron had his wand in Draco's face.
"What do you want? Either choke me, stab me or hex me, either way stop breathing on me and get your wand out of my nose!"
"What was that wrapper? What do you want with Weasley's Wheezes?"
"What the hell, you wouldn't believe me anyway. Professor Snape was in trouble. In case you haven't realized by now, he's my godfather. Potter used some sweets from a Skivving Snackbox to heal Professor Snape. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has a pet snake who got sick. I'll be in His good graces if I make it better."
"I thought you didn't want to be a Death Eater."
"Spying on me, are you, Weasel? Where's your Mudblood sidekick? OOOF!" Malfoy doubled over as Hermione punched him in the ribs.
Ron rolled his eyes and whispered, "Stop that!"
"Malfoy!" Hagrid called.
"Here, sir!" Draco smirked at Ron. "I found someone who shouldn't be off school grounds." But before the half-giant came into view, Hermione threw the cloak over Ron and they disappeared into the sweet shoppe. "Damn."
"There ye are, ye don't 'ave t' eat yer sweets by yerself. You're in Hogsmeade w' permission."
"Granger and Weasley were here. She hit me!"
"Well, I don' see anyone now."
"Of course not, they're invisible!" Draco huffed as he realized how childish he was sounding.
"Righ' Mebbe ye ate too much sugar. Why don' you come off yer sugar high before ye say anythin' more, eh?"
- ooOoo -
Later in the owlry, Hermione had several owls in front of her and was trying to decide which owl to use for a package delivery. "There you are," Draco growled. "I owe you for hitting me. Nobody gets away with hitting me."
Hermione snorted, "Really, I heard you cried when Daddy smacked you across the face."
"Weasel's lying. Hey, those are the sweets I was looking for."
"I'm sending it to Harry or to Professor Snape, if they're together. But I can't use Hedwig and Pig's too noisy. Errol would take too long, and a school owl…"
"Forget it, Granger. Use my owl." Draco held up his arm and his eagle owl swooped down from his perch.
"How do I know you won't send it somewhere else? I'm giving a verbal command, I'm not writing down its addressee."
"Look, any other owl might attract attention. Where he's going, my owl wouldn't be look out of place."
"Fine. One more question, though." Hermione pulled out the vial that was in Harry's pouch. "What is this?"
"None of your business."
Hermione's eyes narrowed as she pursed her lips at the answer she got. "Hedwig, follow Draco's owl and make sure the package gets to Harry. Be careful, constant vigilance." The snowy white owl hooted her understanding.
Once the school rivals left the room, Dumbledore stepped out of the shadows with a twinkle in his eye and smile under his beard.
- ooOoo -
To be continued...
A/N: I can't say it enough, thank you for your reviews. Shout outs to all who reviewed: Silverthreads, starangel2106, whydoyouneedtoknow, athenakitty, Mystic Phoenix, E.A.V., Ezmerelda, gilly131, Creature of the Night, Larail, tall oaks, ShadowedHand, sakura saisaka, Vyxagallanxchi, MajinBakaHentai, Wren Truesong, Hellfire Ashwolf, Sweet Murder, Dude, Ms. Padfoot.
Dude: I'm writing every day, but I was looking for a good stopping point without such a steep cliffhanger.
whydoyouneedtoknow: Why do you need to know? It's old news now.
EAV: But the owls were a hoot!
ShadowedHand: Yeh, Severus gets a little grumpy because he keeps getting a headache whenever ol' Moldy Voldy tries to summon him.
Sweet Murder: Yup, I'm sure this isn't a slash fic. Not even a Crabbe/Goyle slash fic. (Shudders)